Posted on 03/23/2023 6:40:23 AM PDT by Governor Dinwiddie
Supposedly 2 cars interacted on a lane change and this one ended up in the zone.
You’re right, it’s wrong to assume so early. But we all want to speculate.
Your idea was the second presumption I had after a bit more info…my first when it happened yesterday was “illegal aliens”.
(I know this segment of the Beltway very well. Lived near around 20 min away all my life.)
Which (to my mind) is way preferable to hoodrats or methheads sitting on their @$$e$ and collecting our money from dot gov or selling drugs to other hoodrats and methheads.
Don’t presume so much. This does not sound like gross negligence at all. Death penalty is ridiculous, especially in this case.
At least in Texas, the rarity is the driver moving back to the right after they’ve passed, they just camp out in the left lane.
The identities of the deceased are being held while their next of kin are being notified.
The identity of the driver is being held while their social media are scrubbed.
Died suddenly? It’s a sad trend lately.
If it is gross negilgence, I’m fine with the death penalty.
I am also very open to complete exculpation. It seems to me those are the two likely options, and I don’t see a great deal of room for a grey area.
20 years in prison is a luxury our society can no longer afford in a variety of ways. It is also, historically speaking, cruel and unusual.
The identity of the driver is being held while their social media are scrubbed.
^^^^^
So true.
Seems it was about a lane change and possible clipping cars, not to mention an open access for the zone. This is not “jackasses” as far as I hear so far.
BTW, if it wasn’t in the construction zone, sounds like she could’ve spun off into the inner loop traffic and caused a big car pile-up. So, pick your poison. Either way, could’ve been very bad.
Regarding your comments on car safety, improvements are being made. I own a 2020 Subaru Outback and the safety features, while at first annoying, have likely saved me from an accident or two.
For example, on the highway, if I turn my blinker on to shift lanes and there is a car in my blind spot, an alarm will go off in the car alerting me to that.
In cruise control, the car will automatically maintain safe distance from the car in front of you - as well as keep you centered in your lane.
Best feature of all is the backup camera. Especially in a busy parking lot where you have to back out of your space and there are cars zipping by. You will get the alarm if it is not safe to back out. This works with pedestrians as well.
So kudos to the car manufacturers putting those features into cars.
I don't think people realize how dangerous it is for those construction workers on highways. It is very disconcerting to have cars whizzing by you at high speed all day long.
I remember having to change a flat tire on I-81 on a rainy night. Even though I was able to get completely off the highway, I could not get that far off the road due to an enbankment. So I was changing that tire with cars and trucks zooming by at 70mph or more just a couple feet away.
I was very lucky that night. Probably should have called triple A.
During the George Floyd interregnum cops pretty much stopped enforcing traffic laws, especially in traditionally disadvantaged communities. (Is a sarcasm tag even necessary?) As a result, even though fewer cars were on the road due to lockdowns, traffic fatalities increased.
Good and hard.
I’ve often wondered why a moveable concrete barrier isn’t put up in front of a work site.
For example, let’s say workers are working in the left lane. So there is a sign telling drivers to merge right. Why not also put a barrier there? At the very least, a car smashing into the barrier would slow it down, and alert the workers.
Placing and moving such a barrier would be a hassle. But I think it would be worth it.
Would you read my first reply to this thread?
This article is from yesterday and I am local and know that segment of highway very well. I hear more on the radio as well. Including this morning.
People have accidents. It’s sad but it’s JUST an accident. Crap happens. I’d venture more it is the damn safety NAZI design-sabotage in modern cars than anything else. They are TERRIBLE for visual fields.
This is the median. They are surrounded by Jersey barriers. But there are openings in these for the workers and construction vehicles. That is how she got in.
Awful amount of deaths in this case. Feel very badly for the loved ones of the deceased.
It should have been virtually impossible for non construction related vehicles to enter the area. Plenty of concrete barriers seen in the pic, but if you leave the end open to traffic other than mere signage someone might be in jeopardy.
Large Large vehicles for that purpose with appropriate stuff on the rear end to mitigate encroachment and to soften the blow to the encroacher are used in some states to completely block access. Will we even find out the results?
All those features you list are BECAUSE they know damn well they have blocked visual fields.
Back-up cameras are great when you have a bad neck, but they are still woefully deficient for wide-angle perception. Noises aren’t enough, neither are little blips flashing at us from every angle. And you should never rely on them working properly forever.
They’re helpful but a mindful truly responsible driver actually makes an effort to look in the direction he wants. I hate people relying on their old mirrors, for that matter. They need to turn and look…oh, but that damned headrest and gigantic thick rear pillar block your view!
“ This is near me. The lack of police enforcement on the roads makes them wild and lawless. Tragically it was only a matter of time.”
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I’m very familiar with the western side of the Baltimore beltway where this accident occurred. There is PERPETUAL Highway work going on there… year after year. They used to have a state police car parked at the beginning of the road barriers with its lights flashing. That was a very good safety measure but perhaps they’ve stopped that precaution now.
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