Imagine what it takes for the mayor of a beach resort town to ask people to stay away from the seaside this weekend, but that's what's happening in Ocean City, MD right now, because of a "social media event" in which hundreds of carheads will descend on the town to drive their cars, park their cars, do funny things in the public roads with their cars, and generally annoy people with their cars.
Mayor Rick Meehan of Ocean City, Maryland, says attendees of this annual unwanted car rally cause problems by terrorizing the town.
Meehan figures the exhilarated accelerators will be screeching their way into town even now, ahead of the weekend. He worries that people won't be safe and he's put in place strict rules with tough punishments for scofflaws.
Meanwhile, local residents and people who unfortunately chose this weekend for a nice little seaside getaway will get to enjoy lots of noise, traffic delays, and crowds. Businesses are being told to sign up to have police keep an eye on their property, especially after hours.
They call this event H2Oi (I guess for the ocean water) and last year, one of the Phi Beta Kappa candidates racing around out of control hit bystanders on the street. Very nice gathering.
This year, there are new rules allowing the police to write more expensive tickets and impound cars under Maryland's new "Special Event Zone" law. With other agencies lending support to Ocean City's relatively small police force, there will be some 200 police on duty at all times all weekend long. Last year, 1,400 tickets were issued to violators, and odds are that figure will be eclipsed this weekend.
“Due to the pop-up car rally, this upcoming weekend is not going to be a typical fall weekend at the beach,” said Mayor Meehan. “We encourage our residents to avoid traveling on Coastal Highway if possible, as traffic is going to be unusually heavy. In addition, we urge our visitors seeking a family-friendly experience to plan a visit to Ocean City for another weekend. We pride ourselves on being a coastal community that everyone can enjoy year-round, but unfortunately, we are asking everyone to please exercise caution before deciding to visit Ocean City this weekend.”
The mayor added that some bars and restaurants are shuttering their doors, rather than deal with all this commotion, thus losing out on more revenue during a horrible year for business.
And all this is due to these gearheads. Let me say this: all my life, I have looked at cars and trucks as vehicles, useful for getting from one place to another and hauling a load of whatever from A to B. I buy reliable cars and pay people to maintain them so I can reasonably expect that they will a) start b) stop and c) haul home a case of seltzer.
All this aside, I fully understand that some people are into their cars like I'm into reading, writing, listening to music and baking cornbread. And that's perfectly oke with me. Hunky dory. You want to spend the day in the garage waxing your Willys, go right ahead! Gapping the spark plugs for your Suzuki? Have at it! Putting tires on your Tesla? Good for you! Changing the oil in the Oldsmobile? Be my guest.
BUT - your love of cars and driving them in a flamboyant, illegal manner on the public highway is where we come in conflict. Unless you would be ok with me shutting down a road so I could put my desk out in the open air, or moving my oven into your living room so I could turn out a batch of cornbread, you don't get to close the roads for your hobby.
I urge all who wish to behave like this to buy a very large piece of land and pave over it, and you and your friends can do burnouts and wheelies and modify your cambers to your hearts' content.
Sound fair?
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