I was doing my daughterly duty and visiting dear old Mom in Warren today, and by the time I got to her house my brains were loose and I had to run to a mirror to make sure I still had all my teeth.

Why?

Potholes!

I’ve seen some really nasty road holes in my travels (8 Mile at the 75 interchange? Yeeow.) but these busters today (VanDyke and 12 Mile – stay away) were seriously rocky. After I finished checking my molars, dear old Mom tells me that if I would have had the foresight to take pictures of the road, I could have won me some free tires. Now, while I’m pretty sure that pulling over and trying to photograph the road in rush hour traffic would have put my grill in more danger than just bouncing along VanDyke, but the lure of free stuff might be worth it.

So, find the worst pothole in Macomb County and go win those things! Head to this gentleman’s website to submit your photo. You’ve got until March 5.

Today Google Maps now has a new feature for major cities: real-time traffic data. Included in this is Detroit.

Simply go to Google Maps (or click the image to the left to go straight to Detroit), find your destination and click Traffic, and there you have it!
Colors represent the speed ot traffic. The legend is as follows:
* Green: more than 50 miles per hour
* Yellow: 25 – 50 miles per hour
* Red: less than 25 miles per hour
* Gray: no data available

It is obvious that we need more traffic sensors here in the Motor City, but hey, it’s a start!

This past Saturday, I had driven I-94 quite a bit. First going westbound, I noticed a state trooper on the shoulder with his lights on behind a car with a man changing his wheel. I pointed it out to my girlfriend, because its not often you see something like that. About 30 minutes later, I’m driving eastbound past the same area. Once again I see a trooper pulled behind a car, standing outside while a man is kneeling at a wheel with a tire iron. I had my suspicions, but it still could be pure coincidence. A few hours later I am once again driving westbound on 94 (this time on the way to see the Tigers, awesome game). Once again there is a trooper and another car setup like the other two times.

This is obviously a trap.
So many drivers in Michigan believe if a cop has someone pulled over, its okay to speed past them. This looked like a tactic to grab some of these people. I must say, I’m impressed by their cleverness.

Usually I would say I’m against speed traps, not because I like to speed, but because they are not effective — ineffective for road safety, very effective in ticket writing. However, in this case the cop is in clear view. If you feel you can still break the law since the officer is ‘too busy to catch you’, well then you had it coming.

Of course the city’s website does not have a picture of them, nor do I as yet, but they are in place in midtown and may cost you a lot of money if you are not careful. These little blue and gray boxes are replacing parking meters and it is up to you to make sure to seek out the box, figure out which space you are in – which they say is on a pole but I’ve seen it merely on the curb, pay the appropriate amount, get a print out, go back to your car, stick it on the dash, and hope that you put on the right amount of money. This seems much more complicated than pulling up to a meter, depositing money to keep it from flashing. While it is more complicated for the user, it will be easier for the city and you can use plastic instead of fumbling for quarters. All I know is that when I was in Toronto I wasn’t aware of this system and was fined . . . I have a feeling that the city will see a spike in tickets from people like me who are ecstatic that there is no parking meter where there once was.

Summer is always an aggravating time in and around Detroit with stagnant traffic due to perpetual construction. As you are heading out of the city northbound via Woodward you will notice a banner on your right hand side on the fence of a residential home in the Historic Boston-Edison District: “If you lived here you would be home already.” If I did not already live in the city it would make my blood boil; now it makes me smile.

Today alone, I passed two accidents bad enough to have the highways backed up for miles and the frustrated drivers out of their cars talking with other drivers. A few drivers were even sitting on their cars watching everything around them. I had passed quite a few nasty accidents earlier in the week.

In talking with my boyfriend, he commented on also noticing an increase in bad accidents. Anyone else noticing this? It is fairly accepted that Michigan driving is tricky at best. Since moving here, I have had to adjust to aggressive driving, being cut off, optional red lights/stop lights in Detroit, tailgating and other bad driving tactics. It doesn’t surprise me that there have been so many accidents. It is a case of “if” but “when”.