Local stuff

There's been a lot of commentary in the forum section of The Daily Citizen about the recent auto accident involving the Tunnel Hill policeman on I-75. The consensus among our callers has been that the officer should have been in the city proper and not out on the Interstate playing county mounty. (That doesn't mean that's what most people think, it's just what most callers said.)
I have mixed feelings about this.
I suspect the sudden interest some of our small municipalities are showing in I-75 has a lot less to do with public sfety than with scoring some big drug busts and getting to reap the financial rewards that can follow. Is fighting interstate drug trafficking the best use of limited manpower in towns like Varnell, Tunnel Hill and Resaca? No. The impact a handful of busts makes it insignificant and does little or nothing to better protect those specific towns.
However,the side benefit of having those officers on the road is it should make the Interstate a little safer. My wife drives to Chattanooga five days a week to work. A lot of folks here do, or they drive to Ringggold, Fort O., etc. For much of the day I-75 is packed with traffic and as always an unhealthy percentage of the people driving are unsafe behindthe wheel.
I cringe every time my wife leaves for work.
If additional patrol cars -- whatever the name on the doors -- slows some of these idiots down, there is a real benefit to everyone who uses this major artery.
However, if the officers are so intent on scoring a Miami Vice-like drug bust that they ignore traffic concerns, they would be better off going back to town and parking outside the Tastee Freeze.