Can Farragut Change?

Update:

Police piece together mystery, charge man with murder

http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=3546267

http://www.volunteertv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3546495&nav=4QcHbgbl


Original Post:

From WVLT TV:

Farragut, Knox County (WVLT) - Knox County Sheriff's deputies still aren't saying much about a mysterious situation on Virtue Road in West Knox County Tuesday night.

Deputies say they found a man covered in blood, his car also had blood on the passenger side. We do know that the blood is not his.

But police are baffled as to what happened because the unidentified man says he doesn't remember anything that happened.

Police say he does admit to smoking crack cocaine.

Do you know why people drive over the speed limit? Because they see other people do it. We live in a monkey see monkey do world. After repeatedly being caught for speeding Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico has admitted that he breaks the law. And what does he say he will do in the future? Gov. Richardson said, "I'm not going to stand here and say we'll never speed again. There may be exceptional circumstances. But we are going to slow down."

How much worse can it be when the Governor of a state orders police drivers to break the law? Rep. Bill Janklow of South Dakota was convicted of manslaughter for speeding through a stop sign and colliding with a motorcyclist. The motorcyclist Randy Scott died at the scene. Rep. Janklow later resigned from Congress.

What can you as one person do? Set an example. Drive the speed limit and don’t speed. I am not suggesting you get in the left lane on I-40 and do 55 mph. On secondary roads like Kingston Pike and Northshore drive the speed limit. Maybe you can save a life. Maybe your own life.

Do we have this problem here in Knox County? Do you see police cars without their lights or siren on breaking the speed limit? Do you see delivery drivers and service vehicles break the speed limit? If you do tell your story here.


Excerpt from the newspaper The New Mexican

Governor vows to slow down his SUV

Steve Terrell The New Mexican June 24, 2005

Stung by criticism over his latest speeding incident in Albuquerque, Gov. Bill Richardson said Thursday that he intends to slow down.While carefully not apologizing for breaking speed limits, the governor said he has instructed his state police drivers to obey posted limits except under "exceptional circumstances.""

Being young is very difficult today. Social pressures and the need to fit in put a lot of pressure on young people. It doesn’t help when a local newspaper publishes an article about drunken driving being harmless. Knox County has had at least four DUI fatalities in the past five months. One of these tragic deaths was in Farragut.

Metro Pulse has been a good newspaper for many years but recently has made a decision to adjust their format. According to Publisher Brian Conley, “We're making a bit of an effort to appeal to a younger audience, which is something we felt Metro Pulse needed. Still, the front of the paper is populated by Joe Sullivan, Frank Cagle, Jack Neely, Barry Henderson and Matt Edens, quite a heady - and experienced - group.”

In the cover story of this week’s Metro Pulse Molly Kincaid and Ellen Mallernee feature the article “Pressing Against the Glass, Two Knoxville party girls peer into Nashville’s nightlife”. Excerpts from the article include, “On the way to Nashville, the sky’s filled with gorgeous, cotton-candy clouds in Rorschach shapes. We stop only once, at a gas station in Cookeville, where we make what will be the most important discovery of the trip: a sleeve of coconut scented rolling papers. We’ll need them later.” Most parents will not find the humor in that but it gets worse. “By this time, we’d employed former Metro Pulse intern, Kevin, as our chauffeur. What are interns for anyway? Turns out, Kevin takes the term “designated driver” relatively lightly, but we’re in no position to be picky.” Unfortunately there is more, "We make like a Snoop video and perch on the arms of one of those big rapper-style armchairs, offering Kevin the throne. He feels like a pimp. Until I fall off the chair, alighting right square on my tail. I save my drink, if very little face.Our chances of fitting in at the Bound’ry go from slim to zilch thanks to my careening off the chair, and we make for the exit after gulping the dregs of our drinks."

Was this cover story responsible journalism? Is the new concept at Metro Pulse to glorify public intoxication, getting high, and drinking and driving? There has to be other and better ways to reach the younger audience. Metro Pulse started as a publication promoting local music events. Over many years it became Knoxville’s second newspaper and was well respected. There is another furor over this article concerning the Publisher of the Metro Pulse that you can read in Michael Silence’s blog or over at SKB’s blog.

If you have a teenage driver in your family take some time to talk with them about ways they can handle social situations where other friends are not using common sense. The advertising geared to the 18 to 35 year market says buy a case of Bud Light, drive this really cool SUV, and invite your friends out to party. Even though your teenager may abstain or act responsibly it is a team effort. It only takes one person to cause an accident. Explain to your teenager how they can be a good friend. Sometimes it only takes one person with common sense to defuse a situation about to go bad.

The final words from pilot Capt. Jesse Rhodes, "Aw (expletive), We're gonna hit houses, dude." Three seconds later the jet they were flying crashed.

It's all a lot of fun until someone gets hurt. Capt. Jesse Rhodes, 31, and First Officer Peter Cesarz, 23, were just having some fun in a passengerless jet last fall as they flew to 41,000 feet in a jet that was not rated to fly at that altitude. First one engine failed and then the second engine failed. For twenty minutes they tried to restart the two engines as the jet descended.

The pilots just wanted to have some fun. The jet crashed into a house 2 1/2 miles short of the runway they were attempting to land on. No one on the ground was hurt. Both pilots perished in the crash.

Yesterday in Utah some teenage friends were having fun driving around in a pickup truck throwing water balloons at other drivers. It was really great fun until one of the other drivers turned around and chased the teenagers. "Investigators are not sure whether the victim tried to pass the teens or if he rammed the back of their pick-up, but the truck rolled and pinned 17-year-old Jason Christensen underneath", as reported by local TV station KUTV. Today Jason Christensen is in critical condition with serious head and face injuries.

It is finally summer and like every summer someone will say, "Hey, watch this"! Be a good friend and try to talk them down. That's what friends do. They help each other.

Breaking news. WATE now reports that Tennessee is indeed a very safe state to drive in. Apparently the Tennessee Highway Patrol has increased the number of speeding tickets written by one-third from 2001 to 2004. WATE reports that the number of "highway" traffic accidents in Tennessee fell 86 percent from 2001 to 2004.

How can this be? The key is to read very carefully. This is about the number of "highway" accidents. Get it? If you get killed on Virtue Road or Northshore Drive you are not really dead in this statistical report. Also understand that all of these studies are on the entire State of Tennessee. So your mileage may vary. Memphis and Nashville might be seeing a dramatic improvement in safety while Knoxville is getting worse. That is how averages work. Lets not pat ourselves on the back just yet.

Even with the increased number of speeding tickets written and the state wide reduction in accidents the same number of people die each year. Doesn't make much sense does it?

So here is a question, every see a speeding ticket written in Knox County? Every wonder how that compares to Memphis and Nashville? Maybe WATE will dig a little deeper and let us know.

IF this is such a safe place then why do we need traffic cameras?

A week after the ground breaking study from Allstate Insurance Company that suggested that Knoxville is the fifth safest driving city in the country we now learn that are eyes have not deceived us and that the majority of motorists drive 8 to 10 miles per hour over the speed limit. Welcome to the wonderful world of statistics and law enforcement.

According to a report from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) 42 states have police that allow drivers to exceed the speed limits. Of course modern technology may provide an answer. Why have people enforce the law when cameras and computers can do it for you?

I am not suggesting that police have allowed a crisis to develop just so they can create a revenue producing scheme where cameras and computers do the hard work and the police departments reap huge sums of money to expand their budgets. Others have suggested this very idea but I do not think that is what happened. I think it is dangerous and unpleasant work to have to manually ticket people for speeding. Every time a policeman is injured while ticketing a speeding motorist the police department is involved in a major lawsuit. My opinion is the litigation of these injuries has discouraged the law enforcement of speeding motorists.

First the cameras for the red light runners will be implanted. Then the cameras for the speeders. Ironically the police departments we have a budget windfall. What do you think they will do with all that money? I suppose if you have a camera on every light pole outside of every house then you could really protect the public.

Just think how much fun the family barbecue will be. Your family and your brother’s family and the police department enjoying a hot Saturday evening barbecuing some St. Louis ribs and having a couple of cold ones.

When the police start putting loud speakers on the light pole we will really be safe. As the sound come over the speaker, “Winston Smith, turn down the music, the neighbors don’t like Toby Keith. You have already had two beers, that is enough. Watch those kids and put on some Shania Twain.”

Of course you could just slow down and drive the speed limit. Which future do you want?

The Knoxville News Sentinel has printed today the third article about the claim made by Allstate Insurance Company that Knoxville is the 5th safest driving city in the country. The second KNS article had a poll and over 72 percent of the people that responded did not agree that Knoxville was a safe driving city. So the KNS thought a third article and a second poll would be appropriate. So far 88 percent of the people responding do not agree that Knoxville is a safe driving city.

Consider this an as letter to the editor of the KNS.

Mr Editor,

You are stating an opinion as a fact. There is no basis to make this claim. All the insurance companies would need to be polled plus the traffic accident information from the police department. Then you would have to add the hit and run statistics. Then you would have to add the number of people that decide not to report the accident because they do not have insurance or do not want their insurance rates to go up. Many people drive cars with body damage because they decide not to report the accident. Just look around you.

Allstate is just one insurance company in Knoxville. 12 months is too short a time frame to derive this conclusion. The Knoxville Police department said that over a 5-month period that accidents were down 5 percent. This is even a shorter time frame. Is it due to more police patrols or is it due to higher gas prices and road construction?

I appreciate your trying to find the good. I only wish the article, Allstate’s claims, and the claims of the KPD were correct.

You deliver a false sense of hope when you state an opinion as a fact. You also give comfort to those drivers that choose to ignore the speed limit talk on their cell phones and run red lights.

I would rather you use your paper to educate people on driving safety. For example you could have an article about how dangerous tailgating is. Professional driving courses advise that you keep a three second space between you and the car in front of you. Simply look at a landmark and count to three. Keep that space between you and the car in front of you. Most people do not understand how long it takes to stop a car traveling 60 mile per hour. According to Edmonds it takes 4.5 seconds and a distance of 271 feet.

Why? From Edmonds, "Because there's more involved in braking than the actual time your brakes are applied to the wheels (called "effective braking"). In particular, "perception time" and "reaction time" add considerable distance to stopping your car. Perception time is the three-quarters of a second it takes for you to realize that you need to brake. Reaction time is the three-quarters of a second it takes to move your foot to the brake pedal. When you combine perception and reaction time, a full 132 feet will pass before your car even begins to slow down from 60 mph. So from the time you perceive a braking situation until the time your car comes to a complete stop, a total of 4.6 seconds elapses. During that time your car travels — it bears repeating — a total of more than 270 feet. That's almost the length of a football field. Of course, the faster you go, the more time and distance it takes to stop."

I wish you would do more to help the community than trying to spin a positive message out of a faulty opinion. The KNS can do better than this and I look forward to a time when you will. I challenge you to write articles that will help local drivers understand how they can be better drivers.

This week I read in another blog the phrase “cell phone blindness”. That is the best description for what happens when people attempt to have a conversation on a hand held cell phone while driving.

Three people were injured by a hit and run driver while they were helping a woman who had run off the road in East Knox County. The Allstate Insurance Company will not report this because the driver of the white four-door sedan fled the scene. Since it happened in Knox County it will not hurt the City of Knoxville’s improved driving record.

The people of this community say it the way it is. "It's just like a race track up and down East End Road," nearby resident Wilma Hicks explains. "I don't know how many have gotten killed, plus wrecks."

If you know who the hit and run driver is then do the right thing and contact the Sheriff’s Department.

There is only one way for this to get better and that is for you as an individual to make the decision to change your habits. Can you set aside your own selfish wishes to take the extra time to drive safely? You can be part of the solution or you can be part of the problem. What will you choose to do?

As I was on the slow moving parking lot we know as I-40 East I heard this tidbit on the 6:00 PM WATE news on my car radio about Knoxville being the safe driving capital of East Tennessee. I got a good laugh on this story. Traveling towards West Town Mall I felt safe because I had not exceeded 15 mph in the last fifteen minutes. Of course the 18-wheeler that pushed me into the left hand emergency lane would not be part of this study because we did not collide. He probably has Allstate insurance. You know what they say; a miss is as good as a mile.

In Farragut we have had three fatal traffic accidents in the last six months. Last week in Farragut I watched a young woman aggressively weave through traffic on Kingston Pike in Farragut while talking on her cell phone. At first I thought it was a young man because of the very aggressive driving and high rate of speed. As she turned into the Hollywood Video Store at about 6:00 PM I was puzzled. This Jessica Simpson look alike was not late she just had a "need for speed". Probably another Allstate customer. I would like to congratulate the ten cars that avoided her on her important errand. Good work, Allstate would like to have your insurance business. I sincerely hope you are not Allstate customers.

This will be a lot of fun. Every aggressive driver will now believe there never was a problem. Allstate Insurance Company said so. So now the "Kingston Pike 500" is officially open. Time to swap a little paint. It really is a lot of fun until someone gets hurt or killed.

This might be a good time to remember what Mark Twain once said, "There are three kind of lies, Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics".

This Allstate study probably means that locally there are more accidents where people leave the scene of the accident than there is safe driving occurring in our fair town. This may be the single most stupid thing I have ever heard. It is in the top five at the very least.

Why is it I think this is just a marketing ploy?

Do you really believe that Knoxville is the fifth most safe city in the entire country for driving safety?