The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in cooperation with the Dare County Sheriff’s Department, has unveiled a new public information campaign to promote safer summer driving along the Outer Banks. The public face of the promotion will be cartoon crustacean “Crossy Crab,” a sign-wielding sand crab encouraging sensible traffic turns.
NHTSA Lieutenant Peregrine “Poppy” Hargreaves explains: “Dare County highways can experience dense traffic congestion, especially during the summer tourist season. Sometimes, drivers will spot their destination on the other side of the road at the very moment they are passing it and will suddenly swerve across several lanes of traffic in order to reach their objective.”
Locals call this dangerous driving tactic the “Bypass Blitz” because the principal traffic artery along the beach, the five-lane bypass, is a common location for unexpected lane crossings. Another local name is the “Buffet Blitz,” so named because many dangerous cross-lane swerves are prompted by sightings of All-You-Can-Eat Alaskan snow crab leg buffets. Other common destinations include Wings stores, mini-golf courses, national fast-food restaurant chains, and shops with names using the word “vape” as a pun/ironically/nonsensically.
The most dangerous version of the Bypass Blitz is a beeline from the far right lane, across the fast lane, the turn lane, and both oncoming lanes, usually without a turn signal or any awareness of traffic in either direction. The illustrations below show the usual result of this maneuver:
Dare County Director of Disorder Containment James “Flaco” Purdew speaks for local and national safety officials: “We hope that Crossy Crab will bring attention to the very serious danger posed by the Bypass Blitz. If we can reduce the number of blind lane crossings by 50% over the next seven years, we will feel that we have done our job.”