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Another driver proves unable to handle awkward Allston intersection
By adamg on Fri, 01/10/2014 - 11:39pm
Walkingbostonian came across this smashup shortly before 11 p.m. at Comm. Ave. and Allston Street, on the outbound side.
Sup3rmark, who also snapped a photo, reports a 17-year-old driver took out three cars and an SUV. No injuries, he adds.
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Comments
Awkward?
Perhaps it is awkward if you've never seen a service road or you are driving too fast and want to make a sudden turn from the wrong lane.
Otherwise, it seems pretty forgiving compared to most streets in the area. You can miss a left turn by being in the right lane, exit right to the service road (and even pull over to check your directions/map/GPS or "recalculating route") , and then make a left at another light to get back to your destination.
Not nearly as awkward as
Not nearly as awkward as Packard's Corner, where the trolley tracks go from the center of the road to the right-hand side (between the main road and the service road). I drove off the curb there back when I was about 17 or 18 (no other vehicles involved, fortunately).
Packard's Corner
I've seen cars driven up onto the T platform several times at Packard's Corner over the years. Usually at night. Probably how the fence got knocked down too (not that I mind).
A reflective bollard or something would probably help.
Or, you know, painting lines
Or, you know, painting lines on the road or something. At the time I did it (early 80s), the entire intersection was a blank expanse of unmarked asphalt, and it still was, as far as I can recall, when I moved out of Allston in 1998.
Bollard
There actually used to be a bollard at the corner of the outbound platform at Packard's Corner. It got hit so many times they removed it. Apparently some genius decided it was better to endanger people on the streetcar platform than to run the risk of some driver getting hurt.
Fortunately the people who
Fortunately the people who design roads and their improvements don't use your process (deciding what seems safe, and blaming the driver). Instead, they look at accident rates, and use designs that have safety research backing them up.
If the BTD is too incompetent to do this for Comm Ave accident hot spots, MassDOT should step in and do it for them.
Mass DOT?
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
I don't know. I'm always
I don't know. I'm always extra careful here, but this intersection is pretty horrible.
I lived in the apartment over
I lived in the apartment over Lee's II for 7 years and I must have called 911 dozens of times for accidents at that intersection. I'm sure speed often played a role, but the accidents were all over: on Comm Ave, on the service road, on the tracks. The most notable was a car that had crashed and then managed to ride the jersey barrier so it ended up balanced with its front end 3 feet off the ground. Another night, we watched the 4 occupants of a car scatter as we called 911. Turns out the teenagers were drunk and the car full of open containers. Good times!
My favorite tale of that
My favorite tale of that intersection is from three Septembers ago. I was on the T outbound, and a Lexus SUV ran the light on Allston St and then sat there waiting for the train to back up so it could continue through the intersection. I don't drive very often, but even I know better than that!