The lack of reflectors on Georgia roads.
I know that sounds totally silly but let me explain.
Road reflectors.
They are so small, so insignificant.
But they will save your life if you are driving on a wet, country road late at night.
I grew up in Tampa. Just outside the city limits so lets just say I'm not used to rural driving conditions. All the streets I drove back home were wide, well lit and usually populated with other cars.
And the major streets all had reflectors everywhere. Seeing the road was NEVER an issue. Plus there are no hills and for the most part no curved roads there.
Which is the exact opposite of North Georgia roads.
When I first moved to the big city in 1997, I was shocked how few roads had reflectors. Even big streets...Peachtree Street for example.
Everyone knows about Peachtree Street. It's like Atlanta's major street, running from Downtown to Buckhead.
And it has no reflectors.
6 lanes once you get to the Midtown area (3 in each direction), curving all over the place, tons of traffic, and when it's wet and dark, you can't see where the hell you're going.
And don't get me started on the side streets. I can't tell you how many times I almost ran off Peachtree Battle (yes, yet another Peachtree in Atlanta) at night when I first moved there.
Now I live in the suburbs and unfortunately it's no better out here.
The road I take to get my kiddo to school is narrow and curvy...
And it doesn't have a single reflector anywhere.
Tuesday morning, I took the kiddo to school like normal...
It was pitch black dark and raining. I can't tell you how many times people were about to run off the road cause no one could see where the road was!
I just don't get this. Are reflectors that expensive? Can no city budget support putting one of these little babies down about every 20 feet or so? I haven't figured out why Georgians think they aren't important.
While I was researching for this, I stumbled upon this picture:
It seems some genius has invented solar reflectors. They have LED lights so they are super bright and run off a tiny super battery.
Which kinda made me a little sad. If my cheap county can't swing for the el cheapo reflectors, they sure as heck aren't going to pay for something that comes with a battery that will eventually have to be replaced.
So until someone deems it necessary, I will drive my curvy country roads with caution.
And if you are stuck behind me, sorry...you just have to deal with the city girl trying to not run off the road!
Have a great weekend!
2 comments:
I know we don't have them up North cause the plows would sheer them off every winter. I do agree that driving at night in crappy conditions was made much easier in Florida by the presence of those little things. In Hawaii, my father liked to hit them with the car and yell "BABY TURTLES!". My dad is a joker, can you tell? ;p
We don't have them here in North Louisiana either nor do we have street lights. Which completely blows my mind. It is so dark at night that you can't see a thing. In NOLA we had street lights on every corner & reflectors on the streets. Made it sooo much easier to see.
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