$2000 in fines from the Arizona Stupid Motorist Law
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Rural/Metro firefighters had to rescue a woman from the CDO wash near Oro Valley Wednesday morning. The driver could be in for up to $2000 in fines from the Arizona Stupid Motorist Law. Investigators say she drove around warning barricades. Ignoring fair warning like that means authorities can bill a driver for the time and trouble rescuers ring up. - Stupid Motorist Law. You'd like to think there wouldn't be a need for a Stupid Motorist Law; but of course anyone who has driven an emergency vehicle knows better. In that regard, Arizona is lucky, as just proven this last week. Rushing water on a roadway should cause one to steer clear of the area. But alas, a driver pressed his luck at the Pantano Wash in Tucson, Arizona and got his vehicle stuck to the point he had to call the Rincon Valley firefighters to pull him out. High water rescue is dangerous for all involved. Kris Wachala of Rrincon Valley Fire Department said you really need to worry about the depth and how fast the water's flowing. It is dsangerous work to det up lines, worry about lines brewaking and cars cytting loose. A rational driver will just turn away when he or she sees rushing water in the way. Most do. Some don't. A driver pressed his luck at the Pantano Wash Wednesday morning. When his luck let him down and he got stuck, Rincon Valley firefighters pulled him out. That sort of high water rescue is dangerous for the driver, and for the people coming to rescue him. “One of the major things you have to worry about is the depth and how fast the water's flowing,” says Kris Wachala of Rrincon Valley Fire Department, “setting up lines and everything...worrying about car coming loose and going down the river." Rural/Metro firefighters had to rescue a woman from the CDO wash near Oro Valley Wednesday morning. The driver could be in for up to $2000 in fines from the Arizona Stupid Motorist Law. Investigators say she drove around warning barricades. Ignoring fair warning like that means authorities can bill a driver for the time and trouble rescuers ring up. Safety workers say there's always somebody who figures it'll never happen to them. "Don't drive around barricades,” says George Good of Rural/Metro, “It's just that simple. The message is not complicated, but people tend to think they can make it, and sometimes they do." And, of course, sometimes they don't. The man from the car stuck in the Pantano Wash will probably not get a bill through the Stupid Motorist Law. There was no barricade to officially warn him driving into obvious high water was a bad idea. He still might be in for some sort of traffic citation. Firefighters say the mud's so soft in the wash it may be three days before he can rescue his car. By then it could just be junk.