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Warning to out-of-state U-Haul renters: You'll be cruising for a bruising on the river roads
By adamg on Tue, 08/23/2022 - 10:20am
Artist Eric Funk is out with his annual warning for the parents of college freshmen and other clueless motorists that those "CARS ONLY" signs they'll see when they arrive for Allston Christmas are serious (and yes, of course, you can buy the warning on various media).
Earlier:
Last year's Storrow advisory.
Free tagging:
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Comments
Has the pool started?
And what day does Allston Christmas begin this year? The 31st?
If the signs were serious
they would say "LOW CLEARANCE 11 FEET", and not "CARS ONLY." They also would be black lettering on yellow background signs that are rigidly mounted at the clearance height, instead of the black rubber pieces dangling from chains we have now.
It would also help if these signs were placed on approach streets prior to the point where drivers have already committed to entering the highway (as opposed to being on the entrance ramps themselves), or could easily change lanes to exit the highway prior to the restricted area (e.g., Soldier's Field Road east prior to Western Avenue).
But let's continue to blame blind obidence to GPS, even though this problem has existed decades prior to widespread use of GPS by drivers.
I don't blame GPS
I blame idiot drivers.
See https://11foot8.com for more on this subject.
The black rubber signs are
The black rubber signs are specifically designed for trucks to hit them without damage, to warn the driver. Originally they had cowbells on them as well. Though I agree that "DANGER LOW CLEARANCE" would be a more useful warning than "CARS ONLY".
The low clearance…
The reason trucks are banned from
Storrow Drive isn’t because of the low clearance. In fact it’s the other way around: the reason the clearances are low on Storrow Drive is that from the beginning the owners of Storrow Drive (I.e., us, acting through our elected representatives) intended to limit it to private personal autos and not for commercial use.
Trucks are banned from driving on Storrow Drive for the same reason cars are banned from driving on the sidewalk. That they don’t physically fit under the bridges and overpasses is secondary.
There’s nothing remotely ambiguous
There’s nothing remotely ambiguous about “Cars Only.”
I’d be OK with “CARS ONLY / fuck around and find out” or “CARS ONLY / are you feeling lucky today, punk?”
Cars Only
also means no bicycles (reasonable rule for Storrow Drive) and no motorcycles (not reasonable, imho)
Regardless of size
It's cars only on the road.
I am remember when the roads through Stony Brook Reservation had signs where they entered that noted that commercial vehicles were banned (it wasn't that phrasing, but it's what the sign conveyed.) There are a bunch of roads throughout the region that ban commercial vehicles.
Height is a slightly different issue, and there are signs before the low clearances that note the height of the bridges, so hitting the bridge after seeing that signage is just lack of attention to the road.
UHaul does a good warning job
I got a hitch put on recently. There were warnings everywhere about the river roads and corporate general warnings about reviewing routes for clearance. The clerks also verbally warned renters about clearance issues.
The vast majority of storrow mishaps in recent years have not been 20 somethig college students with UHauls, but young local commercial license holders relying on Google Maps for navigation.
Yes
I rented a Uhaul 2 years ago from the Mystic Valley Parkway location (near Tufts !) and they were VERY clear about which parkways the truck could not be on. And if I recall correctly there's verbiage in the contract stating specifically you are responsible for repairs if you drive on Storrow or Memorial drive.
It’s not the GPS
It’s not the technology, it’s the attitude that the rules don’t apply to me.
Meh
If you rent a U-Haul in Manchester NH to move your kid into BU, you're not getting any warning.
I have a feeling most issues aren't with locals renting locally.
I can almost excuse some confusion about this...
I can see someone, especially an overthinking young person faced with a split second decision saying to themselves "this thing must technically/legally be a car since I don't have a truck driver's license". They ought to make you pass a short quiz before they give you the keys.
That's not what's hitting bridges, though.
It's by and large commercial trucks, not U-Hauls.