Dear Mahatma: As I drive to work around 5:15 a.m. going south on U.S. 67/167, I am passed by numerous vehicles traveling in the 90-100 mph range and weaving in and out of traffic. If there's a litter hotline, is there a hotline to report these NASCAR wannabees? If I got a letter stating I had been reported for speeding or reckless driving I might trim up my act. Especially if I thought my name was in some secret data base of worthless derelicts. -- Buckled Up
Dear Buckled: If there were a database for worthless derelicts, it would include millions of retired guys whose wives wish they would go back to work.
Ha!
Cpl. Liz Chapman of the Arkansas State Police said it's best call the troop in whose district the incident occurs. In this case, assuming Pulaski County that would be Troop A. The phone number to dispatch is (501) 618-8100. If it's an emergency or seems to be a danger to other drivers, it's okay to call 911.
Somewhere else in Arkansas? Take a minute to go to the state police website, find the local troop and its dispatch number, and put it in your cellphone. Come to think of it, put in the county sheriff's number, too. And the municipal police department.
Dear Mahatma: Why is the left turn light at Cantrell and University so short? The left turn from University Avenue going left onto Cantrell only allows three or four cars through per cycle. Quite often there will be more than 15 cars in the left turn lane. I've had to sit through three cycles before being a turn. This is a nuisance. -- Frustrated Driver
Dear Driver: One of the fundamentals of traffic management is that the direction with the most traffic gets the most time.
At this intersection, there is lots more east-west traffic on Cantrell Road, and lots less north-south traffic on University Avenue. Cantrell Road thus gets more time in its cycles.
Dear Mahatma: I see bent car bumpers, crumpled fenders and other car parts left in the street, or side of the road where an accident has occurred. Whose responsibility is it to remove lost car parts from an accident -- car owner, wrecker driver, police officer, onlookers, nobody? Perhaps the city should hire a Picker Upper position. -- Bumper Dodger
Dear Dodger: It's standard practice for cities to contract with wrecker services, one provision of which requires the wrecker guys to clean up the mess left behind.
When The Mahatma had his T-bone a few years ago in Maumelle, he stood on the sidewalk dazed while the wrecker guy swept up all the glass into a dust pan.
He then dumped it all inside our wreck.
If a citizen sees flotsam or jetsam -- or is that detritus? -- left behind, he should call City Hall. In Little Rock, that's 311, the all-purpose city services number.
Fjfellone@gmail.com