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BLIS Prevented a Nasty Collision Late Saturday Night on the B/W Parkway

4K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  Thommykent 
#1 · (Edited)
Let me set this up for you: For those of you not in the D/C Metro area, the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, a 30 mile, 2 lane in each direction straight shot parkway between, wonder of wonders, Baltimore and Washington, DC, is cut into a swath of dense trees and vegetation bordering both sides and is mostly unlit for a majority of the run. Because of this it is is also known for being one of the most treacherous highways in the region - doubly so at night.



Since it's a Federal Parkway for most of its length it is patrol mostly by U.S. Park Police, Special Police (where it passes by the NSA), and occasionally Maryland State Police in some sections - all agencies very limited enforcement.

What this translates to is a road that, that at night and especially on weekend nights, is used by drag racers - which results in dozens of crashes and fatalities, excessive speeders - which results in dozens of crashes and fatalities, and drunks leaving D.C. after games & partying en-route back to Maryland which results in several crashes and fatalities.
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So with the scene set, last Saturday night around 1am I'm coming from a friend's housewarming party. About halfway into my ride, I realize I'm closing in on a Cadillac ATS which is way underspeeding in the left lane - 10-15 miles under the limit. Typical sign of a drunk trying to 'safely' get home but standing out clear as day to anyone who knows this and also putting anyone else at risk who doesn't realize their closing speed.

I have a choice; I can either flash the highbeams, slow down and put myself at risk of being rear ended while I wait for drunky to realize they should be in the right, or change lanes, accelerate and get around him in the right lane.

Anyone who knows drunk drivers knows they are attracted to flashing lights like moths to a flame. This is why so many cop cars conducting traffic stops on highways are obliterated by impaired drivers. The strobing and flashing lights draws them in a like a control tower.

I elected to change lanes without using my signal. I check my mirrors, begin gliding over to the right while rolling on the gas pedal. About .5 second into my change my right BLIS light turns amber. I look at the mirror and don't see an.... sh*t(!). I yank the wheel back into the left lane and throw on the brakes slow my advance on the ATS. At that very moment I was making the change, a Hyundai with no headlights on blasts by in the right lane doing at least 85-90 (for reference the speed limit on the B/W is 50-55). Had it not been for BLIS, I'm certain I would have had 1/2 a Hyundai in my rear seat and most likely, given I was changing lanes, I would have been hit at an acute angle and spun me off into the woods possibly even flipping me one a tire dug into the soft ground or worse, thrown me into a tree.
 
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#5 ·
Sucks. Have had similar stuff happen in my over 3 decades of road drives in the DC area.
Glad you're OK.
You may have been better off calling the po-po on the ATS or passing him on the left shoulder! LOL
 
#6 · (Edited)
The problem with 911 in that area is you either get PG County or Anne Arundel dispatch on the line - they ask for the mile marker then lazily kick you over to US Park Police who are responsible for most of the BW until about Annapolis Junction / NSA area before MD State police pick it up.

And US PP is so understaffed, they don't get out there with any sort of real urgency. They either wait for a drunk driver or speeder to cross at the Rt 50 / 295 split where it becomes D.C. MPD's problem or if northbound, check-up after Secret Service training area and let the MD State police pick it up when it hits there zone.

How lazy are they? How about this story. A car went upside down just after the exiting the B/W in Beltsville. The driver was trapped in the car. They didn't couldn't find him for over a week despite being 200ft away from the highway.


This is part of the reason Gov. Hogan currently is petitioning the Federal Government to allow Maryland to take full control and ownership of the BW Parkway, widen and modernize it. Of course, the fear is he'll also make it a Toll Road.
https://wtop.com/prince-georges-cou...wants-hogan-to-drop-bw-parkway-takeover-plan/

But I digress. BLIS was a god-send that night.
 
#9 ·
I know this is an old thread but it's hilarious when European drivers make comments about "the facts" when discussion lane-law and courtesy. Drive for any short period of time in any part of the US and you'll find out very quickly that nobody follows the "passing-lane/travelling-lane" rules, or "only pass on the left" rules, or even just the unwritten "don't be a jack*** and hog the left lane" rule. Some states can ticket for it, but the cops won't/don't because they're lazy pieces of ****. (I'm not talking about municipality police here, who actually have tons of other stuff to deal with, I'm talking about state police, who literally have nothing better to do and still can't be bothered to put down Netflix to enforce the rules...) I would love it if passing rules were as strictly enforced in the US as they are in most (I'm guessing here) parts of Europe. Would solve a ton of problems. But I watch people every day (an inordinate number of Texans) enter an on-ramp, immediately signal (or not) to the farthest left lane and stay there no matter what traffic is doing. Infuriating.
 
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