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Car, Duck Boat collide outside Old State House
By adamg on Thu, 08/02/2018 - 1:46pm
Kelley Hand reports traffic on Court and State streets is now a mess, of course.
WCVB reports the driver of the white car appeared to grow impatient and cut off the Duck Boat.
Ashley Keenan had a view from up above:
Neighborhoods:
Free tagging:
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Comments
Don't Worry — There's Nothing That Can Possibly Go Wrong
"Never let the facts get get in
the way of a good story". As reported on WCVB by multiple witnesses. "The Audi was impatient and it cut off the duck boat," Izaria Johnstone, an MBTA transit ambassador said.
No traffic enforcment
No reason to not run lights or block the box and then demand your "right" to plow into pedestrians and other vehicles.
Doesn't help that mahhhhhty shortened all the crossing lights, meaning people get stranded in the intersection while crossing and jackasses think they get light running rights as a consequence.
Crossing lights have nothing to do with this
This is a collision that involves two motor vehicles. Take a look at the photographs, or perhaps read the headline.
Yup
I'm sure the traffic dept scheduled a meeting with Walsh to discuss how long the crossing light should be there, and he demanded they shorten it. What a jerk!
Yes, what a great idea it was
Yes, what a great idea it was to put a 6 lane street right by a 300+ year old historic landmark that is swamped with pedestrians all day. When I want to experience a little bit of revolutionary war history I know that dozens of motorized vehicles whizzing by 10 feet away really gives you that 1700's feel.
Another car ending up on a sidewalk after a crash. How many little kids did these drivers hit this time? Christ....
The Six Lane Street isn't the problem
It is the wedging of three lanes onto the street alongside that doesn't seem to work.
That said, now I know what that SCREECHHONKKWHACK was, followed by sirens.
Given the cycle configuration, I"m betting that the Duckboat ran a "pink yellow" light from State Street coming up the hill - the pedestrian signal scramble-a-thon part of the cycle separates the two lights on the other run.
Alternate theory: car driver took a right on red and realized that they wanted Devonshire instead ... bam!
Light cycle: Congress St Green; Pedestrian Scramble; State St. Green; Congress St. Green. QUACKs go from state straight up court.
Right from Congress...
Most Duck Boats I see make a right turn from Congress SB to State St/Court St. And they turn even though they end up blocking the box and blocking the crosswalk.
Different routes?
I've seen them down on State Street, too.
Might vary with time of day.
Isn't that all vehicular
Isn't that all vehicular traffic during rush hour? Not just duck boats?
MBTA Ambassador at State St. Sta. doorway says (via WCVB)...
Woman in white car ran the light and got t-boned (sort-of) by the Duck, looks fairly low speed. I think your Alt Theory about car driver getting confused, maybe making a panic move, seems about right, I see it every day at that very spot at rush hour. Too many choices, lots of distractions, and legions of peds who use mass migration strategy to cross against the light (plus cars who run the pink-yellow), prescription for clusters like this one. Glad it wasn't worse.
Depending on departure
Depending on departure location, they come up state if leaving from Aquarium, all others will likely come via Congress past Fanuiel Hall. Given their wide berth, the vehicle legally makes the right turn onto State from the middle lane - if the car was going straight from the far right lane, this could have been the result.
A "pink yellow?"
Go on...
Would I be correct in assuming that's a yellow that's not quite red yet, ergo, pink?
Other way around
It is a light that is so freshly red, it must be yellow, and can be run at speed.
First three through on red are free ... (don't try this on the road)
AKA "Orange"
AKA "I saw that, you know...."
Put the fannypack down and
Put the fannypack down and take a deep breath. Boston is a real city, not colonial Disneyland. Thie crash happened between a car and tourist duckboat, a vehicle which was recently the cause of death of more than 10 innocent people, and should NOT be driven in the heart of Boston's very busy financial district on a workday. These silly oversized tour vehicles are not designed for narrow historical streets where people working are simply trying to get to and from work, lunchbreak, work errands on foot. If you lived and/ or worked here, you'd side with Boston residents and people who work in this city who have to deal with these giant tour bus monstrosities on a daily basis.
I believe the recent incident
I believe the recent incident with loss of life you're referring to - actually happened in the water.. So.. uh.. yeah...
Perhaps but...
Duck boats have run down people on the road numerous times in Boston. In one instance they ran over a woman on a motor scooter stopped at a red light in front of the boat. Those incidents occurred [mostly] prior to the rule change making the company use a separate driver and guide so the driver would not be AS distracted. But even with that change, they are still too large and have poor sight lines. They should not be legal on the road or on the water except when being used by the military for amphibious invasions.
Boston duck boat accidents actually rare, only one fatality
As far as I can recall the only fatality involving a Boston duck boat was Allison Warmuth, the woman on the scooter.
There have been a few other accidents. Some portion of them -- including this one, it looks like -- were the fault of the other vehicle, not the duck boat.
As a result of Warmuth's death, the company has made numerous safety upgrades. Sen. Brownsberger wrote eloquently about this in January 2017.
Vehicles on the streets of Boston get into accidents. I've seen no evidence that the duck boats -- at least in their current form, with the safety upgrades put into place since Warmuth's death -- are substantively less safe than other vehicles.
I don't know...
I think I'd rather be hit by a sedan than by a duck boat. Somewhat better chance of survival.
I'm not just picking on duck boats... I think large trucks and buses don't belong on urban streets either. Buses should be replaced with rail vehicles, and deliveries can come in smaller vehicles. In the rare case where something truly large needs delivery, say construction, it should be an escorted truck just like current "Oversized" loads.
What about the one in this
What about the one in this article??
Judging from the amount of
Judging from the amount of damage to the car, this accident is as minor as they get. The only reason it's news is because it involves a duck boat.
The vehicles do not go down
The vehicles do not go down narrow historical roads.
Please don't presume to speak for all Boston residents
I've listed in Greater Boston since 1987 and in Brighton since 1997 and I've worked downtown for well over a decade. I don't have a problem with the duck boats. Please don't presume to speak for all of us.
I do live and work downtown...
And it's been my experience, especially using marked crosswalks away from signalized intersections, that the duck boat drivers tend to be more observant of yielding the right of way to pedestrians than other motorists -- and generally a bit better than the other tour buses/trolleys. The worst ones are bus drivers from out-of-town/state and delivery vehicles, to be honest.
I certainly don't think the duck boats are any more out of place than all the semis and 18-wheelers I see downtown day in and day out.
yeah sure
Go look at a street view of the Roman Colosseum. I think that might have a year or two on the "old" State House. Modern cities gotta navigate around their historic treasures bro
Oh sure
Can't have an ancient coliseum without some human sacrifices!
aye
just one of the perks of Roman citizenship
but aside from that, what
but aside from that, what have the Romans ever done for us?
I've never actually visited
But I'm not sure Rome is the city you want to use as an example of cities that manage their traffic intelligently.
It sure is!
It's where I leveled up my street crossing skills as a pedestrian! No joke.
These things really are a
These things really are a menace. Maybe now that one's hit a car instead of just cyclists the city/state will actually do something.
HAHA
https://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/05/02/duck-boats-ban-lawyer-bob-mongalu...
One even hit a State Rep's car a few years back: https://www.masslive.com/news/boston/index.ssf/2014/06/boston_duck_boat_...
I guess the bright side of
I guess the bright side of things here, is that it was a car and not a girl on a scooter this time..
Well
Yes this sucks but it's pahhht of the chahhhm in Boston. The non orderly fashion in which the infrastructure of the city is built means green lines collide with cars, peds, bicyclists and unfortunately Duck Boats have issues. At least it didn't sink??? Not being callous...just sayin'.
Yes, let's show some pride
Yes, let's show some pride and put it on a tourist ad somewhere, "Hey, come to our city, and if you don't get maimed or killed by one of our wicked awesome duck boats, you're almost as tough as us, world-class citizens"
who's at fault?
Not a fan of the boats, can't have driver also be tour guide (didn't they change that though?) but from their positioning, unless the duck boat went through a red light across Congress or turned left from Congress on a left in the face of oncoming traffic, it looks like the car caused this. My two cents anyway
I get that it must always be the Duck Boat's fault,
...but can somone explain to me wtf the white car is doing? The car appears to have been traveling south on Court Street -- going the wrong way on a one-way street. This doesn't appear to be a high-speed crash that would have spun cars -- any other explanation for the whote car???
Last Thursday
Last Thursday I was walking down State St and about to turn onto City Hall Plaza when I heard a crunch.
Duck boat vs Nissan full of Asians
I would have taken a picture but I figured it was an everyday thing. I didn't see who was at fault because I was staring at my girlfriends boobs at the time.
Stay Classy
.
"Nissan full of Asians"?
You do you, but "tired cranky old provincial ignorant white guy" isn't a look that wears well.
Give Him Credit — He Didn't Call It A "Datsun Full Of Orientals"
Traffic controls are a joke
Controls aren’t enough, enforcement is the key and automated enforcement is one of the answers to making streets safer. Oh and get rid of those freakin duckboats.
Duck Boats do not belong on
Duck Boats do not belong on the roads.
That's BS running red lights
That's BS running red lights is the problem. Cars who think its okay to go thru a red light because it just turned red.
Both can be true
Duck boats don't fit on city streets
Drivers need to stop running red lights
Get these giant chunks of
Get these giant chunks of metal off city streets!!
That could have been an Uber driver in that white Audi with an elderly or a child in that back seat.
Who cares
If it was an uber? Or "an elderly" vs. someone who is in their 20's?
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I love how everyone just
I love how everyone just assumes the Duck Boat driver is at fault, despite the fact that a witness notes that the car that was hit ran a red light!
Personally, I would tend to trust the driver who does it professionally for a living more than some random person who may or may not have any idea where they are or what they're doing.
But even if I didn't, with the amount of nonsense I see drivers pull around here, it's amazing there aren't more crashes. Running red lights, turning from the wrong lane (often without signaling), turning where it's prohibited, etc.
Duck boats kill
Last night a duck boat blew through a red light + pedestrian walk sign by Charles+Beacon streets, almost running over a bunch of people in the crosswalk. The pedestrians had to run, the duck boat didn't slow down at all. My bike would have gotten clipped, except I know duck boat drivers are all crackheads so I waited to see if it would slow down for the light before entering the crosswalk.
Duck boat is fine
In Charlestown I saw a mini-van drive into a bright pink duck boat stopped at a red light, driver of the mini-van was on her cell phone and didn't see the bright pink duck boat. It's a problem of distracted driving, the duck boat is fine.
An impatient Audi driver?!
GET OUT! No way! Fake news!