Murphy's World

Unsafe at any speed

Dear Murphy,

A few years ago, I was running east across I-10 in Louisiana. At each state scale, there was a series of signs slowing me down to 5 mph before hitting the scale, until I got to the Slidell scales, east of New Orleans. The last sign I saw said “25 mph,” so I hit the scales at 25 mph.

Wrong move. Red lights flashing everywhere! Voice on the speaker says, “Park it and come inside.” So, I grabbed my paperwork, registration, etc, and headed inside. As soon as I walked in the door, there was the DOT in my face, saying “You hit my scales at 25 mph,” etc, etc, etc.

I stood there with paperwork in hand and said, “But, officer, the last sign I saw says 25 mph.”

He said, “Yeah, I know. We reported three months ago that the sign was torn down in a storm. They haven’t replaced it yet.”

“Well, officer, I’ll pass the word on to my dispatcher to pass it on to our other drivers. If in this area, watch out for the Slidell scales. Drive 5 mph regardless of what the sign says.”

They took a cursory look at my logbook, then sent my on my way.

Flatspot

Dear Flatspot,

Sometimes you can’t win for losing. That’s especially true when you’re cruising through Murphy’s World, thinking life is good, and then you experience an en-counter of the DOT kind.

You gotta love it when a storm blows a speed limit sign down, the state doesn’t replace it, and suddenly it be-comes the driver’s problem. The best part, of course, is the officer who gets in your grill for obeying the law.

I admire your quick thinking under pressure. The bit about telling your dispatcher to pass the word along to the other drivers was pure genius. We’re always glad to hear that cooler heads prevail—yours and the officer’s.

Regards,

Murphy and Lucky Dog