Hey, there! Log in / Register
Jesus Christ, can't any truck drivers read?
By adamg on Thu, 11/19/2015 - 7:55am
Good Lord! Shawn the roving UHub photographer wasn't roving very much around 6:40 a.m. when he took this photo of a blessed truck on everybody's favorite river road, the one with all the "CARS ONLY" signs at the entrance ramps:
When Storrow is bumper to bumper at 6:30 in the morning, you know there’s a truck.
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Jesus, take the wheel
is not a good navigation policy.
There's a reason he never
There's a reason he never gets promoted past co-pilot.
Christ's inability to be promoted: Pilot immutable
He is kept in the co-pilot seat because the majority of humanoids lack the capacity to appreciate the concepts of Pascal, Righteousness, Truth and Light. That being the case, traffic signals (lights) pose Incomprehensible conundrums while True insight is a requisite in assessment of solutions posed to The Dysfunctional Condition of the Driver's Cognitive problem solving apparatus that is dysfunctinal by definition... Problem solving in a comprehensive manner, is impossible in the established state of delimited capacity, when compared to Jesus'. Such a state defines MALFUNCTION that exists a priori; Hence, attempting to operate in world of like misalignment, combined with aggressive human mindsets define "issues" of Control and insolvable states, alone. Thereby, Jesus remains co-pilot.
Oh man
That's exactly what I came in to say
It's a question of free will
Yes, Christ the Savior directs us, but it is up to us to follow his message. In this case, I think his message over at the Doubletree ("get off this road") was probably ignored, along with the actual sign over the road.
You don't ever see trucks
You don't ever see trucks with colanders painted on them getting Storrowed. Just sayin.
Man...
I want me some spaghetti and meatballs now. Why'd this have to happen on a Thursday, dammit???
For that matter, when's the last time
you saw a church with a colander on the steeple.
Allah
Adam
In this age of diversity why not "Allah" or " Muhammad" in the title?
Take a very close look at the back of the truck
Real close. Right side. If you don't see it, it's time for your eye exam.
Look at the accompanying picture
If it were a halal provisions company truck ...
gold star
Besides the photo...
...there's this specific cultural reference which has a Christian basis.
Headline
The headline rendered long before the picture. :-)
7:35
Passed by at 7:35. Truck hadn't moved an inch but traffic was flowing fine.
Probably ...
Because State Police had him back or drive into one of the cutouts to wait until after rush hour so they could close down a lane and have him back all the way off the road.
Good punishment
Truck drivers tend to get paid my the mile (judging by the advertisements I've seen on the trailers of several companies.) The company might absorb a ticket, but a couple of hours of going 0 miles an hour might impart the need to have a good commercial GPS in the cab.
Especially if sitting those couple of hours
results in the driver missing their delivery deadline.
and the Lord spoke
unto the truck driver and said, 'hey, what was that big clang I heard when we drove onto this road?'
Time to find a new co-pilot?
Time to find a new co-pilot? Or hand Him a truck GPS?
In the software engineering
In the software engineering line of work it's believed (by good programmers) that there will always be a user out there who will click just the right combination of buttons to break your software. So the burden is on the programmer to make the software as bulletproof as possible. It seems to me that we could do much better about warning truck drivers if things like this still keep happening.
my suggestion....
has been, and continues to be, brick and mortar/steel tunnels/archways/entryways onto Storrow. Basic structures that would likely take 10-20 years to build here and cost billions of dollars, but would limit ruined commutes only to those getting on at said ramps and not the entire metro area.
I'm with you
A steel I-Beam 100ft beyond the CARS ONLY flaps so that a truck couldn't go very far onto the road and the overpasses wouldn't be damaged.
It's pretty much the same hardware used to hold road signs across the road currently.
I seem to recall that
at one point, the entrances to the Lincoln Tunnel on the New Jersey side had large concrete beams over the roadway with the notation "12'-6" WE MEAN IT".
Jersey Style!
Even if it would have probably been put up by the PANYNJ.
On a side note, I never would have foreseen that a loudmouth from Newark would be out loudmouthed on the campaign trail, but since he has been out loudmouthed by a guy from Queens, I guess there is still some logic in this.
Jersey has the perfect solution
because a blocking beam like that occurs prior to the big lane merge of many lanes down to those going through the tunnel, so if one lane is blocked by a stupid truck driver, the impact on other drivers is minimal.
The problem in Boston is that we don't have extra lanes anywhere on entrances or roadways where we can afford to lose one to blockage.
Make turns too tight for trucks
Many turns in the area have been made too tight for semi-trailer trucks to take easily, so why not at entrances to Storrow? Yeah, it would slow traffic flows for cars, but so too does stuck trucks. Downside is more crashes caused by such chicanes.
Toll-booth like structures at entrances would also communicate the message of no trucks allowed. Again, these cause more traffic accidents. No free lunch.
Someone who's not paying
Someone who's not paying attention to the half a dozen warning signs to begin with is probably someone who would try to navigate such a tight turn anyway. How many stories have we seen about these fool truckers, typically using passenger-vehicle-grade GPSes, squeezing their trucks down Boston's one-way roads, taking out parked cars in the process, and even driving straight into the Boston Common?
Ignorance and a persistent tenacity to forcefully exert that ignorance wherever possible seem to go hand-in-hand.
Perhaps if said warning signs
entering Storrow Drive actually COMMUNICATED the real hazard in specific terms that drivers can easily and quickly understand.
"Cars Only" (which BTW is NOT an accepted regulatory sign message in the Federal MUTCD) typically means to an experienced trucker "the locals whined about having trucks go down this street, so they posted a restriction".
"Danger Low Clearance" is missing one key point of information - the ACTUAL clearance.
Ambigious messages that lend thenselves to being easily ignored or misinterperted have no place on highway signs. Especially when said messages are placed at a point where the driver has already committed to entering the highway.
Want to warn truckers about low clearances or other legitimate restrictions on a highway? Then place the information well before they have a chance to enter the highway, and not when they have to back up or make an otherwise awkward maneuver.
Agreed
And to take it a step further - If one single user manages to break the software, ok, user error. But if users are breaking it on a regular basis, the problem is with the software, not the users.
It's plenty of fun smugly looking down on ignorant truck drivers, but it's not solving the problem.
And if a GPS is directing trucks onto Storrow
the problem is _definitely_ with the software. :-)
Fellow software developer here
Fellow software developer here. What if we were to install some sort of large, solid structure overhanging the road at irregular intervals? That way, if the truck misses the sign, one of these overhangs (let's just call them "bridges" for sake of brevity) will definitely stop it cold. Ain't no WAY a user is going to get around that failsafe.
No, you don't want to do that.
If you get an error, you don't want to violently crash the entire system. You want to display a message and then allow the user to gracefully exit the program if necessary.
And if a program is incapable of running on your system, you need to shut it down while it's still initializing.
So you're suggesting
a try/catch block?
Even worse.
Storrow overpasses: the
on error resume nextof Boston driving.Why not an advisory warning
Why not an advisory warning on the GPS itself that the road has an overhead obstruction. Live by the GPS , get fired by the GPS. Dont trust them at all at all.
They have GPSes that
give such warnings. Unfortunately, it's not a standard feature on all GPS units, and the ones that have the feature (usually marketed as "commercial vehicle GPS") cost about 40% more than the typical units. And it also doesn't take into account that typical cellphone GPSes don't include such warnings.
Plus, I'm sure that a trucker that runs into serious trouble (like destroying their trailer by smashing it into a bridge) and then uses the "I was just following my GPS" excuse will likely lose their job anyway.
Something involving sensors
Something involving sensors that pick up over-height vehicles and flash a bunch of lights or drop a turnpike in front of them has been suggested before. This link has been posted.
The more I see this stuff the more I think something much more drastic, like automated tire-poppers or a .50cal fired directly into their engine block might be more appropriate.
Years ago, the MDC (now DCR) used to have
overheight sensors that activated warning signs and buzzers on the entrance ramps to Storrow and Memorial Drives. However, the warning signs - which were red neon on black background and normally remained dark unless activated - weren't exactly attention getting. And the noise mafia convinced the DCR that the buzzers were harmful to the environment - as a result, the DCR disconnected them.
A few of these signs, which no longer work due to lack of maintenance and/or deliberate disconnection, are still in place if you look closely enough at some of the entrances.
Of course, if MassDOT controlled these roads instead of the DCR, it's likely we would have a overheight detection and notification system in place that's similar to the one currently at the entrances to the Big Dig tunnel system.
Oh, for you Kara Sassone fans ...
Yes, of course she snagged a photo on her morning commute.
It's obvious what Boston has to do.
Get Kara a job somewhere west of her home, not east.
this is bull crap
We ask the same thing. People who drive cars will see a sign 2 miles ahead that says RIGHT LANE CLOSED. They'll bring their American spoiled adult ignorant behinds all the way up in the left lane and then turn on the signal. Jump in front of a truck weighing 80 thousand pounds because other cars won't let them in. Won't wave a thanks or nothing. Then not only that. Cars will see a truck needs to make a turn at the light they will come all the way to the line and sometimes past the line knowing darn well the truck has to turn. Never mind that the truck is bringing food to the grocery store. Those California strawberries you guys love so much he picked up to bring to your town over 2000 miles away or better yet the kids need school supplies we're bringing those to walmart. Oh this town thrives on this factory that everybody works at. It needs materials so they can have jobs so we need them also to keep a job. Early in the morning we are thinking at 5 am. Oh my god they are awake....it's about to get crowded. Idiots leaving home late.....I don't want to be behind this truck vroom vroom. There this idiot goes. Oh my god this truck is too slow. I need to get around it. I'm gonna be late. Almost causing wrecks and often times do. People who drive cars need to be retrained on highway safety. Another thing too that really gets to me. Why do people stop on side the freaking highway without a care?? It's not safe....also riding beside a truck texting making our jobs hard because we keep looking at you making sure you don't swerve and end up under the trailer. The last thing that really really gets to me. Merging into traffic.....read the signs or when entering a highway. Wecannot get over all the time and a four wheeler....car.... will expect you to get over with the tthought of....you're supposed to let me in. Duh...it's called merging. You guys can clearly see under our trailer if a car is on the other side and you'll still ride next to us like we are supposed to let you in. Then they'll drive on the shoulder at highway speed until they can merge. I'm looking in my mirror at this idiot. So before you make posts about us please take note that four wheelers have to be the dumbest drivers ever. PUTTING Your Kids On The Road With No Safety Rules OR guidlines. No teaching them common sense. So we have to drive for you guys. We promote highway safety and no not all truck drivers have that proper teaching but real professionals like myself have learned to be patient with such a spoiled culture. Looking into your cars we see whining all day long. We can't even have the truck stops to ourselves without some idiot coming into a truck stop with 29 people ordering food. And all we want is to grab and go but no we gotta wait behind you to make up your mind of what you want to eat at a McDonald's and you've been ordering the same crap since YOU were a kids. Man get real
Sorry man, you still can't drive on Storrow
but you are right that people are idiots.
so....
...were you the one who nearly got storrowed?