driving me crazy

While I was getting my BSN we had a huge assignment of checking out our city we lived in and figuring out the quirks that could be of health care concern.  Then we had to write up this honking paper about what is happening, and what we, as health care providers could/would do to make a difference.  For Corvallis my biggest issues I came up with were the pollution from the smokestacks, and the runoff of farm yuck into the river.  When briefly thinking about my new city, so far I am annoyed by...

1) the lack of sidewalks around here, and 2) the non-existent bike lanes.  These two complaints of mine might contribute to the reason Kentucky is part of the stroke belt...just saying.  Additionally the freeways are minimally marked with speed limit signs.  Perhaps the reason that cars zoom by me as I am driving 65-70mph (which is 10-15mph OVER the speed limit in most places), yes I speed, so very guilty.   

I have noticed helmets are NOT required by law, evidenced by the motorcycle riders who apparently want a traumatic brain injury (at best) if they ever get in an accident.  Bicyclist also almost never wear helmets.  Perhaps it is the RN in me, or the fact that my grandpa has shown me his head saving helmet after he was in a motorcycle wreck, but either way, helmet non-use just irks me.   

In addition, I will touch on this crazy road which intersects the street we live on.  The traffic signals determine how the road functions depending on the time of day.  Two thin yellow lines are the only thing that separate oncoming vehicles going 40+mph. There are no bike lanes, and sidewalks are hard to come by...and when there ARE sidewalks, I don't want to use them since there are cars going 40+mph that I could touch if I just extended my arm out.  So, so different than Oregon.  P and I both hate this road, and thus usually try alternate routes if available. 

 See this black car, it is parked in a traffic lane - which can only be done during certain hours.  My first time driving this road I had no idea what was going on.  The traffic signals confused me.  I realized, as I almost gave myself whiplash slamming on my brakes to avoid crashing into a parked car, what the signals were for...

• big red X = oncoming traffic lanes
• signal not in use = lane closed - cars WILL be parked!
• green arrow = drive in this lane
• white turning arrows = use as turning lane only.

See this picture below was during the morning, when I was on my way to work (rush hour), so the road now is fully in use, and has a signal for turning.

This was a time during the middle of the day, when one of the lanes was closed.  The green arrow is the lane Paul was driving in, the lane to the right of our car was closed - cars were parked in this lane.  During rush hour, the big box with the red X (oncoming traffic) will open only as a turning lane (has white turning arrows during this time), where cars driving either direction can use to turn. 

Hopefully soon, we will leave this "city" life behind, and have more country roads...