July 30, 2008

Midnight Plus Several Hours, Waiting to Get Home

Hatched by Dave Ross

Well, once more the California Highway Patrol has demonstrated its complete lack of interest in serving the humble motorist. As of Tuesday night State Hwy 76 near Valley Center where I work as a newspaper editor was closed again for interminable hours, as it always seems to be whenever a big rig crashes near the intersection of the highway and Rincon Ranch Road, which seems to happen a lot! That’s near the foot of Palomar Mountain, home of the famous observatory. It’s a road that sometimes winds like a sidewinder on mescaline.

Although traffic has increased dramatically on this rural highway in recent years due to the number of casinos that have sprung up, the state has yet to do anything to make the road more safe.

This night there was apparently a death, and a spill of fuel that required hours of cleanup by Haz-Mat.

So, like hundreds of other people, I'm waiting to get the word to be allowed to go home on the only way in or out that doesn't involve driving several hours out of the way. Finally, about 1:30 a.m. I call the CHP dispatch office and am told by a dispatcher that traffic is being allowed through one lane at a time. I drive from my office to the intersection of Valley Center Road and Hwy 76, where a bored looking, typically arrogant CHP officer tells me that no dispatcher ever told me that traffic was being allowed through. "I don't know who told you that, but it wasn't one of our dispatchers."

Strange, I tell him, but I'm pretty sure I dialed 1-858-637-3800. "I can understand your concern," he says, clearly not understanding my concern.

I return to my newspaper office and call the dispatch number and am told that well, the information was put up incorrectly and that they have to keep track of lots of information, sorry about that, blah, blah, blah. Meanwhile, I've driven about 15 miles out of my way based on their faulty information. With the price of gasoline the way it is these days, yeah, my cranial blood vessels are engorged with suppressed annoyance!

Oh well, par for the course when you're dealing with the CHP and CalTrans and other agencies who routinely shut down Hwy 76 and then don't bother to talk to each other, and don't give the slightest damn about residents who are inconvenienced by their total lack of communication.

Let me make it clear. I don't begrudge the CHP keeping a road closed to conduct a death investigation and to clean up a mess as long as necessary. What I do begrudge is the "public be damned" attitude of your typical CHP officer when dealing with the people who pay his salary.

I've seen this happen time and time again in San Diego County during the last year as a result of the wildfires and the resulting dangers posed by mudslides. The needs of residents who must use those roads to go to home and work are treated with a cavalier disregard bordering on contempt. It doesn't just happen to me.

It happens to hundreds of people almost every time there is an accident. This time it happened to me. Next time it'll happen to you -- and the attitude of the CHP will be, "We're overworked, so naturally we get our facts messed up sometimes. Get over it!"

Hatched by Dave Ross on this day, July 30, 2008, at the time of 12:55 PM

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Comments

The following hissed in response by: Captain Ned

It's not just the CHP, CalTrans, or California. That lack of respect for the needs of citizens and terminal arrogance is, unfortunately, all too common among the law enforcement community. I have the same issues here in Vermont on occasion and what really steams me the most is the attitude among law enforcement that my attempt to ask a rational question and expect a rational answer is somehow an affront to their Cartman-esque authoritey!!!

I will say that this attitude seems to be inversely correlated with the age of the LE officer involved. Given the rapid turnover and early pension vesting for most LE forces that means we'll all soon be dealing with our worst nightmare, a 20-something with a badge and a need to "be respected". Junior Napoleons, the lot of them.

The above hissed in response by: Captain Ned [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 30, 2008 3:10 PM

The following hissed in response by: John J. Coupal

I live outside California and believe most everything I hear about the state.

It's hard to accept that an authority like CHiP's which has people like Erik Estrada on patrol would ever show such disregard for Californians who are just trying to get home.

Liz, are you sure something else isn't bothering you, to get you so worked up?

Somebody told me that Californians were mellow.

The above hissed in response by: John J. Coupal [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 31, 2008 11:05 AM

The following hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh

John J. Coupal:

Liz?

Dafydd

The above hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 31, 2008 12:04 PM

The following hissed in response by: John J. Coupal

Liz = Big Lizards

The above hissed in response by: John J. Coupal [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 31, 2008 4:53 PM

The following hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh

John J. Coupal:

Liz = Big Lizards

Wouldn't that be Bliz?

Dafydd

The above hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 31, 2008 5:10 PM

The following hissed in response by: John J. Coupal

Dafydd,

That would work.

The above hissed in response by: John J. Coupal [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 1, 2008 9:02 AM

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