Dear Editor,
The same PNM supporters who don’t mention the concrete culverts that are practically ON the highway before Cunupia and other places along the highway, or the lampposts that are IN the roadway at various points in the country are talking about barrels not being soft and if people hit them they could damage their cars.
First off, the barrels were put eight feet off the roadway halfway on the grass verge, so for you to hit it you had to already be running off the road. The parking reserve in a public space is seven point five feet, meaning we were already behind the safety zone.
One person said hitting that barrel would be like hitting concrete and would write off your car. As he doesn’t seem to know the difference between floating and immovable objects, I’d like to take him to have his car hit both so that he could see the difference and do better in future exchanges.
A few said the issue was permission and that there are signs.
First off, the ONLY reason there are visible signs in the center verge is because I embarrassed Rohan when I showed on a video that the signs that were there on the left shoulder were covered by the bush that his Ministry did not maintain.
He conceded the concrete wall around the round about was dangerous, and then proceeded to put water barrels in front the concrete barriers, lulling those speaking into believing comic book physics, that a barrel of water will catch you gently and bring you to a safe stop.
No it won’t.
The only thing that barrel is doing is getting you wet, but if you hit it you will also be hitting the concrete barrier and dying.
Quite a few screamed slow down, and as a nation we really need to. BUT. The speed limit is 65 kph, and if you are doing just the speed limit and crash head first into an immovable concrete barrier, Newton’s third law (every action has an equal and opposite reaction) states that if object A exerts a force on object B, object B also exerts an equal and opposite force on object A.
So you would be meeting a force of 65 kph going against you to stop you in a direct collision doing the speed limit, resulting in you hitting that barrier at a whopping 130 kph.
Politics makes us irresponsible with our comments sometimes and it’s easy to throw aside awareness or even compassion when we’re in political flight.
Having a highway end abruptly at a concrete barrier is insane.
The solution is to reduce the highway to one lane via a merge from six hundred feet out to encourage and allow for deceleration, and the possible addition of rumble strips from two hundred feet out to make assurance double sure.
In first world countries that area would be classified as a hazard and the state bears an enormous amount of responsibility and financial liability at a hazard. That is why on top of all of that mentioned they also employ overhead and shoulder mounted flashing signs warning that the road ends however many hundred feet ahead.
Here we blame the victims and shame our parents by making even the important things that should unite us politically divide us.
Rohan Sinanan and his Ministry are already financially liable for many of the accidents at that location and may even be guilty of negligent homicide and manslaughter.
It is time we as a people took ourselves and our country seriously, so that those we employ to govern it would as well and would do a proper job or be replaced.
To continue the way we are going is even more insane.
My point is simple. Rohan should have had to replace my barrels with safety devices of his own, otherwise he put lives in danger over bruised ego and dirty politics. Supporting him down that road is foolish especially as you are now putting yourself and people you know at risk over petty politics.
Explain how that could be of any value to anyone.
Phillip Edward Alexander
