The Mean Streets of Atlanta

Driving woes and traffic problems are getting so bad in Atlanta that Hollywood now stages cinematic accidents here to give their films authenticity.  Flipped automobiles just look more believable when you see an Atlanta building in the background ("sure, that could happen").  The picture above is from a movie set - no one was harmed (as far as I know) in the destruction of these vehicles. 

Real life isn't so forgiving though.  Tragically, two people died yesterday morning in this real-life accident.  A tractor-trailer full of fuel crashed into a passenger car, killing the driver and exploding into flames.  One of the two passengers in the car was killed as well.  The highway was shut down for some 10 hours, and people were forced to evacuate their cars and leave the road.  

This looks more like a movie set than the top picture, but it's real-life driving on the apocalyptic horror show that is Atlanta traffic these days.

This happened in almost the exact same spot where my car broke down last year, leaving me stranded in the HOV land for 45 harrowing minutes.  And this isn't the only incident I've seen here since my little episode.  I think this stretch of road is cursed. The traffic and the death-defying recklessness of drivers along this stretch of highway played a part in my decision to retire - I just couldn't bear the thought of a daily commute along this route any more.

"The car is on fire and there's no driver at the wheel and the sewers are all muddied with a thousand lonely suicides and a dark wind blows.  

The government is corrupt and we're on so many drugs with the radio on and the curtains drawn.  

We're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine and the machine is bleeding to death.  

The sun has fallen down and the billboards are all leering and the flags are all dead at the top of their poles."

- from Dead Flag Blues by Godspeed You! Black Emperor