I am hoping to do something somehow to help prevent those one-way head-on collisions that seem to be happening more frequently. It seems that Route 8 is one of the worst offenders, followed by I-84.
What I think might help would be to have sensors on the exit ramps of the most common areas for head-on collisions. I am thinking that there must be a way to put a sensor on the exit ramp and have it notify the police when a vehicle is on there. Maybe even a camera. I do not know the cost of this idea. I do think that in our state, since we seem able to pull money out of the air, that this safety issue would be a concern for us all.
I am not sure how far these people go from when they get on, but if we can put some sort of sensor on those areas, and put up more lights on the entrance and exit ramps and the areas leading up to those points, I think that we might be able to prevent any number of accidents.
I haven't pulled any old newspaper articles yet to calculate it, but I am wondering if these accidents really are becoming more and more frequent, and if so, we need to do something about it.
Another recent one was on I-84; I believe it was one nun going home from somewhere and two young people were driving the wrong way on the highway, and hit the nun.
The nun was OK, but the driver of the other car died. It appalls me that in this state, we have the money to throw at a busway that no one wants and even fewer will use, when we could do something about an issue that can affect all of us.
"Peter Van Keuren, spokesman for the state DOT, said the idea of putting in tire spikes is commonly mentioned but is problematic for several reasons. “Tire-spike barriers have been tested to determine if they could be used at off-ramps to stop vehicles from entering the wrong way,” he said. “They were, however, found to be unsuitable. The spikes, even when modified in shape, did not cause the tires to deflate quickly enough to prevent a vehicle from entering the freeway.
“Under high-volume traffic, the spikes broke, leaving stubs that damaged the tires of right-way vehicles,” he added. “It was speculated that some right-way drivers, upon seeing the spiked barriers, would hit their brakes and create a hazardous situation. There were additional concerns regarding the use of spikes in northern climates where snow pack and ice formation might prevent the spikes from folding down when driven over in the right direction.” “This suggestion is a common one, but spikes for preventing wrong-way entry onto a freeway via an exit ramp are not a good solution.,” Van Keuren said. “Tire spikes are designed for very low-speed locations, are effective when used at parking lots, parking garages, and toll booths, and are usually used in conjunction with gates. Manufacturers’ literature specify that they are for locations where speeds do not exceed 5 mph; they are not designed to work at potentially high-speed, high-volume traffic locations such as on freeway ramps.”
Hopefully something will come from this forum to help prevent this type of crash. Can you provide any details as to where the State Police are in their investigation at this point? It must be nearly complete by now and there has been nary a word regarding it.
Since there aren't any tollbooths in the state, how does this statement mean anything?
That is not what the statistics referred to, so why did you say that?
So, when you say the DOT cares more about money than people, you're just making stuff up to suit your understanding, not looking at facts to shape your understanding. I just finished reading this stay done by the CT DOT in 2008. http://www.cga.ct.gov/2008/rpt/2008-r-0491.htm It contradicts your belief that the state doesn't care about this issue, and also discusses the problem in a national context. Do you understand what I'm trying to say about your argument style, and why it's not a good one?
"But why not us the time to research ramp accidents solutions instead, it is much more productive" In the last thing I posted, I linked you to a study I'd just finished reading that addresses some of these issues. That is why I get the feeling you're not really reading things completely... I know you aren't purposefully twisting facts, and I know your intentions are good, but my concern is that you're not really putting enough time into examining facts and reading articles—which is why you're misunderstanding the statistics you're quoting. I agree with you that people dying due to other drivers is terrible. Death is pretty terrible in general. You don't have to appeal to people's emotions to get them on the same page with you. So, instead of making those emotional statements, just concentrate on the facts, and the context you're working in, and then you'll be able to argue these things better...
So my solution is add more signs, light them, paint on the center of the road (as to not reduce the friction of cars), and MAYBE, add a row of amber flashing LEDs angled toward the correct direction (thus only drastically being seen by people going the wrong way). But gates, spikes, and remotely disabling cars (which is impossible I might add) are not the answer. Dumping money into gates or spikes or "remotely" disabling cars is wasteful. Almost all of those would be a huge expense, and then a huge expense to maintain. Even then, after all that money, you're assuming they work perfectly and stop the vehicle in a position that is not a danger, which is highly unlikely. Bad things happen, but we cannot always dump tons of money hoping it will fix the issue (I'm looking at you TSA). Sometimes there's a simpler solution that reduces the chance that something bad won't happen, but without going overboard.
You have to drive offensively and understand the limitations of your vehicle in panic situations. I look at it like chess. Plot your course four or more steps ahead. I've found you can dodge incompetent drivers, stay within the speed limit and never touch your brakes while having a good time doing it. Happy trails!
http://www.rep-am.com/news/local/720978.txt Maybe this will show the problem to be a REAL problem on our roads. I still think that painting large arrows (not those ones that look kinda like lines with triangles in the middle) showing the proper traffic direction would be cost-effective and would also hopefully minimize the amount of these accidents.