THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 8, 1996 TAG: 9602060079
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
Being a NASCAR and auto racing fan for more than 35 years, I don't understand the people who make the decisions to raise speed limits on the highways. Those people evidently have not driven on our highways lately.
Every day I travel on the interstate running the speed limits, people pass me like I'm not moving.
The local and state police can't control this problem because they don't have the manpower or backing to help.
T.D. Parker
Willowwood Drive A stickery traffic problem
I am writing about a matter of serious concern for all motorists in the area: morning rush-hour traffic.
I have been listening to my radio as I go to work every morning only to hear about accidents, traffic jams and backups on the interstate systems. I thank the Lord that I am not involved in this predicament because I only work a couple of miles from my home and only travel on the back streets.
I do have a few very close friends who every morning trudge through all the mess trying to get to work. One of these friends, a civilian government employee, has a hypothesis that I found fascinating, and I want to pass it along to all the poor souls who fight their way to work every day.
It is really quite simple and can be corrected by a simple observation by every government employee who reads this. This difficulty started the very first day the bases removed the guards from the gates. Before you think I have lost my mind, let me explain.
By removing the guards, no one is checking to see if each vehicle that enters the gate has a base sticker. In the pre-open-base era, no one could get on the base without a sticker. To get a sticker you had to present the base security department with certain things that were basic to security and the legality of your vehicle - things like proof of ownership, proof of insurance, inspection receipts and driver's license. Without these things being current and legal, you were denied the privilege of a sticker, thus denying you access to the base.
Now, even though the rules say you must have a sticker to park on the base, one of my friends says this is just not happening. Recently, within a mile and a half distance, two of my friends who carpool said they counted, while riding, 18 vehicles with no stickers parked along the road in plain sight. Bear in mind I said while riding. My friends believe that several vehicles were missed because a large number of them were parked in a manner that seeing a sticker from the street was not possible, and one of them was busy driving.
Most of my government friends agree and believe there are thousands of additional vehicles on the road that are not street legal or at least not base-requirement legal. They also say this has ravaged the carpool and ride-share programs, because people are driving by themselves who would not be allowed to drive on the base if guards were checking stickers. They merely could not meet the requirements previously mentioned.
My friends say that the base is regularly sending messages reminding them that even though the bases are open, they are still required to keep their base stickers current.
I did say this was simple, and it is. We can keep the base an open base and stop the problem by enforcing the parking rule. Now this has obviously become a serious problem of huge proportion that the base police need help enforcing. Simply do this. If you work for the government, report all vehicles you observe in violation to your departmental security office or the base police force. Together we can have an open base and end traffic gridlock.
Mandy D. Thompson
McNutt Court by CNB