Update Friday: Spoke to LT Franz from the Causeway Commission. It seems there were 2 accidents at the time of the reported incident. The dispatch is not under control of them and is supposed to call on to the respective police on the other end of the bridge and obviously this did not happen. Grrrrrr… He encouraged citizens to continue to call and report drunk drivers as most of them are dealt with immediately.

It was 11 AM on Thursday and I was less that half way into my 22 mile or so Causeway commute heading South. Then it happens…the sedan in front of me slams into the right guardrail and then bounces back like a pinball ricocheting off the side of a machine and continues driving along like nothing happened. I immediately thought that the driver nodded off and woke up after hitting the wall. Then I saw the car bobbing and weaving in and out of lanes – the worst drunk driver I had ever witnessed. I quickly ended a phone call with my friend and dialed 911 and got transferred to the Causeway dispatcher. She asked which call box I was passing as well as my name and number in case she needed to call me back. During our phone call, 3 cars dared pass this person and each one was almost hit. Then I passed a police crossover with what appeared to be an accident, and unfortunately no police came out. There was NO way in hell I was going to pass this person or get close enough to get the license plate. We exited the Causeway and I could see this reckless drunk all over the roads in Metairie.

I immediately called back the dispatcher and asked her why nobody stopped this car. She said the officers were tending to an accident and if I would like, she would connect me to the Jefferson Parish police. By then the car was off into traffic and I couldn’t see it anymore.

Maybe…just maybe…we need to create a voluntary place to stop and leave your car on either side of the Causeway (that promises not to tow it for 48 hours) with a phone to call a cab. I was thinking about passing out breathalyzers at these stops too, but let’s face it, if you even question using one – you drank too much!

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