Audie is a very talented musician and no one can play a steel guitar like he can - Lou Ann Gore Flanagan

Dear Jr: I think it is boring to sit at the light and not turn, but I don't because I would be running a red light. Since you have already pled guilty to this offense then I would ask, "How many times have you as a public servant turned yourself in to the local authorities?"

You know in your heart if Ralph and I had committed this offense, we would be waiting for the proper authorities the very next morning!

Especially, if someone had seen us. - Roger D Smith DMD

The stop lines are placed on the roadway prior to the pedestrian cross walk lane so vehicles do not obstruct or strike pedestrians who actually use the crosswalks and obey traffic laws like they are required to in most municipalities, ie. jay-walking. The real question though is, if one fails to stop, completely behind the line or stop sign if there is no line, did one run the sign and be subject to a traffic citation? - Ed Pipalski

When did Ralph Roy find patience? Must have been after I was a child...ROFL --Shamarie Claiborne

Ed, Do you or anyone else know what has happened to the Dry Cleaners that was located on Russell Road just below Circle R? Thanks for any information that is provided. - R D Collins

Big Al Owens - I totally agree. White lines instructing you where to stop at an intersection are there for a reason, but too many people pull through those lines - thinking they can get where they are going a couple feet, inches or seconds quicker. When I was almost taken out by the trailer last week, I backed up almost two car lengths to give the truck room. His trailer was 1/4 of the way into the lane where my car was sitting.

Maybe the white lines need backed up a bit to allow more room - as there was clearly not enough. My business ships upwards of 100 loads of material per month all by semi truck. We know the value of trucks to our economy and appreciate our drivers. It's just hard to put those things in tiny spaces - even if everyone is obeying the traffic laws, signs and stripes. - Shannon

Jr. Feese you need to have patience like I have. - Ralph Roy Waggener

I'm not a Big-Rig driver, but I know for a fact they go through a lot more driver training than smaller vehicle drivers do. Truck drivers have a very large responsibility when out on the road with their rigs to themselves, the company they work for, and to the rest of us in cars and pick-ups.

As someone else commented, they are under enough stress already. Let's all be respectful of that and remember to "Give 'em some room".

Yes, we have just as much right to be on the road as they do, but would it hurt to give them a little extra space at intersections? Sometimes they have to pull up to the far right at an intersection to safely make a left turn. Watch for their turn signal as you begin to pull up beside them - if the left indicator is blinking, please stay back a way from the white line about a car link or so to give them the space they need to make that turn.

I'm sure they would be extremely grateful and you have just done your part to minimize a chance of an accident occurring. - Dave Burton

Nice comment by Al. As an instructor at a CDL school we teach every day that the drivers, either the semi or the car must stop behind the white line to allow turning traffic room to make that turn.

In regards to trucks making a 90 degree right turn, it is illegal for a semi to swing left into another lane before a right turn, due to someone trying to turn inside of them and then getting hit. The legal turn is to wait until oncoming traffic has cleared and swing wide on the street they are turning into.

Semi drivers are like everybody - there are good drivers and not so good, but in the State of Kentucky there is extensive schooling and testing, by the State, before you can obtain a Class A CDL. Safety is the number one priority in this training. - Joe Hare

Big Al--Thank you so much for this information, and the reason behind it. Why don't you come up with tips like this, from a trucker's point of view, on a regular basis? You could also incorporate some tips on good restaurants that you run across in your travels--especially the little Mom and Pop operations that you find, off the beaten path. Thank you. --Mary Knight

Hey Ed,

I'M GUILTY!! I, at times find it hard to sit in the left lane at the intersection of E. Hwy 80 and Hwy 55 waiting for a full cycle when nothing is coming in sight. I don't recall ever seeing a similar situation anywhere I have ever been where there is a green light and a red light burning at the same time. I suppose anyone wanting to turn into the Columbia Housing Authority could go on through the green light and turn, otherwise I see no need for this double light. We see green lights everywhere we travel that allow motorists to turn left when nothing is approaching from the opposite direction. What makes this intersection any different from those. So until such time that a ticket is written or a sign posted I will continue to turn left on red when no one is in sight in the approaching lane. Thanks. - Willie M Feese Jr

I have noticed in my years of driving a Big Rig that most people do not stop behind the painted stop line at many intersections. The stop lines are there for a reason and usually they are there so that Big Rigs can make their turns safely. When cars are half past the stop line or a full car length past the stop line, this makes it difficult for truckers, also people either do not pay attention or are distracted by other sources to see what is going on around them. - -Big Al Owens

Jealousy often
directs its cutting remarks
at the innocent.

This intersection has another problem. Folks seem to not realize that the red light in the turning lane from the Square does not mean STOP and turn across to E.80 at will. I have seen several near accidents by vehicles turning against the light into the path of others heading toward town.

There either needs to be a no turn on red sign at the light or place one of our policemen to observe and pass out some tickets. There will be an accident at this intersection if something isn\'t done. --Roger D Smith DMD