Posted on 07/20/2011 7:47:43 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
WOODSTOCK -- The last few days have been busy for Shenandoah County emergency personnel on Interstate 81.
Or, as some people may feel, it's been like old times.
Four notable crashes in a 10-mile stretch since Thursday afternoon -- there were two that day, one on Friday and a tractor-trailer overturned Tuesday morning -- may have been the most in such a short period of time since the Virginia Department of Transportation raised the posted speed limit throughout most of the jurisdiction to 70 mph last the fall. Official crash data, though, is not yet available for the past few months, although for all of 2010, there were 29 fewer crashes in the county than a year earlier, according to the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.
The DMV does not track road-specific crash data.
However, speed is not necessarily always the culprit. On Friday and Tuesday, for example, it appeared to be driver fatigue, said Sgt. F.L. "Les" Tyler, a state police spokesman. Felton L. Joseph, 59, of Pearland, Texas, was charged with reckless driving on Tuesday after overturning his tractor-trailer hauling tea on the right shoulder at southbound mile marker 284. There were no injuries.
Based on what local officials have observed, after roughly nine months with the new speed limit, nobody appears to have found a reason yet to change their original impression on 70 mph.
"I don't think there is any good evidence that the interstate is more dangerous now than it was before or even that actual speeds have increased at all," said Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Woodstock, who favored the move. "VDOT made the determination about which areas could safely support the speed limit increase, and I think we should wait and see additional data from them before we jump to any conclusions."
Shenandoah County Fire Chief Gary Yew said he has always thought the increase was a mistake. He is concerned about public safety, particularly in peak travel times, such as the current summer vacation period.
"The more serious crashes over the years, they certainly have been attributed to speed," Yew said. "I can't help but think it compounds our problems."
VDOT spokeswoman Sandy Myers said her agency is waiting to collect data for a three-year period before reviewing the effectiveness of the speed limit change. She echoes Gilbert in stating that it's too early to make any conclusions.
The data, when available, may not matter for some people. William Pence, president of Appalachian Freight Carriers in Edinburg, said 65 mph is fast enough for truckers, so the hike to 70 mph did not sit well with him. Drivers in his company, though, are directed to set their speed at 67 mph, which conserves fuel.
"And that's fast enough for trucks," Pence said.
He said too many crashes involve truck drivers speeding and following too closely, and that was before they were granted the opportunity to travel faster.
"Any rear-end collision involving our drivers," Pence said, "they're outta here."
The Board of Supervisors passed a resolution opposing the increase last year. District 1 representative Dick Neese said his opinion hasn't changed and his concern for I-81 is so great that whenever he must make a Harrisonburg-to-Strasburg trip, he takes U.S. 11.
"I got stopped in [a crash backup] one time," Neese said. "I said there's no way I'm going to let this happen again."
Good to hear that. My parents are in PA, so when I’d go home or return from leave, it was 1,100 miles or so across I-70. On my return trips, I always seemed to hit KS at about 11:00 or 12:00 at night. I was a young hot-shot lieutenant and had a ‘92 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX Turbo. I’d push upwards of 90 or so if the road was wide open, and never got a ticket.
Oh, yeah!!! I like those too!
BINGO!!
And unless you are teenage male the speed at which you choose to travel is likely to be a safe one.
A few years ago, there was a blanket 70mph pretty much over
all the rural areas of state highways. Many of those have been reduced since then to a more logical 60mph. I think due to the long time period at 55mph - many (newer) officials didn’t realize that not all highways are for 70mph.
“What a waste of time, money, and energy that was.”
Yeah, but you got to contribute some feed calories to the Judicial/LEO industrial monster.
“Even counted two cars with people having sex!”
I was nowhere near that area.
That stretch 81 between 66 and Woodstock scares the crap out of me. Granted, I only visit once a year so maybe you get used to the volume of trucks at some point. But it just seems like wall to wall trucks and two lanes in each direction is dangerous enough at 65mph.
My car is a “tool” that provides me the opportunity to move from one spot to another.
If you don’t how to use your tools correctly, please do not use them until you are competent.
I like to drive 75, with apologies to Sammy Hagar.
Yes - it should have been 80.
I remember a Keeper of the Speed doing that in Kansas. She was proudly humming along in her state owned car with a teachers union bumper sticker doing an easy 5 under next to a semi fully loaded and maxed out in speed. I geve her a courtesy blink of the lights...nothing. Another blink 2-3 minutes later. In mortal fear, she shot past the truck and I passed. As I saw her reaching for her phone to call the police on me, I slowed down so she could read my license plate. Surprise, nothing happened.
I hope you kept it down to ‘reasonable’. I once drove a 327/350hp Nova SS. It had the straight line stability of a slowing top. Also couldn’t corner worth a damn. A few years later I drove a Datsun 240Z. While not as quick in a straight line quarter mile, you could drive 100mph all afternoon feeling very secure.
Yeah, well it is downhill... ;-)
What causes unsafe conditions is vehicles driving DIFFERENT speeds. As long as everyone is driving about the same speed, traffic flows smoothly and safely. It really doesn’t matter what the speed is, so long as everybody goes about that speed. Speed limits should be set to get the maximum level of compliance and uniformity in speed.
It frustrates me to no end that Illinois specifically sets different speed limits for cars and trucks. Could there be a better formula for an unsafe roadway? Stupid.
>>There is a huge Wal-Mart distribution center right by an interchange between Harrisonburg and Stanton with its own railyard.
There was talk that some of the truck traffic would diminish once the raillink was completed. I haven’t noticed it happening. Have you? <<
Remember that if you’ve got a truck brought it. When train traffic increases so does truck traffic. When the economy slows down there’s less trucks on the highway and vice versa. WalMarts, Safeway, Foodstuff, Sears, McDonalds or your local gas station doesn’t get stocked by air freighters.
You must not have gotten the right trooper - the one who pulled us at 82 knocked it down to 79 right there 'just in case' his/our instruments were off by a tad.
You can’t courtesy flash lights anymore here in the seattle area - that’s a hate crime ;-)
>>moving more freight traffic off the highways and onto the freight railroads, I think it would be well worth the effort.<<
Do you have any idea how it get to the trains and/or from the trains? By TRUCK, not helicopter or ship or taxi.
Than I guess my headlights are full of hate. I rarely do that but it’s better than a friend of mine who once bumper tapped someone for holding up a few hundred cars.
You need to include the definition of LTL: less than truck load, weight or bulk size. West of the Mississippi river we can pull 53 foot trailers, I imagine east of the river is still stuck with 48 footers.
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