The Sun City 600 has offically started !

Well it's that time of year !

In less then TWO miles from my house I calmly avoided a few traffic
miscalculations, Some people insist there is no speed limit
or complete stops ( Whats the hurry anyway ? It's Sun City )
A late model Buick who's owner passed on the turn signal package.
My favorite, Mr. Washington state who is convinced that Mountain View
between 107th & 103rd is a two lane road ! but has a great pair of high beams
and a real pretty horn.


Time to get the winter car out

 

Yep. Watch out. The Snow Birds are returning.
BTW. What does the Sun City 600 mean?
I am presuming it is return of the Snow Birds.

 

Let's clear up some of the confusion for those never having the "good fortune" of Sun City driving. It is quite the experience, especially the parking lots of both Fry's on Grand Ave and Safeway on Bell. Personally I find it way better to go shopping at those stores after dark (most of the really old folks won't go out once the sun goes down).

I've written often about our streets, what a benefit they are. If you go to Sun City West, Sun City Grand or any of the newer age restricted communities, you will find far tighter streets. Obviously, land values now compared to the 60's and 70's are wholly different. Sun City was built with streets wide enough to accommodate golf cars and cars at the same time. And our major streets with two lanes each way also have room for a golf cars on the inside of the roadway.

As with almost every blessing, there comes a curse. These wide streets are sometimes mistaken as having too many lanes. It's not unusual to have cars passing you on the inside of a single lane roadway as 3G indicated. And what's really scary is how some of our more senior citizens love to hug the sidewalk in their cars. We've found any number of occasions while walking our dogs the need to be wary of people nearly sharing our sidewalk.

The good news is, most of our accidents don't result in fatalities (save the one or two golf car/car collisions). Parking lots are little more than fender bender's waiting to happen. Driving in Sun City is all about being on the defensive, especially during the days garage sales and estate sales are going on. Those folks are worthy a column unto themselves.

And I would be remiss without adding a reminder for those who love to bike, extra caution within our white walls is a must. A goodly number of our drivers have a hell of time seeing a car, so you can only image what being on a bike is like.

I still think we should paper our cars and our electronic signs with my slogan: Slow Down and Live in Sun City.

 

Yes, I was referring to something like a stock car race !

Don't get me wrong I love the seasonal residents and wish a few would make this
their full time place to live.

It's hard to imagine even twenty years ago when the standard size car was huge
getting around lot's like Fry's on 107th & Grand did not seem to be an issue like it
is today and I do realize there are a few more people here.

I've often wondered why the Sheriff does not have a unit devoted to traffic in
SC just simply to pass out a few warnings then let word of mouth spread it seems
to have worked in El Mirage ! I'd also like to see better enforcement of people who
live here more then six months to register their vehicles in Arizona, I see many cars
parked over the summer with out of state plates.

As a few have stated, it's a great place to live and usually drivers conduct is a non issue
but the beginning of the winter season here reminds me of the first snow back east

 

As a seasonal part time resident I cycle everyday and my biggest fear is a car making a right turn into a driveway as it passes me. Before crossing an intersection as the light changes I count to five, assuming the red light will be ignored, especially crossing Bell.

If/ when I think of it I turn on my front and rear blinkies for added visibility.

I do know the MCSO tickets golf carts crossing DW without stopping for both stop signs, heard of one person who got two tickets for one crossing after ignoring both stop signs.

 

I ran across this on a automotive site I frequent :smile-new:

If some were to get a warning they could a attend this !

https://archive.org/details/YourPerm1951

 

Many times in the Fry's lot we have seen people pull into parking spots and just keep going forward until they "bump" the car ahead of them which signals them to stop.:concern: We will only go to that store late at night.

The only time the people with out of state plates might get caught is if they are stopped and have an AZ license showing their primary residence is AZ but their car is registered out of state.

Letters to our District 3 Supervisor Clint Hickman requesting more patrols from the MCSO is one way to have your voice heard.