Peachtree Rd With M.L.King Jr - At the Corner of Capital City Bank

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Pine Mountain, Ga

Located just one hour southwest of Atlanta, the town of Pine Mountain (pop. approx. 1000) lies at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and serves as the gateway to Callaway Gardens, which hosts a variety of activities throughout the year.

Pine Mountain, Georgia captures all the charm of a small Southern town, all the excitement and amenities of a city and all the friendly faces you can imagine just waiting to share their area with stoppers-by. Known for its quaint shops, history and Southern cooking, the area is a vacationer's dream for relaxing and enjoying the past.

Originally named Chipley, the town began in 1882 when the railroad spread to Pine Mountain from Columbus. 

The Pine Mountain area has emerged from its days as a farming community into a primary tourism location, greatly due to the efforts of President Franklin Roosevelt and Callaway Gardens' Cason Callaway.

Today, Pine Mountain serves as the gateway to the 14,000-acre Callaway Gardens, created to provide a beautiful, natural setting for education and recreational pursuits. The gardens that Cason Callaway opened to the public in 1952 have blossomed into an exclusive retreat with stunning floral displays year-round, 63 holes of championship golf, fishing lakes, and an array of hiking and biking trails.

 

HOV Lanes: What is It? And in Which Hwy in Georgia?

View of the HOV lane, as you see we have plenty room to move.

What's an HOV lane? 

HOV stands for "High Occupancy Vehicle" lane, or car-pool lane. The central concept for HOV lanes is to move more people rather than more cars. Some HOV lanes carry almost half of the people carried on the entire freeway. Regular "mixed-flow" lanes are never converted to HOV lanes. Rather, HOV lanes are always added to existing facilities. Each vehicle that travels on an HOV lane must carry the minimum number of people posted at the entrance signs. Usually that means at least two people, or in some cases three people. Each child counts as an occupant, but pets, infants still in the womb, inflatable dolls (some one had done that recently in another State) or ghosts do not (we've heard 'em all). Violators are subject to  fines up to $150.00 here in Georgia. 

 

Exceptions: Motorcycles, even those carrying just one person, are allowed to use the HOV lanes. Some HOV lanes are in operation only during certain hours, which are posted. Outside of those hours, they may be used by all vehicles.

The Department of Public Safety is responsible for enforcing HOV lane restrictions under Georgia Code, Section 40-16-2. Other law enforcement agencies also enforce the HOV restrictions.

HOV Lanes first opened in Atlanta on December 14, 1994, 18 lane miles on I-20 from Downtown to I-285.

In 1996, 60 additional lane miles opened on I-75 and I-85. Another 23.6 lane miles opened on I-85 in Gwinnett County on October 31,2001.

The following vehicles may use HOV Lanes:

• Vehicles with two or more (living and not pre-infant) persons.
• Emergency Vehicles (Law Enforcement, Fire, Emergency Medical)
• Motorcycles
• Buses
• Alternative Fuel vehicles properly licensed with an AF license plate
  

Persons who violate the HOV lane law are guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable under Code Section 40-6-54.

Fines and penalties for HOV violations:

• First Offense: $75.00 maximum (plus court fees)
• Second Offense: $100.00 maximum (plus court fees)
• Third Offense: $150.00 maximum (plus court fees)
• Fourth Offense: $150.00 maximum (plus court fees), and one point on the driver's record.

Left-side entrance and exit ramps to or from the HOV Lanes are also included in the restrictions.

First H.E.R.O. Worker Killed While on the Job

We had posted some information in this Blog on May  17, 2009 about the wonderful free job done by the H.E.R.O (Highway Emergency Response Operator), those yellow truck on the Highways side around Atlanta, helping motorists with problem on their cars. 

TODAY, we decided to post this SAD news that had happened January 31, 2011 with one of the Officers  that shook the whole H.E.R.O. family, and all the Atlantans and Georgians. It was the loss of Mr. Spencer Pass.

Spencer Pass, 45, was on the job less than three years when he became the first H.E.R.O. worker killed while on duty. "He loved his job," said co-worker Brian Groover. "Everything always had to be in the right place. Every hair on top of his head had to be in the right place," says Brian.

The Georgia State Patrol said Pass was helping a stranded motorist on in the emergency lane of I-85 near Metropolitan Parkway in S.W. Atlanta Monday morning, when he was struck by a passing vehicle that left the roadway. Investigators say a utility truck towing a flatbed trailer with heavy equipment struck Pass's Highway Emergency Response Operator vehicle before striking the 45-year-old. "He failed to maintain his lane of travel," said Sgt. Jerome Bowman of the State Patrol said of the driver who struck Pass. 

The State Patrol's Gordy Wright said charges are pending further investigation. Wright identified the driver under investigation as Kirk A. Sherwood. Sherwood was transported to Grady Hospital after the collision. 

Markings on the side of the truck that hit Pass indicate that it belonged to ComTran, a telecommunications company based in Gwinnett County. A woman answering the phone at ComTran said that the company was "saddened by what happened," but would have no further comment until the owner learned more about the collision. 

Georgia Department of Transportation spokesman David Spear says ComTran does contract work for the D.O.T., assisting with overhead highway signs and closed circuit television. The D.O.T. also operates the H.E.R.O. unit, which started in 1995.

The driver of the stranded vehicle Spencer Pass was assisting jumped over a guardrail to safety. The State Patrol has identified him as James T. Davis. 

While H.E.R.O. workers have been injured on the job before, co-workers of Spencer Pass are dealing with the unit's first death. "He never had a bad day," said co-worker Roosevelt Smith. "He was the kind of person you would want out there serving the citizens of Georgia." 

"I don't think it can be stressed enough how great of an individual that he was," said Jason Josey, a friend and co-worker. Josey said Spencer Pass never had a bad thing to say to anyone. "I know that people say that about people from time to time, but in this particular case it's one hundred percent true," he said. "This was a unique individual in a special way." 

Spencer Pass was a strong Christian, and dedicated husband and father of three teenager boys.