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Some poor driving means BC Line not thriving
By adamg on Wed, 03/02/2022 - 9:06pm
"Find another route home," Izzie advises after realizing why outbound Green Line trains have stopped - a driver somehow wound up plowing into a large block on the side of the outbound tracks, which refused to yield shortly before 9 p.m.
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Comments
Terminate this moron’s
Terminate this moron’s license so they never delay hundreds of people like this again. This crap happens every day. Enough already.
Agreed
And anyone, anyone that runs a red light should be banned from ever operating a bicycle on public roads.
anyone that runs a red light
I support this 100% if it applies to automobile drivers as well. "One strike, you're out."
Fun fact
Cars rolling through red lights is so expected, Tesla built it into their "autopilot" mode.
You’re not a software engineer are you?
Of course they have to build that in. Every decision and resulting decision tree needs to be included in their AI. Literally everything you could encounter needs to be included, which is why it’s so difficult.
Lol what?
I think you didn't read the article. The issue is not "cars might run stop signs, so watch out", it's "Teslas will run stop signs if they don't detect anyone around, because it's so expected by their drivers that cars should do that". That's despite the fact that "there's a red light/stop sign so the car should come to a complete stop" would be very easy to program in.
You're assuming thats actually enforceable
Talk about being the king of assumptions hahaha
I assume
You’d be banned if this rule was implemented. Probably on day one too, right?
Again, you're assuming thats enforceable
Even if it was, you might wanna be careful what you wish for.
Wiggle - Bicycle Stop Sign Protest
Speaking of rules and a previous thread you and I had, how was snow removal in Dorchester after that last storm?
https://311.boston.gov/reports?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=snow+sidewalk+dorchester
Stay mad!
Snow removal was good in my parts.
My back, however, is still hurting. Did your rich landlord neighbors in Brighton forget to shovel again?
I dunno about rich
But I had a good conversation with my neighbor from across the street while we were both shoveling.
Still not the best clearing on the property next to his but did notice the houses on each side of us had a crew come in to take care of things.
Still problematic with some of the properties on the way to Stop and Shop but can't be too sure of their economic standings but then again, I never mentioned anything about that before so please continue to stay mad!
I hope
I hope it carries over to next year for you and your good example neighbors wear off onto the bad ones.
Strawman.
Strawman.
Or, shall we say, Russian-level whataboutism.
Please go find and report the following:
death toll from cyclists running red lights
Death toll from motorists running red lights
$$ property damage from cyclists running red lights
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ property damage from motorists running red lights
In the mean time, get some sense of proportion to quell that sense of entitlement.
My comment was in jest
Take a chill pill, please! I’ll buy it for you. Gesh!
Is that Michael Scott's
Is that Michael Scott's Sebring?
Are there any video game
Are there any video game experts out there who know of or can create a game that would be a bestseller of Boston Transportation Challenge? It should cover all Boston MBTA trains, buses, motor vehicle driving, Storrowing, pot holes, parking issues, Masshole Characters that u can select as your player with names, fucked up construction obstacles, traffic signals, stupid human fails, bad weather changing every 3 hours, etc. God the ideas are endless and real.
Maybe ask Rockstar...
They could make GTA5 - Masshole Version. I never played the series, but if they made that version, that's the one I would wanna start with LOL.
II mean, would be so sweet if the first time I get Wasted, it's by an MBTA vehicle. :-D
Equip the Green Line
with those cow-catcher thingies so the operator can just shove cars off the tracks.
Flawed concept
I'm not sure that trolleys have the horsepower to do that. If they don't, an attempt to do it would probably burn out the motors, and then you'd have a bigger problem. In the case at hand, I don't think you could push that car off the tracks; it's firmly stuck on that block. If you tried, you'd derail the trolley.
Pure fantasy
There are plenty of other problems with the idea, starting with "drivers would get really angry at trolley operators for further damaging their cars". So I really wasn't serious.
Didn't think about the horsepower and derailment issues, but those sound like good reasons too. :-)
I don't blame them at all.
I don't blame them at all.
The B Line's crossings are a giant mess, and Allston Street is one of the worst. https://goo.gl/maps/q9bkz4XZYGDTVPcr5
What was the block? The base of a traffic light pole that got taken out earlier.
Under normal conditions, not only is there a black pole effectively in the road, and no line marking the edge of the road, but there's even a giant yellow stripe serving as a nonstandard crosswalk marking which makes it look like the road is wider than it is. At night in the rain, what would YOU see as a road edge? https://goo.gl/maps/tqeFy72JEVxBBEm26
This particular pole is missing more than half the time in Google Street View. Only one image has any kind of reflective marking on it, in September 2013: https://goo.gl/maps/jHhe4m1cKBEKsS91A . Why wouldn't BTD spend the few bucks on another reflective sign, rather than spending thousands of dollars replacing the pole over and over?
Say what you want about drivers taking responsibility for what they hit, but there should not be poles in the road. This is basic safety engineering, and BTD should know better.
A quick fix would be a road edge stripe and some reflective material on the pole. Longer term they should find a better place for the traffic light, install a curb delineating the road edge all the way across the tracks, and repave the sidewalk island in a color that contrasts with the asphalt road. Wouldn't you rather walk or drive across an intersection like this? https://goo.gl/maps/EERWqJJvDG4UDhpj6
Wait, are you implying that
Wait, are you implying that antiquated traffic engineering with crappy (or zero) signage or road markings might be dangerous?
Excuse you, this is BOSTON
Excuse you, this is BOSTON and if your granny wasn't born here and you didn't learn to walk while toddling across unmarked, antiquated, insanely designed roads and intersections established by horses and dragged into the 21st century with no improvements, you can GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM. We don't need none of that stinking ENGINEERING and shit here.
amen
some of you guys can be really fucking annoying honestly lol. that intersection is bad, full stop. luckily i never hit anything, but i remember ending up on the tracks a few times trying to make the left from commonwealth during my first semester - particularly at night.
i don’t think i’m anyone’s idea of a “bad driver” but according to some of you, i must be a “moron” to miss the turn. fuck off.
I've driven through here
I've driven through here hundreds of times, from every direction, at all times of day, and I blame the driver completely. The poles and road edges are fully visible and obvious at night, even in the rain, if you just have your headlights on; unfortunately many drivers in Boston forget about that feature of their cars.
The poles and road edges
It might astonish you to discover that in recent decades, traffic engineers have done a lot of research into the possibility of using signs and road markings (often with highly-reflective properties) to help direct traffic. But yeah, I guess if the "poles and road edges" are visible to someone who's driven through here "hundreds of times", then I guess that's good enough.
I didn't say the road
I didn't say the road conditions are good, or shouldn't be improved. Better signage and markings absolutely should be installed here. None of that excuses the driver, though; current conditions are sub-standard, but still good enough. A licensed driver can reasonably be expected to stay on the road here.
Also, judging by the other, older damage to the car in the photo, I'd guess this driver may not be in the habit of exercising all due care when operating a motor vehicle.
makes no sense
where the light pole is located is essentially sidewalk - it's on the curbed part of the pedestrian crossing. There aren't lines to differentiate the road from the sidewalk anywhere else. It's not understandable that the car ended up on the sidewalk at all - luckily no one was hit. Additionally, this is looking outbound, meaning that car had to cross the oncoming traffic lane to hit that. That car should have been in the right lane to turn left and that road is easily identified, dark or not, by all the cars parked on it. Stay to the left of the parked cars and you're all set. If the car was going straight on Allston towards Brighton Ave, it shouldn't have been on that side of the road at all. I live in Allston and have driven through that intersection 100s of time and manage to avoid sidewalks and light poles (and pedestrians) each time. this isn't Packards Corner - the carriage lane is a deliberate choice and driving on the wrong side of the road and ending up on a sidewalk is not understandable at all.
Normally the sidewalk is
Normally the sidewalk is delineated by a curb, and concrete which contrasts with the road. And corners normally have a radius that makes it easier to turn.
This intersection has none of these. The sidewalk and road are all the same asphalt, with no curb on the edge of Allston Street where it intersects the trolley median. The quarter-circle stone forming the corner has a radius of about 2 feet. And then there's a traffic light pole in the middle of the asphalt, except when it's missing and it's just a concrete base.
It looks like the car was turning left from Allston Street northbound to the Carriage Road westbound. The parked cars on the right don't help you figure out where the outermost point of the corner is.
Did you look at the Street View links I posted? Wouldn't you rather walk or drive across the Brookline intersection in the last link, rather than the horror show that Boston provides for us?
yes
the street views clearly show a curb. I drive this almost daily, light or dark, rainy and snowy. I've never hit a light pole. Easy to tell what's going on if you're paying attention
You know what really helps prevent these things?
Paying attention.
Driving sober.
Driving at reasonable speeds.
Following traffic laws.
Oh, but those are so incovenenient!
If you're a large block on the side of the outbound tracks...
you've gotta understand, cars are going to hit you.
That's a lane divider, right?
From the picture, that looks like the fairly substantial block that's put there as a "stay to the right" indicator to cars to direct themselves onto the marginal road at Packard's Corner, and not some random chunk of granite that someone just dropped in the middle of the street. Am I right about the location?
(yes, I'm grasping at straws trying to figure out how this individual managed to beach himself on that thing, apart from "raging drunk" which can account for anything, I know Packard's Corner is confusing but come on)
Allston Street
The photo does look like Packard's Corner, but it's Allston Street.
For one thing, there's no boulder or concrete block or anything to keep drivers from going up the streetcar platform at Packard's Corner if they misjudge the turn onto the carriage lane there. There used to be a bollard right at the end of the platform, but drivers kept hitting it so it was removed.
Packard's Corner is like the
Packard's Corner is like the reverse Storrow of Boston. If you're unfamiliar with the area, and it's night, and the road is wet or visibility not great, then there's a good chance you'll drive the wrong way and Storrow your undercarriage.
Most of the time it'll just be a punctured exhaust, so won't make the news, but I bet it's happened more often than you'd think.
Oh for sure
I lived in that area for years, so I'm very aware of how easy it is to drive onto the tracks when going outbound. I drove through there last week and felt like, "How do people NOT drive onto the tracks like every single day?"
Paying attention to the road
Paying attention to the road in front of you and staying within posted speed limits helps a whole lot.
If you're at Packard's corner
If you're at Packard's corner on Comm Ave westbound, the first vehicle in line at the traffic signal in the left turning lane (i.e. nobody no follow), then paying attention to the road and driving the speed limit may not be enough to save you from the confusion of figuring out where exactly you're supposed to go when the light turns green.
True, the intersection is
True, the intersection is barely marked and someone who's never been there before and is driving safely may be confused as to which side of the tracks they should be on. But there are just two options and a safe driver who is paying attention to the road in front of them will either end up to the left, on Comm. Ave., or to the right in the carriage lane where they may not have wanted to be but at least it's a road, and they can get back on Comm. Ave. a few blocks down. They will not end up driving down the train tracks, stuck on the Jersey barriers, or impaled on a light pole, because all of those things are big and visible and obviously not things you're supposed to aim your car at.
But not always enough
"a whole lot" is sometimes not enough in cases of a spectacularly badly designed intersection like this one. Have you ever driven there? Especially at night?
That is true.
Those who can’t follow this simple requirement, and there are so many, need to get out from behind the wheel.
Have a cite that there was a
Have a cite that there was a bollard that was removed because it was getting hit? That doesn't make sense, since the point of a bollard is to get hit.
Street View shows a traffic light at the end of the inbound platform, and nothing at the end of the outbound platform. It's the same all the way back to the beginning of Street View history in 2009, except that sometimes the traffic light has been knocked over and replaced by an orange barrel. https://goo.gl/maps/gbMD5iAfGd6vGF6t9
Nope
No, no confirmation that the bollard was removed specifically because drivers kept knocking it down, but the fact speaks for itself: there used to be a bollard there, long before 2009. (I've lived nearby for 60+ years.) It got hit and knocked down on the regular, and finally it disappeared for good. I don't recall exactly when that happened, but I'm guessing some time in the 1990s.