Auntie Charo's Soapbox

"I caught that post by the person who witnessed an extremely reckless driver on Route 17. I do believe I've seen the same WAZZUP driver myself.

I don't expect GPD to do much if license plates are called in to them for action. A few days ago, on Route 16, heading towards McDonalds and from the bottom of the overpass/underpass a haole guy on a big motorcycle was weaving in and out of traffic at a high rate of speed. Super dangerous. He finally had to stop at the main intersection by McDonalds. A local guy in the first
car at the intersection got out and waved his fist and spoke some 'words' to the cyclist. I could hear him telling the guy to slow down. Was he angry? You bet. So was I. I was two cars behind him. He and the car in front of me made a right turn onto Harmon Loop Road and that put me next to the cyclist. I also vented my anger at him. All he did, just as he did to the other driver who tried to slow him down, was tap his helmet and say he couldn't hear. He knew very well what we were saying to him. The first guy
was super upset. I could hear him two cars back, so I know the cyclist could hear what he said. I made a note of the plate number, but threw it away figuring it would be a waste of time to report it.
I think your website provides a means to identify the really reckless
drivers by plate number and vehicle type. Same could be said for those who are driving totally unsafe vehicles that you know darn well could NOT pass a vehicle inspection and should NOT be on the road. It's a sore spot with me as I'm required to maintain a safe vehicle, pay for insurance, register it each year (after a safety inspection) and have a driver's license. Guam really needs to adopt a system similar to what the Japanese have. That is a courtesy inspection...a no-notice type where you're pulled over and documents are checked to be sure all is in compliance. An unsafe vehicle is pulled off the road. Though in Japan the inspection requirements are so
strict that you rarely see an unsafe vehicle on a Japanese roadway.
License plates are sealed to the vehicle. A major no-no to tamper with the seal. In other words...no hanky panky of stolen plates. Plates are strictly accountable items. NOT so on Guam. All vehicles here are supposedly registered and in the computer system. So what is the problem with not knowing which vehicles haven't been either re-registered or de-registered due to accident or theft? To see vehicles on the sides of the roads with plates still on them proves how inefficient the local Motor Vehicle folks are when it comes to accounting for plates and also insuring expired vehicle registrations aren't provided to GPD for their information and action. I think that DMV could do so much more to be efficient.
Also, it's pretty obvious not all vehicles are going through vehicle
inspections. A former neighbor of mine was able to get a safety inspection w/o the vehicle even leaving his yard. Do I think he was the only one on the island who had a way to get a safety certificate? When pigs fly!

The problem is that unsafe vehicles on the highways are a threat to you, me and ours. There was a head-on collision on Route 15 a few days ago. The innocent 56-year-old driver of one vehicle is dead. The other driver, was he being reckless or operating an unsafe vehicle? GPD always says they check on speed and alcohol. How about the condition of the vehicle? There aren't as many Guam bombs as in years past, but there are still to many. Many are being driven by, well if I say who I'd be guilty of profiling and I can't do that. Check the condition of many of the pickup trucks that are
being used in the construction trade. Not all are even really old, just super abused. Many have license plates that can't even be read. Does GPD care? I rather doubt it. It's easier to cite driver's exceeding posted speed limits. Many of which are too low to begin with. 25MPH around the curve down by Adelup. If you drive 25 you risk life and limb. I'm betting even the off-duty cops don't drive the speed limits. Yeah, the ones who issue those citations to who are mostly safe drivers, just exceeding the posted speed limit, but not being reckless or anything. They need to pay more attention to the jerks who do dumb things on the roadways. Like
failure to yield or going too slow and impeding traffic flow. Or...driving without lights, even when their lights work (many don't have operative lights) when it's dark or stormy.

Just for funnsies I'm collecting license plate numbers of reckless drivers and vehicles that, IMO, shouldn't be on the road. A current sticker, even if a legitimate safety inspection was completed, doesn't mean a vehicle is safe to be on the road. I often wonder, don't those wearing GPD uniforms have to pass eye tests. Don't they see the same things I'm seeing? And if they do, why don't they do something about it? I can understand if it's raining and they don't want to get wet, but it's not always raining. Am I saying that they ignore violations? Yep, I am!
Oh, there is more, but this is enough for this time. Bottom line...report unsafe drivers and vehicles. It could save your life, my life and the lives of the ones we cherish. Even of those we don't know personally. I won't even go into modified vehicles that have to come to a near complete stop to move over a pothole or a bump in the road. Or the jerks who like to blast those bass speakers of theirs with that boom boom crap and raise one's blood pressure.
That for another time. And as I say this I hear a boom boom driver in the area. How I wish he'd wrap those speakers around a concrete telephone pole. That's not nice, is it?