My corner of the blogosphere was in its infancy - 14 days old, in fact - when I first lampooned the ridiculous, dangerous, 14-mile stretch of Central Expressway from Dallas to Allen known as the HOV lane.
My road-ragey rant went something like this:
The HOV lane dividers are made of what, light bulbs? WTF?! I'm sure these plastic posts are cheaper (i.e. suckier), but when cars accidentally swerve into them they immediately shatter into flying shards of petrified plastic. My neighbor suffered collateral damage of dents in his car and a flat tire from a nearby accident's shrapnel. Drive the highway on a given day - actually, any day - and the posts look like rows of broken, jagged teeth. What was supposed to be a psychological barrier has deteriorated into a physical danger.
Don't look now, but my soap box is getting crowded.
Last night I'm watching Channel 8's news and there's a story on said HOV lane. Citing a "dramatic spike in accidents and fatalities on Central since the HOV lanes opened", reporter David Schecter interviews this genius named Bill Hale. He's the Texas Department of Transportation's top engineer in Dallas and, swear to God, he's worse at his job than Jerry Jones.
Asked if the system is working, Hale responded "Yes."
