Driving home last night, I saw a helicopter flying east (as I drove west), with its searchlight on. Not entirely unusual. But when I approached the US 192/US 27 interchange, traffic was stopped. This is unusual for any time of day, much less nearing 10:30 on a Sunday night. Figuring there was a small accident at the top of the ramp, I decided to go south on 27 and U-turn to head north.
About a half-mile north of the interchange, traffic both directions on 27 was stopped. I sat on 27 for nearly half an hour before traffic even began to move again. There are no reasonable alternate routes around this stretch.
I'm not sure when it happened, but apparently it wasn't a small accident. I saw two ambulances leave the scene (one speeding away with lights flashing, the other not), and another helicopter (I presume now the first one was connected to the scene). Once traffic finally did begin to move, I saw three different wrecked cars in the highway crossing between an apartment and our local BP Connect.
This is the second time in less than a month that I have seen helicopters lift crash victims from this site. At what point does the intersection become "unsafe" enough to require some sort of action? I imagine it's challenging, because who pays for a change (lowered speed limit, stop light, something else)? It isn't truly a cross-street, just two property owners whose access points meet on opposite sides of a Federal highway. I can't avoid driving this stretch of highway, but I am certainly trying to be more alert when I do so.
When I was growing up, someone distributed bumper stickers that read, "Pray for me. I drive Highway 62," in reference to a local state highway with a high accident rate. Perhaps I need to make and sell ones that read "Pray for me. I drive US 27."
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