Rarely will you hear anyone say anything good about traffic in the region, especially on Route 18 through East Brunswick where I sometimes think there are more cars than there are brain cells.
But maybe we need to reconsider our distaste for the traffic jam in light of this story:
Minutes after a Metuchen bank opened yesterday, a bandit struck, fleeing with cash and driving away. But everything after that went wrong for the man and right for police, who captured the suspected robber about 30 minutes later.
Jermaine Dawkins, 37, of Staten Island was arrested after an Edison police officer saw him on Route 1 driving a silver SUV that matched the description of the get-away vehicle, authorities said. The officer started a pursuit that ended when Dawkins got stuck in traffic on frequently congested Route 18 in East Brunswick.
Like that old James Taylor song, “Traffic Jam”:
Well I left my job about 5 o’clock
It took fifteen minutes to go three blocks
Just in time to stand in line
With a freeway looking like a parking lot
Or, perhaps, a police holding cell.
Hank Kalet 