Tag Archives: driving in Dickinson North Dakota

Near Accident Almost Costing Me My License And My Job

Uncategorized, , , , , , , , ,

For the first two weeks of October, I griped and complained about getting stopped by the Police in Dickinson and almost getting 9 points on my driver’s license at one time:  3 points for failure to come to a complete stop at a stop sign, and 6 points for not being able to find my proof of liability insurance.  I ended up with just 3 points on my driver’s license for the time being.  When you get over 11 points, you automatically lose your driver’s license.

The job site where I have been working for the past two years is about a one hour drive from Dickinson, it’s not like I can walk or ride my bicycle there if I lose my driver’s license.  It’s out in the middle of nowhere, a rural area with large farms, not a place where you can rent something close by if you can’t drive there.  Besides that, the owner of the company that I work for stated last week that if any employee gets a suspended driver’s license, they can’t work there.

So I am trying to be very careful driving.  On top of everything else, I hit a deer on the way home from work two months ago.  This was the first time in my life that I ever actually hit a deer.  One of my coworkers hit a deer two years ago on the way to this job site and it did $20,000 damage to his new truck.  Another coworker hit a deer on the way home about eight months ago and it totaled his Dodge Caravan, then two weeks later while driving his mother’s car to work he hit another deer and it totaled his mother’s Chrysler 200.

I don’t want to hit another deer, and I don’t want to get stopped by Law Enforcement again, so I drive very slow to and from work.  When vehicles start getting close behind me, I pull off the road at the nearest approach and let them pass me.  About three times per week on the way home, I pull off the road to let one of my coworkers pass me.

This past week, there was a very severe early snow storm that lasted for several days.  Several times, the interstate that passes through this area was closed due to the number of vehicles sliding off the road.  On the way to work on the two-lane highway, I did see a couple of snow related accidents, one where a four-wheel-drive Dodge 1500 pickup truck slid into the back of a dump-truck snow plow.

Last week, getting ready to drive home from work in the dark after working a twelve hour shift, I stopped at the job site exit to let the coworker who usually passes me on the way home, I let him go ahead of me.  He drives a front-wheel-drive Honda Civic, which handles very good on snow and ice, probably even better than a four-wheel-drive truck.

My coworker got out onto the two-lane highway where the speed limit is 65 mph, and he drove 45-50 mph, which was what I was planning to do.  The highway was very icy, probably about the worst I had ever seen.  I stayed about 300 feet behind my coworker.  Every time he came to a very bad ice spot, I could see his brake lights come on, he was slowing down, but he shouldn’t have been using his brakes so much, I thought, just let off the gas pedal.

After about eight miles, I didn’t see my coworker’s tail lights in front of me.  Driving another 100 feet, I then saw that my coworker’s Honda Civic was sideways across both lanes of the highway.  At first I thought that he was trying to turn around, but then I realized that he had hit a bad ice spot and spun out.  Now only about 200 feet from him, I gently put on my brakes, but all wheels locked up, and I began sliding towards him, not slowing down at all, going about 35 mph.  Colliding with him was inevitable.

The vehicle that I was driving, is my most favorite vehicle of any one that I have ever owned.  I try not to drive it too much in order to not put many miles on it, and keep it safe.  I don’t think that I will ever be able to replace this vehicle.  But here I was, sliding towards my coworker going about 35 mph.  He was sitting there appearing to be in shock, and I am about to smash up my most prized possession.

The vehicle that I was driving is all-time-four-wheel drive, it’s always in four-wheel drive, so when I was about 100 feet from my coworker, sliding sideways just like he had slid sideways, not slowing down at all, I let off the brake and I gave it about 15% throttle.  The wheels caught just barely enough to pull me towards the high side of the highway.

I slid past my co-worker still going about 35 mph, but now with the tail end of my vehicle headed for the snow embankment on the high side of the highway.  When the rear end of my vehicle hit the snow embankment, it would be just like the rear tires hitting a curb, causing my vehicle to flip over.  All I could do was wait for impact.  When I hit the snow bank, I didn’t hit solid enough to flip over.

I drove my vehicle out of the snow bank, and I parked on the edge of the highway.  I spoke to my coworker briefly, and he said that he wanted me to go ahead of him for the rest of the way home.  I drove about 45-50 mph the rest of the way home with my hazard-flasher lights on.  This was the worst and most icy road that I had ever seen in my seventeen years of driving in snow.

This time, I gradually put about two miles distance between me and the vehicles behind me.  It was more than a one hour drive home this time, only going 45-50 mph, but not even the idiots could go any faster and catch up to me.  My coworker called me just as I was entering Dickinson to see if I had made it, I was out of sight from him.  I told him to stop at Hardees restaurant when he got into Dickinson.

When my coworker arrived at Hardees, I said to him that if I had hit him, that I would probably have been cited for the accident.  I asked him if he knew that we would have had to report this accident, if you don’t report an accident in North Dakota, it’s six points on your driver’s license.  Judging from my coworker’s response, he didn’t know that you had to report the accident, he would not have wanted to report the accident, at first.

I was kind of angry, not so much at my coworker, but at the whole situation.  I was driving slow, I let my coworker go ahead of me, I was staying 300 feet behind him, plenty far enough I thought to be able to stop in time.  The ice that he spun out on, in a front-wheel-drive car, was the ice that I had to try to stop on, and I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t even steer away from him, let alone stop.

I would have been cited for the accident, 3 more points on my driver’s license.  My coworker who acted like he would not have wanted to report this accident, because he didn’t know that he had to, would probably have changed his mind once he talked to his insurance company.  Another 6 points for me for not reporting the accident, plus the 3 points for being cited for the accident, plus the 3 points that I got at the beginning of the month, means a suspended driver’s license for me.

I am so uncomfortable, uneasy, and unsettled living in North Dakota.  So many bad things are always happening, even though all I am trying to do is just go to work, go to the grocery store, and just pay my bills.  Living here really is like being in prison, nothing good ever happens, only bad things happen here.

Update:

I talked to a Highway Patrol Officer for about five to ten minutes, describing what had happened, and asking him questions.  He told me that the Highway Patrol does not always make a determination of who was at fault in an accident, nor do they always give someone a citation for an accident, as in a weather/road condition/stalled vehicle related accident.

The Highway Patrol Officer also informed me, that up until August of 2019 it was mandatory to report a vehicle accident where there was more than $1,000 damage.  After August of 2019, the vehicle accident reporting law was updated, where it became mandatory to report a vehicle accident where there was more than $4,000 damage.

Lastly, the Highway Patrol Officer indicated that if all parties involved in a vehicle accident choose to exchange identification and insurance information, and forego reporting an accident where no one was injured and there was not that much damage, the Highway Patrol is not interested in trying to give anyone a citation for not reporting the accident.

The Deadly Crosswalks Of Dickinson, North Dakota

Uncategorized, , , , , , , , ,

Stopping at the crosswalks on Villard Street in Dickinson for pedestrians is like watching pheasants, ducks, or house pets get run over.  The pedestrians in the crosswalk have this mistaken belief that all of the vehicles are going to come to a stop.  No, they aren’t going to stop!

Whether I am in the right lane, or the left lane on Villard Street, when I slow down and come to a stop when pedestrians are entering the marked white-striped crosswalk, and I watch the pedestrians begin crossing the street in front of me, it never fails that a motorist travelling in the adjacent lane continues driving at 30 mph, oblivious to the fact that I have stopped in the middle of the road at some white-striped pavement markings and street signs the read “Crosswalk”, and that there are pedestrians about to emerge from in front of my vehicle.

It is really scary and nerve wracking, to watch a mom and her little kids make it across the first two lanes of traffic, pass in front of your vehicle, and then when they are just about ready to step into the last last lane and cross, Wrvroom!, some ignorant, inbred, piece of shit going 30 mph nearly kills the whole family.

Most people in Dickinson can’t read, there is no way they can understand signs, or understand pavement markings.  They can’t understand something like, “Pedestrians in the crosswalk have the right-of-way” or “Yield to pedestrians” or “Crosswalk”.

More Reckless Driving, And What Are People In Dickinson, North Dakota?

Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , ,

At the apartment building where I live in downtown Dickinson, there are not enough parking spaces in the parking lot for each resident to have one.  Each night there are usually about ten residents who have to park their vehicle on the street beside the building.

Last week, a new resident in the apartment building parked his older Dodge sedan on the street on Saturday evening, and someone ran into it, completely destroying it, and then they drove away.  This resident’s vehicle was about  fifteen years old, and it was worth about $2,500.  I am sure that he did not have comprehensive insurance coverage on this vehicle because it was not worth very much.  So just like that, he was without a vehicle, out about $2,500, and probably without any money to buy a replacement vehicle.

About two months ago, I wrote about a foreigner resident in the apartment building where I live, getting his vehicle ticketed for being parked in the same spot on the street for more than 48 hours.  The battery in his vehicle was dead, and he did not understand that his vehicle was going to get towed if he didn’t move it to a different spot.  His vehicle got towed away, and within one week, the tow and storage fees were $405, and after that there no was chance that he was ever going to get his vehicle back.

This is a low-rent apartment building where I live, and it is sad to see that so many of my neighbors never get ahead.  It is like they take one step forward, and two steps back.  Every time they start to get back on their feet, they get knocked back down again.

One of the things that is so perilous about this neighborhood where I live, is the car crashes.  The street that I live on is not a main thoroughfare, the speed limit is 25 mph, and it is a straight road.  However, in the less than two years that I have lived in this neighborhood, there have been five car crashes next to where I live.

I thought back on everywhere that I had lived in my 47 years of life, prior to moving to this neighborhood in downtown Dickinson, and I counted five vehicle accidents on or around my previous residences.  In my seven years of living in Tampa with over 1 million people, there were only two vehicle accidents at the apartments where I lived.  In Dickinson, with less than 25,000 people, in less than two years there have been five vehicle accidents beside where I live.

Many people in Dickinson now are a special kind of stupid, it’s hard to explain exactly.  Historically, the people in Dickinson were farmers and blue-collar workers, these types of people normally have common sense.  The people in Dickinson though they might have been poor, they were not white-trash because they were honest and there was very little theft in Dickinson.

I don’t know how it happened, but all of a sudden it was like the offspring of the farmers and blue-collar workers in Dickinson had attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder, plus a methamphetamine addiction, making them run around and drive vehicles like weasels.

People used to be described as professional, white-collar, tradespeople, blue-collar, white, white-trash, red-neck, hillbilly, yankee, black, poor black, Hispanic, Asian etcetera, and these terms were sufficient to give an idea of the person’s characteristics.

Many people in Dickinson do not fall into any of the above categories or descriptions.  Many of the people in Dickinson could be described as ADHD meth addict weasels, because of their erratic, hyperactive, non-thinking, irresponsible, stupid, destructive behavior, especially when driving a vehicle.

Things To Keep In Your Vehicle In North Dakota

Uncategorized, , , , , , , , ,

I have written blog posts similar to this one in the past, but I want to add a few more items to the list, and emphasize the importance of other items.

It has been very, very cold in North Dakota for this past week of February into the beginning of March 2019.  During the day and night, with the low temperature and the 20 mph to 35 mph winds, the temperature outside with windchill effect has been -30 to -40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Even though I have been wearing sweat pants and sweat shirts underneath quilt-lined winter overalls, with the high winds these past couple of weeks, I have found that I have become very cold when standing outside for more than ten minutes, particularly in my feet and hands.  Without gloves on, especially if you are handling metal objects, your hands can become painfully cold within five minutes in this below 0 degree F, windy weather.

One of the reasons why I am writing this type of blog post again, is because I did have a vehicle break down in December of 2018, and again in March of 2019, so here is my list, with an explanation:

  1. Cell Phone.  The most important thing to have with you in your vehicle in North Dakota is your cell phone.  You can call someone you know to come and get you, call someone to come and help you, call a tow truck, call the Highway Patrol, or call work to let them know where you are.
  2. Heavy Sleeping Bag.  The reason why I am putting a Heavy Sleeping Bag at #2 on my list, is because you can go more than a day without water, more than several days without food, but with the cold temperatures that we have been having lately in North Dakota, you could die from the cold within a couple of hours.  Women and young girls in North Dakota, have a very bad habit of not wearing heavy enough warm winter clothing, thinking that nothing bad is going to happen to them, or that there will always be someone else around to help them, which is not true.
  3. Tow Insurance.  On my State Farm Insurance vehicle insurance policy for instance, it costs about $8 additional per six months, to add “roadside assistance”.  This tow insurance paid for a $365 tow that I had in 2016, and a $510 tow that I had in 2018.
  4. A Firearm.  The reason why I am putting a Firearm higher on my list than jumper cables or fix-a-flat, is because more important than getting your vehicle moving again, is being able to defend your own life.  North Dakota may not be as bad as other states, but the older that I get, the more places that I have been, the more that I have learned and experienced, the more that I know that there are depraved people that attempt to prey upon and victimize other people.  (For those of you who do not live in states like Idaho or North Dakota, there are many states that have gun laws that are meant to allow law-abiding people to be armed, especially when traveling.)
  5. Heavy Duty Tow Strap.  It is good to have a Heavy Duty Tow Strap that is at least twenty feet in length to use to pull your vehicle if it becomes stuck, is off the road, or needs to be pulled home or to the nearest town.
  6. A Good Battery Jump Start Box.  An example of a Good Battery Jump Start Box, are the 1000 peak amp jump start boxes made by Stanley that cost about $80.  I have used several of these Stanley 1000 peak amp jump start boxes on dead batteries on big V8 engines, and they have plenty enough power and energy capacity for multiple starts.  These jump start boxes also have a built-in air compressor and power outlet ports for charging things like cell phones.  It is safer to use these jump start boxes to start a vehicle, than using jumper cables, to avoid potentially damaging your own vehicle or someone else’s vehicle.
  7. Heavy Duty Jumper Cables.
  8. A can of Fix-A-Flat for large size tires.
  9. AlumaSeal or Bar’s Stop Leak for radiator leaks.
  10. Bottle of Heet Gas Line Anti-Freeze.  It was so cold in Dickinson recently, that my vehicle would not start after I stopped at a service station to fill it up with gasoline.  I either had water in my vehicle gas tank from condensation, snow had blown into the service station tank when it was being filled, or my vehicle gas line froze.  In any case, it started very quickly after adding a bottle of Heet Gas Line Antifreeze to my vehicle fuel tank.
  11. Extra Coolant, Engine Oil, Transmission Fluid, Duct Tape, Vice-Grips, and Flashlight.
  12. Small Mechanic’s Tool Kit.  You can go to any hardware store, Menards, Runnings, or WalMart and find a small Mechanic’s Tool Kit with an assortment of metric and SAE sockets, wrenches, bits, and drivers for $50.
  13. Several Bottles Of Drinking Water.

I am going to finish this blog post by giving some very important advice that I believe many readers have not thought about.  Especially during this very, very cold weather that we have been having in North Dakota, be very careful and cautious about helping other people.

Sometimes, the most likely people to be having vehicle problems on the side of the road, are the least intelligent, mentally handicapped, bad judgement, lifetime problem people, and you have to be very wary and cautious about helping these people.

For instance, many, many people will not hesitate to hook up battery jumper cables the wrong way on your car battery, which could destroy your vehicle’s electrical system, not only causing you thousands of dollars in vehicle damage, but leaving you without a running vehicle, stranded on the side of the road with them.

Or, people who have slid off the road onto a steep embankment beside the road, may not hesitate in trying to talk you into attaching a tow rope to your vehicle in order to try to pull them back onto the road.  Do not do this if there is deep gorge or drop off below, if their vehicle continues to slide downhill, it may pull your vehicle all the way down to the bottom of the gorge.

It may be safer for you to offer to call the Highway Patrol or a tow truck, rather than risk your vehicle and your own safety trying to help someone else, who may have extremely bad judgment, not care about causing you problems, or who could even be a threat to you.

The Epitome Of Stupid, Crazy People In Dickinson, North Dakota

Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , ,

This morning, Sunday February 3, I was driving north on Highway 22, fifty miles south of Dickinson.  The temperature outside was -23 degrees Fahrenheit, and there was a 30 mph cross wind, making the temperature with windchill effect about -50 to -60 degrees Fahrenheit.

I did not want to hit a deer, go off the road, or have any kind of car problems because it was so cold, that getting stuck in such a remote area with a vehicle that is not running, could literally be life threatening.  The speed limit on this section of Highway 22 is 65 mph all the way to Dickinson.   I planned on driving 60 mph to 65 mph just to be safe.  There was very little snow on the road, but snow was blowing in the air across the road.

When I was about forty miles south of Dickinson, I caught up to a maroon color Ford F250 pickup truck that was travelling at about 55 mph.  I could tell from the large tires and suspension lift that this F250 truck was four-wheel-drive.  I didn’t know why the driver of this truck was going so slow, with such a big, heavy four-wheel drive truck.  I thought that maybe they were just being cautious due to the weather conditions.

I was trying to be cautious too, and I thought that maybe they knew better than me, maybe they were aware of some deeper snow drifts across the road further up ahead.  I decided to stay at least three hundred feet behind this F250 truck, because I was not in a hurry, I didn’t want to pass them, and I didn’t want to tail gate them.

For the next twenty miles, I stayed at least three hundred feet behind this Ford F250 pickup truck, though I thought that I could probably drive safely at about 60 mph to 65 mph, instead of the 55 mph that this truck was doing.  About twenty miles south of Dickinson, where the wind was much less strong, I passed this F250 truck, driving at about 70 mph in order to get around them, when there were no oncoming cars at all.

I then saw that in the back of this Ford F250 pickup truck there was a black piece of travel luggage with a pull-handle on the top of it.  I thought that they must be headed for the Dickinson Theodore Roosevelt Airport ten miles up ahead.  I thought that is why they are driving only 55 mph, they want to be sure to get to the airport in time to check in, but they don’t want to get to the airport too early either.

About ten minutes later when I drove past the Dickinson Theodore Roosevelt Airport, I looked in my rear view mirror, and I saw that this F250 pickup truck that I had passed earlier, it had really gained speed and it had nearly caught up to me.  In order to catch up to me so quickly, they must have begun driving at more than 70 mph.

They didn’t turn into the airport after all, but continued driving at about 70 mph, until they were tail gating me pretty aggressively just as I was reaching the Dickinson City Limits where the speed limit decreases from 65 mph to 45 mph.  When I began slowing down for the 45 mph speed limit sign, this F250 pickup truck got to within ten feet of my rear bumper.

I was pretty angry about suddenly being tail gated like this in an aggressive manner, considering the circumstances.  This truck had driven 55 mph, ten miles per hour below the posted speed limit, for almost the entire fifty miles to Dickinson, and I had followed them at a safe distance for twenty miles while they were driving well below the speed limit.  Then for some reason, in the last ten miles they drove at least 70 mph, and then began tail gating me aggressively while I was driving at the posted speed limit.

I was about ready to come to a complete stop in the middle of the road, get out of my vehicle, and see if they wanted to get out of their vehicle to tell me what their problem was.  This F250 pickup truck then made a left turn onto 20th Street SW, and I could see clearly that it was the same maroon color four-door truck that I had passed ten minutes earlier that was going so slowly for almost the entire fifty miles to Dickinson.

I wanted to turn around, and follow this truck to wherever it was going, get out, and ask the driver, “What are you doing?  Why were you driving at 55 mph the whole way to Dickinson when the speed limit was 65 mph, and then just before you get here you want to drive 70 mph and tail gate me, ten feet behind me, like you have some kind of emergency.  What is wrong with you?”

I have written a blog post before about tail gaters in Dickinson.  I can’t understand why the people in Dickinson are so stupid that they can’t understand that there is no way that running into the back of another vehicle is not going to result in them getting cited for an accident and being held responsible for the damage done to their own vehicle, the other person’s vehicle, and possibly the other person’s medical bills for neck or back injuries.

I Hate Tailgaters In Dickinson, North Dakota

Uncategorized, , , , , , , ,

I hate tailgaters in Dickinson, North Dakota.  Dickinson is the worst place that I have ever lived regarding tailgating.  The second worst tailgating place that I have ever lived, is the small town in Idaho where I bought a home.

You might think that the worst tailgaters, would be the pushy, aggressive people in Tampa, Orlando, Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, or Salt Lake.  But the people in the big cities who drive in heavy traffic every day, know that if you follow too closely behind another vehicle, you are going to be in an at-fault vehicle accident for rear-ending another vehicle.

In Dickinson, and in the small town in Idaho where I used to live, it appeared that the local people were too stupid to have ever had the thought, “If this vehicle in front of me slams on the brakes, there is no way that I could stop in time before running into the back of this vehicle.  I would be the one who was blamed for the accident, for following too close, driving too fast, or not paying attention.”

It’s like the people in Dickinson have this thought process, “The stoplight up ahead has just changed to red, even though there is no way to continue through the stop light at this moment, I will follow as closely as possible behind the vehicle in front of me, so that at least I might get into an at-fault accident, have some points assessed against my driver’s license, have my vehicle insurance go up or be cancelled, and have some damage done to my vehicle so that I won’t be able to drive it for a while.”

The tailgaters in Dickinson fall into the following categories, from the most common, to the least common:

  1. Ford F250/F350, Dodge 2500/3500, Chevy 2500/3500 owners that follow too closely because that is what they think their vehicle is for, tailgating.  In Dickinson, probably 50% of the people who own these 3/4 ton-1 ton pickup trucks, do not own a trailer of any kind, or do any heavy hauling, so the next best thing in their mind, is to drive like an asshole.  Even if you are driving at the speed limit, or a little over the speed limit, in a 25 mph, 35 mph, or 45 mph zone, they follow as closely as possible, because they are in big hurry to get from one red stop light to the next red stop light.
  2. Stupid, inexperienced, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder young people with $2,500 vehicles.  Mostly from poor families, but a small few are from middle class or upper middle class families, mixed up, troubled, confused, drug addict young people who can never think more than one step ahead, they just don’t know how to not get into a car accident yet.
  3. Highway drivers outside of Dickinson, that can’t use logic, reasoning, understand physics, or do math.  Scenario: “If you are driving one mile behind a vehicle, and over the course of five minutes, you steadily become closer, and closer, and closer to the vehicle ahead of you, are you going faster than the vehicle ahead of you, and is the vehicle ahead of you going slower than you are?  Do you think that you will need to pass the slower moving vehicle ahead of you, or if you follow the slower moving vehicle ahead of you as closely as possible, will you be going the same speed as you have been going?”
  4. Highway drivers that feel safer driving as closely as possible behind you.  There are women drivers that are young, middle-aged, or older who somehow feel like they are safer, if they can drive as closely as possible behind your vehicle, that you know where you are going, that you know the speed limit, that everything will be O.K. if they stay right behind you.  It’s like they are scared to be alone in the woods, alone in the dark, or alone on the highway.  There are some confused men, maybe they don’t even have a driver’s license, that try to stay right behind another vehicle, because they feel like they will get into less trouble and not be noticed by law enforcement.

The least likely people to tailgate, are truly successful people who have accumulated many assets.  They do not want any vehicle accident, personal injury, or property damage of any kind, because this would only be a waste of their time, a nuisance, an inconvenience, and possibly cause them other problems.  They do not want to have any altercation with people, if they can possibly avoid it.

Wealthy people, successful people, have experienced the frustration of being stuck in slow moving traffic, so they have gone and gotten their pilot’s license, and have bought an airplane either by themselves, or jointly with several other people.  If they want to or expect to travel long distances, they use their airplane.  They have planned ahead, not to be frustrated with traffic.

Wealthy people, successful people, plan on taking several or more vacations and trips each year.  They look forward to going to their vacation home in a different state, or a different country.  They look forward to laying on a warm, sunny beach, going sailing, going deep sea fishing, or going scuba diving.  How or why, would they want to be involved in an at-fault vehicle accident, wasting their time and money, and causing other problems, by driving so close behind other people that they can’t stop in time to avoid a rear-end collision?  They plan, not to get into vehicle accidents.

Wealthy successful people, spend their time looking at investments, buying real estate, starting a business, buying businesses, and instructing and mentoring their children.  They plan what they do with their time.  Why would they plan on being in a vehicle accident by driving so close behind other people that they can not stop in time to avoid a rear-end collision?  They plan, not to get into vehicle accidents.

It is only the poor people, the stupid people, the drug addicts, the feeble minded, the white trash, and the dumb-as-a-box-of-rocks blue collar people that can not get it through their stupid fucking thick skulls, that driving so close behind other people that they can not stop in time to avoid a collision, is something that is going to waste their time, waste other people’s time, cause an altercation, cost them money, cause points on their driver’s license, require repair on their vehicle, raise their vehicle insurance or cause insurance to be cancelled, and possibly cause them problems with their current and future employment.

Dumb Driving By New People In Dickinson, North Dakota

Uncategorized, , , , , , ,

For several years I have been meaning to write about how local people in Dickinson, North Dakota drive, which is irritating, but not as bad, or as dangerous as how some new people in Dickinson drive.

Sometimes, you can tell from how a person in Dickinson is driving, that they must have just got here from Denver, Phoenix, or Salt Lake City.  In these cities, there are long distances to cover, often on congested, multi-lane, high speed roads.  The people who live in cities like this, drive aggressively.

This aggressive driving involves doing everything fast, drive fast up to a stop sign, don’t stop completely, pull out into traffic immediately, follow just a few feet behind the car in front of you.  There is very little room for error, and mistakes made by you or another driver, can be catastrophic when you drive fast and aggressive like this everywhere you go.

There are several problems with driving like this in Dickinson, and I will give some examples.  One, in downtown Dickinson in the residential areas, there are often not any stop signs at intersections.  In the past, the downtown residential areas were not very busy, local people took their time and were not in a hurry, the speed limit is only 25 mph, and local people did not have a problem yielding to approaching drivers, as no one had the right-of-way.  I have seen new people in Dickinson speed through downtown residential areas, and assume that because they do not see any stop sign, they can continue to drive fast through intersections.  They don’t even realize that the cross street does not have a stop sign either, and they are driving so fast that they don’t even know that they just made a mistake, and need to be more careful next time at that intersection.

Two, on Villard Street downtown, there are several designated cross walks, where pedestrians have the right-of-way, and approaching vehicles are supposed to stop and yield to pedestrians entering the cross walk.  The speed limit on Villard Street in these areas is 25 mph, which is good, because sometimes pedestrians step out into the cross walk from behind parked cars, and drivers do not have very much time to react and stop.  I have seen some new people in Dickinson, driving faster than they should on Villard Street, not realizing that there are designated crosswalks, and they don’t even slow down when people are in the crosswalk trying to cross the street, while other drivers have come to a complete stop.

Three, there is a difference between a small town with 25,000 people, versus a large city with over a million people.  All of the streets in Dickinson, are residential streets, they are not limited access or controlled access high volume commuter routes.  The main thoroughfares in Dickinson, have many homes, churches, schools, and businesses that abut the streets.  You can expect people to back out into these streets, come to a stop, turn their steering wheel , and then proceed ahead with the flow of traffic.  This is not a hold up, or a hazard, this is just a normal everyday occurrence that you can expect on these 25mph to 35 mph residential streets in Dickinson.

However, I have seen people who have recently arrived in Dickinson, think that a 25 mph to 35 mph speed limit is obsolete, that they are going to drive on the residential streets like they are on a commuter route, and if anyone should attempt to pull out onto the street that they are on while they are driving 45 mph, they are going to get run over.  The answer to this, is that if you want to run into someone on a residential 25 mph street in Dickinson while driving 45 mph, you can, you will have many opportunities.  You have a 50% chance more or less, that you will be cited for the accident.  The Police are going to ask you, or figure out themselves, why you were not able to slow down in time, the speed limit is only 25 mph.

This past Sunday in Dickinson, I was stopped at the north exit of the Runnings parking lot, waiting to make a right turn onto 21st Street, to drive east toward the traffic lights at the Hwy 22 intersection one block to the east.  I was waiting on a blue Chevy Impala driving on 21st Street coming from the west, with its right turn signal on, as it slowed down to make a right turn into the Runnings parking lot.  I wanted to make sure that the Chevy Impala was actually going to turn before I proceeded out onto 21st Street.   I was also vaguely aware that there were other vehicles on 21st Street that were coming from the west, that were getting closer to this blue Chevy Impala as it was slowing down and making a right turn into the parking lot.

What I was kind of surprised to see, as I was just about able to make a right turn onto 21st Street as the Chevy Impala made its right turn into the parking lot, was that the black Audi behind it coming from the west, was going about 45 mph to 50 mph, and was not slowing down.  If I would have made my right turn onto 21st Street at that time, the black Audi would have either run into the back of my truck, or it could have swerved into the turn lane to avoid a collision with my truck, but possibly had a head on collision with a vehicle in the turn lane, because like I said, it was driving at about 45 mph to 50 mph.

This black Audi car had a license plate from Europe on its front bumper, like this was a cool car from the Autobahn in Germany.  I thought that they were an idiot, this is not the Autobahn with controlled access, this is a 25 mph to 35 mph street right where people are exiting the car wash, the nursing home, Runnings, and the gas station convenience store.

I really wanted to see what state they were from by looking at their rear license plate when they passed.  The rear license plate was covered by a thick tinted and hazed plastic cover.  These plastic covers are installed on cars driven by speeders to prevent highway cameras in places like Phoenix from being able to photograph the license plates and issue a speeding ticket through the mail.  However, these plastic covers also make it hard for people to read their license plate, and I could not even see the license plate at all.

This told me that this person has not been in Dickinson very long at all.  The Police in Dickinson are not going to tolerate a license plate that they can’t even read when they are directly behind their vehicle.  You can be stopped and issued a citation for this, and the Police in Dickinson want to look up every license plate in front of them.