Mike's Traffic Rules Part 2

I call it the Golden State drag strip.

It's the mile and a half raceway from the stop light at Golden State Ave. and 'F' Street, heading northwest, until the two-lane road merges just before you enter northbound Highway 99.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines.

The line of cars is constantly shifting before the light turns green, almost like they are trying to jockey for position at a dead stop to create some kind of advantage before the flag drops.

The race usually begins civilized enough, with cars pulling away at a pretty good click.

Once the field reaches the river bed, the acceleration picks up with the drivers in the left lane looking over, trying to predict who might be trying to jockey for position once the traffic begins to merge.

The speed limit is 65 mph, so it's ripe for this type of behavior.

There are some drivers in the right lane who are actually traveling faster than the rest of the pack, only to veer off at the Airport Drive exit.

That always baffles me.

BUT that leaves a hole on the right for the Andretti and Mears clones to break out of the draft and try to sling shot ahead down the final straightaway.

By the time the cars are lining up single file for the on-ramp to northbound 99, it's a good bet that most of the cars are going 10-to-15 mph faster than the traffic on the highway.

In fact, I've watched on numerous occasions, from back of the pack, as the sudden flickering of brake lights ripples from the lead car all the way back through the field.

The sudden braking makes it even more dangerous to try and merge with semi-trucks that inevitably swerve into the middle lane to avoid the high-speed conversion.

Sometimes it's even worse when you turn it around.

Drivers entering the Golden State Ave. on-ramp from southbound 99, go through an 'S' turn before crossing Airport Drive and racing the final straightaway to the light at 'F' Street.

But this race doesn't end there.

No, it continues over the Garces Circle with cars now making quick lane changes to the right, as they line up for the on-ramp to Highway 178 just past 'Q' Street.

This race usually involves more people being cutoff and riskier moves than the westbound raceway.

It's unfortunately one of the faster corridors to get from Highway 99 to central Bakersfield and with that, probably the most dangerous.

Maybe it's time to slow the field down to 55 mph.

Blame it on gas prices and trying to raise your mpg's instead of your mph's.