You're driving around the DC Beltway, and notice a car that's on fire on the shoulder

[GoddessOfGuinness]

Poll question: You're driving around the DC Beltway, and notice a car that's on fire on the shoulder

What do you do?

This poll was inspired by a car fire on the Beltway yesterday afternoon, but it's been on my mind.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

1. Keep going and call 9/11 -

there's almost no shoulder on the Beltway, and you don't want to be near a burning car or get in the way of the firetrucks that will soon arrive.

Hey, how are you?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

2. This was near College Park...

so there was plenty of shoulder, fortunately. I couldn't believe the gawkers, though!

This was a crazed week for me...more madness tomorrow, with an all-day rehearsal/concert extravaganza at the National Building Museum.

How about you? Enjoying summer? :toast:

[Tangerine LaBamba]

10. Ah, that part of the Beltway is alien to me .....

On the Virginia side, it's scant and scary.

Oh, that extravaganza sounds wonderful! That museum is gorgeous, and I'll wager the acoustics are fabulous. Break a leg, kid.

I'm getting along. Things are complicated, and sometimes difficult, but going forward gives me, at the very least, the appearance of sanity. So far, so good.

This is what you'll experience tomorrow:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

11. LOL...It's a beautiful building...

but it's too huge! The museum shop is what I love.

We're playing for some choral fest. Should be fun! I've got a long break in between rehearsal and performance. If you happen to be in the area, we could meet for lunch.

Keep the sanity going! :-)

[Tangerine LaBamba]

27. We will meet up,

but, for now, I'm stuck with staying close to home. I'll explain.

But, yeah, we'll make plans................... :hi:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

29. I look forward to it!

I hope things are better for you soon!
:hug::hug::hug:

[Captain Hilts]

41. Best gift shop in DC and bathrooms, also. I like to call it the Pension Building. nt

[Quantess]

3. Crack open a beer, and when the police arrive, be sure to offer them one.

And say "here's one for the road, ociffer".

[GoddessOfGuinness]

4. Good idea...

:rofl:

[jobycom]

5. I'd be snapping photos.

Being from the South, I'd just assume it was part of the show.

[jeff30997]

7. Bwahahah!

Yeah you're a real hillbilly. :rofl:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

13. Well I have to admit

it'd make an exciting pic! :rofl:

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

6. does it have diplodunk plates?

or govt plates?

[jeff30997]

8. diplodunk went extinct 65 millions years ago.

Sorry.:P

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

9. guess you have not been to DC or NYC

then... they thrive there

[GoddessOfGuinness]

16. They drive like they want to be extinct.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

14. You can't tell because it's engulfed in flames

[ohheckyeah]

12. Hope and pray that

it's Cheney in the car and he can't get out????

[GoddessOfGuinness]

17. Ooo...

:hurts:

[ohheckyeah]

31. LOL that was really mean of me wasn't it? n/t

[Chan790]

15. nothing..

It seemed to be a weekly occurrence when I lived in DC, NoVA and the PGC. I saw a few when I lived in Columbia and Baltimore too.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

18. Bound to happen

when people use their SUVs like dragsters.

But I've lived in the area almost all my 50 years, and rarely see car fires...and I drive a lot.

[Chan790]

22. and it never seemed to happen in Monty County either.

:shrug: No idea why...the two worst drivers I knew in DC were a native Rockvillian and a Gaithersburger. I really just took the Metro and MARC everywhere...why drive when you can pay someone else $1.40 to drive?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

24. What i have seen a lot of in Montgomery County...

is windshields smashed in by flying ice from uncleared vehicles. :(

[vadawg]

32. in my experience maryland drivers are the worst of the area

followed by DC then VA, though there are exceptions, but anytie you see a MD tag on the VA side watch out, its like they think they are in the deep south and are lost or something, hello its alexandria its not really VA.

[madinmaryland]

51. Maybe if your roads weren't so undriveable you wouldnt have a problem.

:grr:

[Moondog]

49. + 1

and for the reason you stated.

[deepthought42]

19. I stop for nothing on 495...

there are some crazy people on that road... :scared:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

21. Tell me about it!

They're the ones toasting marshmallows.

[flvegan]

20. Pull safely in front, pop the hatch, grab my fire extinguisher

and try to assist.

I helped put out a Vette on fire at an intersection several years ago, so I know that this is what I'd do.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

23. Good for you!

I hope you're around if I'm ever so unfortunate.

But tell me, is there a point at which a fire is just too big for an extinguisher? The one I saw yesterday had flames licking out beyond the hood...seemed like the cab of the SUV was in danger of catching fire.

[flvegan]

25. Oh yeah, sure.

The Vette I helped attend to had a medium sized engine fire. If the whole of the car was engulfed, there's nothing you can do. The interior is the really flammable part. If you can keep it under the hood, there's not a LOT of fuel for it (so long as no gas/oil lines are ruptured. Lots of metal, plastics and rubber.

[BrotherBuzz]

26. Last time I looked, Corvette bodies were made of fiberglass

flammable fiberglass.

[flvegan]

28. Right, which is why once you pop the clamshell hood

the fiberglass is out of the way in an engine fire. Minute sideskirts aside.

I mean, only an idiot tries to put out an engine fire with the hood down, right?

[LostinVA]

36. This is the DC Beltway, Megan

You'd probably get mugged for doing that. And, that's just the DC cops.

[Captain Hilts]

40. You DO NOT stop or get out of your car on the Capital Beltway. It's got LeMans-style curves, etc.

and high cement barriers on each side for most of it that make it dangerous to pull over or stop, let alone get out of your car.

[L. Coyote]

45. Exactly. Someone saved my truck and all my tools that way!

I learned a lot about fixing my own gas filter from the experience!

[NMDemDist2]

30. we called them 'car-b-ques' in Phoenix

you'd hear of 3-4 daily in the summer in there

[Captain Hilts]

43. Same here in DC. HEY DCers - Tangerine, etc. do you remember the two weeks on 395...

aka "The Shirley Highway" in 1990 in which - in the SAME spot - there were three incidents:

1) A wreck that created a chemical spill
2) Horse trailer wreck that released horses onto 395 that had to be caught
3) A wreck that resulted in stinger anti-aircraft missiles falling all over 395.

[old mark]

33. Saw a car completely involved in flames once on the median strip of I-95 North,

with the obvious outline of a driver slumped over the wheel. There was nothing to be done. This was in 1969, before cell phones.

I'll never forget it.

mark

[Are_grits_groceries]

34. You couldn't pay me to

stop on the Beltway. People become psychotic after 10 minutes driving on it. The onramps that throw you into the fast lanes don't help. "Warp factor a brazillion Mr. Sulu."

[LostinVA]

37. I loved it (not) when they changed teh traffic pattern a few years ago

I didn't think they could make the traffic flow worse. I WAS WRONG!!!!!

Totally feel you re: spitting you directly into the fast lanes. Because, that also makes so much sense!

[Are_grits_groceries]

38. It's like Mad Max

got the contract to design the Beltway and make changes as needed. In addition, NOBODY is going to give you any space and the onramps are very short. It feels like you have about 10 feet before you run out of room.

[Captain Hilts]

44. The pitches and rolls that make it like LeMans were intended to make it 'scenic'. No kidding. nt

[LostinVA]

56. Yeah, "scenic" is good to see RIGHT BEFORE YOU FUCKING DIE

Having to go 80 mph in five lanes of bumper-to-bumper traffic around frigging C-curves.

The DC Beltway is its own special hell. And people ask me if I think the traffic in NONJ is bad. I guffaw.

[LostinVA]

53. That describes it perfectly!

Yeah, and they beep the horn at you because you only enter the FAST LANE going 35 miles a hour because that's all the speed you can get it.

It sucks.

[Are_grits_groceries]

58. It's like a huge game called

"Beltway Merge." You win or lose points by making people let you in. The bigger the vehicle the more points you get. You also get points by coming as close to the car in front of you without touching it. Nascar has nothing on people who drive the Beltway. They think they are so cool because they can draft so closely once a week and get paid for it. Smoke and Junior - pfffft.

If you leave 1 inch of space, somebody is going to squeeze into it.

[LostinVA]

35. Other: How is this any different than any other drive on the Beltway?

The Beltway is, imo, dress rehearsal for surviving Hell.

[Captain Hilts]

42. It's like a scene from Top Gun. The driver, driving and the passenger shouting and pointing at

oncoming and merging vehicles.

[LostinVA]

55. I used to live in Charlottesville, and spent many a time on the Beltway

Even more, when I was still in VA, but coming up to NJ to see Haruka every two weeks and going on job interviews. My sister and her family lived by College Park for a year, too. JOY!!!!!!

I have driven in most major US cities, and the Beltway is, to me, THE WORST!!!

[Captain Hilts]

39. Keep going and call 911. NEVER get out of your car or stop it on the Capital Beltway if at all

possible.

I drive it at 5:30am on Saturday mornings a lot and at that hour you see folks retrieving/repairing their cars they had to abandon the previous day/night.

[Are_grits_groceries]

46. It's also very exciting when

someone coughs somewhere, and the loop becomes a parking lot. Having traffic back up because the Woodrow Wilson Bridge is up was another delight. Be careful what is named for you. I wonder how many kids around DC think that Wilson created traffic jams for a living.

[shugah]

47. where's the correct option in this poll?

drive by close enough to yell obscenities at the stupid SOB who has the gall to burn their car in traffic?

i so do not miss DC traffic!

[Bucky]

48. See if there are any pets that need saving, while ignoring the screams of the people inside

Pets are people too!

[rcrush]

50. If possible save the pet and put the driver out of his misery!

[Oeditpus Rex]

52. Set the cruise control, open the sunroof,

stand up and pee on the fire as you go by.

[LostinVA]

57. Cruise control on the DC Beltway?

Silly man.

Maybe at 3 am Sunday.

[Are_grits_groceries]

59. It would have to be something called

Crazy control.

[LostinVA]

61. Psychotic Control!!!

[Are_grits_groceries]

63. I have never understood how anyone

that comes into the area ever gets where they are going.
You have 95,295,395,495 and whatever other 95's there are. Then there is the strange language on the signs.
Ex: Geo Wash Mem Pkwy or HOV lanes (sounds like a lane for diseased cars)
Then if they happen to wander into DC it isn't too bad unless they get caught in one of the traffic circles. Traffic circles aren't bad unless you have never driven in an area that has one.
You can probably find the remains of people who just gave up, parked at the nearest point possible, and just laid down in a ditch to die or became homeless people.

[LostinVA]

64. The "South Split" is confusing to get to 66

It basically tells you the wrong way to go, so you go 30+ MILES AROUND THE WHOLE DAMN CITY to reach 66. I did that the first time I headed south on it.

[Are_grits_groceries]

66. LOL!

I can't begin to remember all the scenic routes I took driving around there. If I had to go anywhere that was new, I tried to work in a couple of days ahead in case I got lost.
However until they worked on it, the "piece de resistance' was THE MIXING BOWL. I always felt like closing my eyes and randomly moving the wheel. It felt like I was doing that anyway. I didn't have enough eyes to get through there. I always had a splitting headache from tension until I just gave myself up to Beltway Goddess and stopped worrying.

[LostinVA]

67. Please never ever EVER repeat that phrase to em again -- EVER

The MIXING BOWL.

Yet another traffic flow "improvement."

[Are_grits_groceries]

68. Sorry!

Reaching the ** was like moving in a fast river and then getting to heavy rapids. I don't know why there wasn't an accident every single day.
I think whoever designed it just gave up. They couldn't get all the lanes to work like they wanted them to so they just sent in the last draft. They probably went straight to St. Elizabeth's.

[madinmaryland]

62. He's obviously never driven on the DC beltway. In fact he's probably

never left the state of california or the beach.

[LostinVA]

65. Just giggling again about being able to use cruise on the Beltway

[Moondog]

54. Just another day in Paradise.

[mitchum]

60. If I smell burning plastic, I will assume Mary Matalin is trapped inside

and laugh and laugh and laugh