As someone who has lived in Missouri for several years, I can tell you firsthand that drivers here cannot seem to negotiate construction areas. It's a tragic phenomenon, responsible for some 533 work-zone accidents during 2012 in the St. Louis region alone. Daryl Swindle, a Department of Transportation employee, was hit last Wednesday on westbound I-70 in St. Charles County … for the second time in 14 months. It's a dire situation, and MoDOT is responding by deploying Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) sirens in construction zones.

On the surface, this doesn't seem like too bad an idea: Catch the attention of drivers entering work areas and warn them to slow down, right? Here's the issue: LRADS aren't like an ambulance or police sirens, they're militarized sound cannons, 'non-lethal deterrents'—you know, like stun grenades and tear gas. These things aren't speakers, they're emitters. There's no way to drown them out.

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So, what've we got? Disoriented teenage drivers? Sure. Terrified elderly motorists? Certainly, but let's discriminate here: An ear-piercing 153-decibel alarm suddenly ringing inside the car would scare the bejesus out of you, too, because that's louder than a .45 caliber gunshot 25 feet from your ear.

MoDOT has already used my tax money to purchase two LRADS at $25,000 a pop, both of which will apparently be kept under the permanent hearing loss of 130 dBa threshold. (Thanks?) Honestly, though, I've got greater practical concerns, chiefly being startled into my first work-zone accident due to a non-lethal weapon deployed to prevent my first work-zone accident. Really, does it get any dumber than this?

Sorry in advance, Daryl.

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