The long arm of the shuttle. . .

© 2011 Lydia Hinshaw

One of our shuttle buses parked at Logan Pass

 WEST GLACIER, MT -- One of the unexpected fringe benefits of driving shuttles on Going to the Sun Road is the chance to participate in the traffic justice system.

 Road rage? We don't have to get mad, we can get even.

 We all have two-way radios, and from time to time, they do work correctly.

 Depending upon the time of day, there are 20-30 of us spread over 16 miles of steep, twisting, narrow road, often with a rock wall on one side and a 1,000-foot drop on the other.

 Incredibly, yo-yo drivers think they can drive this road just like any other, and behave badly with impunity, since there is only a tiny chance that a park ranger will witness such shenanigans.  These drivers have failed to consider the long arm of the shuttle.

 Here are a few incidents that have occurred recently:

• One day, in a construction traffic jam, some children in a car traveling one direction threw a red substance of unknown origin all over the side of a slowly passing shuttle.  The driver, who is held responsible for any damage at the end of the day, took offense.  She got a description of the car and another shuttle down the road got a tag number. Several miles down the mountain, this family was spotted parked, being lectured by a ranger.
• At least twice, shuttles have had their left-side mirrors destroyed by extended mirrors on large pickup trucks which then continued merrily along their way.  A description of the vehicle radioed to shuttles following soon resulted in a tag numbers, the park service was notified and the offending drivers identified sought out.
• One day, two motorcycles were zipping down one of the most dangerous portions of the road, passing other vehicles on a double-yellow line.  Radio description of bikes and bikers goes out, bikers later stuck in traffic have their tag numbers recorded by another shuttle driver.  And down the mountain, the blue lights are flashing.
• In the best story to date, some crazy driver headed up the road in a 40-foot motor-home pulling a standard-sized sedan.  The length limit for the western 16 miles of the road, clearly posted on multiple signs, is 21 feet. Some of the turns are so tight that a vehicle longer than 21 feet must use both lanes to get around.  And a vehicle taller than 9.5 feet risks scraping its top against overhanging rocks.  You know the drill by now.  It is hard to camouflage a 40-foot motor-home on this road.  A shuttle was broadcasting warnings to fellow drivers by the time the behemoth had traveled 100 yards past the last possible place he could turn around.  In a pretty astounding feat of driving, this guy made it most of the way up the mountain unscathed.  But he soon found himself face to face with a ranger on foot, standing in the middle of the travel lane and motioning him off the road at the only place for miles where a 50-plus-foot rig could park.  I would love to have heard that conversation. At that point, there was nothing left for the motor-home to do but complete his trip.  But I hope this driver is going to help us a tiny bit with our national debt.

 So if you find yourself in Glacier National Park, drive slowly and carefully.  If you don't the shuttles will find you out.