AAA: Inadequate guardrails at NY site where 7 died

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By JIM FITZGERALD

NEW YORK (AP) - The section of highway where an accident sent seven members of a Bronx family flying over a guardrail and plummeting to their deaths has narrow lanes, steep hills, tight turns, inadequate guardrails and no breakdown lane, an auto safety group said Monday.

The Bronx River Parkway "lacks modern transportation engineering features," said Robert Sinclair, spokesman for the American Automobile Association's New York City affiliate. He said it was conceived in 1907 and opened in 1925 as "the first limited access multilane highway in the U.S."

Three sections of the parkway in the Bronx, including one at or near the accident site, are on the state Transportation Department's 5 Percent List, a federally mandated report of locations "exhibiting the most severe highway safety needs."

The driver, Maria Gonzalez, clipped a highway divider and damaged a tire Sunday afternoon before her SUV plunged off a highway and six stories down into a ravine on the grounds of the Bronx Zoo, killing three generations of a family, including three children, police said.

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20120430/D9UFI7PG3.html

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Police investigate the destroyed van that plunged over the Bronx River Parkway, Sunday April 29, 2012, in New York. Authorities say the out-of-control van plunged off a roadway near the Bronx Zoo, killing seven people, including three children. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)

[virgogal]

1. What an awful tragedy.

[onehandle]

2. Let The Infrastructure Fail! Rmoney, Boner, and Eddie Munster have shown the way. nt

[Blue_Tires]

3. cue the attorneys?

Juan Gonzalez, the driver's husband, blamed the state, at least in part, for the crash:

"He says it's very careless of the state to let that happen," a relative said, translating Gonzalez's Spanish at a funeral home. "There's been several incidents before this. Accidents such as this and they haven't done anything to prevent this."


It's not like his wife was doing 68 in a 50 in a top-heavy SUV on a narrow elevated highway or something...

[Zoeisright]

15. And why not cue the attorneys?

In this society, where the government doesn't do what it should and people die, litigation is the last resource of the little people. Governments and entities must take the blame when they are negligent. That's what life is like in the real world.

[obamanut2012]

32. She may have had to go that fast

In many urban areas like this, going the speed limit, or even under the average flow of traffic, is extremely dangerous, MORE dangerous than following the speed limit. I, personally, resent being made to drive too fast on roads like this, but I learned long ago it's the lesser of two evils.

I also don't blame him for suing. I hope the surviving sister also sues.

[Blue_Tires]

34. So should there be a lawsuit against Honda as well?

What about the original tire/brake/shock manufacturers?

[lib2DaBone]

5. Inadequate infrastructure.. give me a break....

Forgive me for being insensitive to their tradegy.. but did you see the giant cement curb and guardrails?

What did she do.. put it in 4 wheel drive and go 60 mph while she drove it off the bridge?

I can almost bet she was over the speed limit and texting was involved.

I can almost bet this incident will be right up there with the lady that sued and won a million dollars from McDonalds becasue she spilled a cup of coffee on her lap.

[Omaha Steve]

6. You need to brush up on the truth of the Mc Donald's legal action

It was a right wing lawyer pushing for torte reform that created a very negative image on this subject.

Had it not been for HBO, I wouldn't have known the truth either. The car was parked. She wasn't the driver. The photos of how bad she was scalded. All the numerous previous complaints Mc Donald's ignored.

Here is a place to find the truth of the story: http://www.hotcoffeethemovie.com/Default.asp

Is Justice Being Served?

Seinfeld mocked it. Letterman ranked it in his top ten list. And more than fifteen years later, its infamy continues. Everyone knows the McDonald’s coffee case. It has been routinely cited as an example of how citizens have taken advantage of America’s legal system, but is that a fair rendition of the facts? Hot Coffee reveals what really happened to Stella Liebeck, the Albuquerque woman who spilled coffee on herself and sued McDonald’s, while exploring how and why the case garnered so much media attention, who funded the effort and to what end. After seeing this film, you will decide who really profited from spilling hot coffee.

“Eye-opening indictment of the way big business spins the media.” —Variety

“Stunning debut … Sends audiences out of the theater thinking in a brand new way.” —Washington Post

“Entertaining, informative … vividly illuminating.” —Hollywood Reporter

[Skittles]

7. CORRECT

[Poll_Blind]

24. +1 nt

PB

[frylock]

8. i can almost bet you're a real sweetheart in person too..

you don't know fuckall about the mcdonald's incident so i'm guessing you're opinion on this isn't worth a shit.

[csziggy]

10. You should read the article - the giant curb acted as a ramp to launch the vehicle

OVER the four foot high rail.

From the article in the OP:

Police said Maria Gonzalez of the Bronx was driving south at 68 mph when she bumped a concrete barrier separating the north- and southbound lanes. With one tire damaged, her Honda Pilot skittered across three lanes of traffic, hit a 2-foot-high concrete curb and went airborne, clearing a 4-foot-tall guardrail.

"It is very strange that there is a curb there," Sinclair said. "You don't put curbs on high-speed roadways because they can serve as launching pads, which appears to be what happened here. A big Honda Pilot flew over a 4-foot guardrail."

He said the guardrail should be higher on an elevated roadway.

Gonzalez was driving well above the posted 50 mph limit, but speeding is common at that point and she may have been simply keeping up with traffic, said New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne. He said there was no evidence Gonzalez was texting, on a phone or had been drinking. Toxicology tests are pending.

Emphasis added.

This road was built in 1925 - a lot of safety features for roads have been discovered since then. I doubt this road was designed for today's high speed traffic at the densities we have. That is the major focus of this article - that the road is outmoded and needs to be re-engineered for modern traffic.

[Renew Deal]

20. That is a fast stretch of road

It is wide open and there is nowhere to pull off.

Here is a street view: http://g.co/maps/zbhnh

[Zoeisright]

14. Ah, just like spreading false internet lies, do ya?

That McDonald's incident, in perspective:

That particular McDonald's had been warned over and over again that the coffee was too hot. They kept serving it at that dangerous temperature. The woman took a sip, scalded her mouth, dropped the coffee, and sustained third degree burns that required SKIN GRAFTS. She was awarded that money for pain and suffering, JUSTLY.

And that money, BTW, was ONE DAY'S WORTH of coffee profits for McDonald's.

Get your facts straight before you spread lies.

[SharonAnn]

21. If a man's penis had require skin grafts, what would the Internet meme be?

[Renew Deal]

19. Have you ever been to NY?

And have you driven on that parkway? I have.

I can almost bet you have no idea what you are talking about.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

22. Using the "McDonald's case" as an example of a "frivolous lawsuit" only shows how uninformed you are

[ronnie624]

23. You should read about the McDonald's coffee incident.

The woman suffered 3rd degree burns on 18% of her body, because McDonald's was in violation of public safety laws, by holding coffee at 175 degrees or more, which can cause severe burns in mere seconds. They did this to preserve the 'freshness' of the coffee longer. Many people in the preceding decade had filed suits against McDonald's for the same thing, but according to McDonald's cost analysis, settling law suits was less expensive than the increase in coffee purchases that would result from holding coffee at a lower temperature. Clearly they were compromising public safety for profit.

[obamanut2012]

33. You are 100% wrong about the coffee lawsuit

And, I'm sure, also about this one.

[frylock]

9. the compassion and humanity exhibited by so-called democrats in this thread is most underwhelming..

sound like a bunch of libertarian douchebags ffs.

[neverforget]

11. It's despicable.

[high density]

12. A tire blew in the SUV after she hit a Jersey barrier.

She lost control of the SUV at 70mph.
The huge vehicle then plowed over an antique 2' curb and 4' guard rail...

It's sad people died, but at some point we just have to accept that we can't make life into a big rubber room.

[ronnie624]

25. It is a very dangerous stretch of highway.

It should be properly redesigned for modern vehicles and traffic. There were children in that van. No doubt it was a most unpleasant sight to first responders.

If it wasn't for aggressive war, 'tax cuts' and 'bailouts', we would have the revenue to improve our infrastructure and our society.

[frylock]

26. that guardrail was designed for model Ts..

way past time to upgrade that to current spec. 70mph is not excessive speed.

[LanternWaste]

28. more alternatives than simply two extremes.

I imagine if we remove the speck of intractable dogma from our eyes, we would then be more able to see that there are indeed more alternatives than merely the two extremes of death and "big rubber rooms"

However, I do realize the personal convenience and comfort a false choice offers to our own minds.

[Zoeisright]

13. Well, we can't spent any money on infrastructure,

especially if it helps keep the peons safe. Those multi-billionaires need another yacht, y'know.

[FailureToCommunicate]

16. I drove the Bronx River Pkwy twice a day for work in NYC. It it still a

beautiful old parkway with many fine WPA built stone overpasses. It twists and turns, and was meant to
be driven at HALF the posted speed of today. Most of todays driver go well over the limits.

This incident is a tragedy, but it was not caused by "antique" or "outdated" safety features. It seems pretty clear from the report that speed, damage to the steering tire, and panic and bad luck, and speed, were more likely the main factors in the accident.

As a teenager I personally witnessed about one accident a month at our turn of the Bronx Pkwy (at exit 19 in White Plains) and several times rescued drivers from crashes, or comforted them till firefighters arrived to cut them out.. People were driving too fast for conditions.

I learned first hand that speed maims and kills.
For all our sake... please SLOW DOWN.

[msanthrope]

29. I drove it regularly, too. You are correct about the speed limits....

You really can't go above 45-50 on it, and that's pushing it.

[Tx4obama]

17. They said on the news yesterday a few years ago 6 people died in the exact same place

It was said on one of the cable news shows, but I don't know if anyone else has mentioned it since.

[JayhawkSD]

18. At some point we have to take responsibility for our own lives.

"The section of highway where an accident sent seven members of a Bronx family flying over a guardrail and plummeting to their deaths has narrow lanes, steep hills, tight turns, inadequate guardrails and no breakdown lane, an auto safety group said Monday."

And she was not able to see these supposed "safety hazards" and drive appropriately? She was going, the police said, 68mph in a 50mph zone, taking the "steep hills" and "tight turns" at a reckless speed.

In San Diego a homeowner overlooking the freeway saw a vehicle stopped in the left land and started his video camera. Sure enough the third car passing by hit their brakes not more than a single car length from the disabled car and crashed into it. It is a perfectly straight freeway for more than a mile and traffic volume was very light. After the crash the drivers got out and stood in a discussion behind the wrecked cars. The media had a big discussion about how dangerous that stretch of freeway is because it has no center medium, and about how CalTrans needs to take steps to "prevent these serious accidents from happening." CalTrans needs to prevent people from sticking their heads up their asses and not seeing a stalled vehicle in their lane.

In Arizona a youth stepped over a waist-high barrier with signs in three languages saying "Unstable cliffs, do not go beyond this point" at a scenic overlook and fell ninety feet to his death. There was an outcry to install an eight-foot chain link fence to prevent that from happening again. We really want an eight foot chain link fence at a scenic overlook, to prevent one idiot from climbing over a barrier which warns of the danger?

[frylock]

27. ah yes. more libertarian personal responsibility bullshit..

i'm certain you have never ever once exceeded the speed limit. is this a safe assumption? yeh, she should have stuck to the posted limit while everyone else was driving 70+. you do drive, don't you? do you understand that her driving signifigantly slower than the flow of traffic would also pose a safety hazard?

the guardrail was built in nineteen-fucking-twenty-five. there have been some signifigant improvements in highway safety standards since then. perhaps it's time to bring this stretch of highway up to those standards.

[FailureToCommunicate]

30. Trying to figure what axe you're grinding. Sure, the infrastructure needs

upgrading, but few roads are 'safe at any speed' (except maybe in parts of midwest when NO other car is present)

Speeding on the Bronx River Pkwy would be like speeding on stretchs of Route One south of Carmel, California. Totally dangerous. And there are accidents there all the time (We have friends who live right beside that road) Are those guardrails working?

Engineering and infrastructure safety can barely keep up with 'human error'

[Exultant Democracy]

31. If they had a google car they would still be alive. People suck a driving its genetic

we just did not evolve right. Now a cheetah on the other hand would at least understand the speeds and forces involved with traveling at 60mph.