http://www.krem.com/news/Truck-crashes-through-red-light-camera-gets-stuck-on-sidewalk-94581374.html
……strike again.
This is a sidewalk and a busy one at that.
These traffic cams cost about 300,000 each.
Spokane is a city where if you are driving a truck you do want to pay attention to the height limits posted on bridges, but there is none on our sidewalks.
Not only that, that bridge is the main rail link leading between the Havana Street yards and the rails for Oregon (Portland, Salem, etc) and Seattle. That will now have to be inspected, and fixed if damaged: the freight that carries is huge, things like airliner wings and fuselages, tankers, you name it. Spokane is the Memphis of the NW when it comes to rail getting anywhere else. And that little bridge is a biggie. Just a few blocks from there is that great big bridge complex you sometimes see in my banner.
Ooops.
Ummmm….it would seem from the article that the “red light cameras’ are not terribly popular in Spokane. Be that as it may, I cannot see any excuse for crashing into one. Sidewalk implies that people at least occasionally walk…..*very* glad such was not the case.
Speaking of bridges, our main local bridge opened three days ago….still dirt road on either side of it but at least it is passible. Such is not the case with our ‘local’ mall. It was badly flooded. A few stores have reopened but the mall itself probably will not reopen until July/Aug. Merchants are going to be hurting this summer. Selfishly, I am *so* glad we are on top of a hill.
It is a VERY busy sidewalk, contrary to the look of it. Railroads don’t define a ‘bad’ area of town in Spokane: they used to be far more the heart of the city than they are now, and now all cross populated areas on bridges. This is a nice area right between a popular grocery and gas stations and a lot of apartments, plus a popular footpath bridge.
Sooo glad they didn’t hit anybody!
The red light cameras are new. This is the second one to go up. Naturally the city council gets all the gripes from the habitual offenders and the lemme-lone sorts who don’t want anything done about the light-runners. If you run that light, you’re doing it blind, and it’s a good bet there IS somebody coming.
“No word on if the driver will be cited.” Hah! I fell asleep at the wheel in 2002, woke up as I hit the rumble strip on the shoulder, oversteered and swerved to the left, then oversteered again and swerved t the right, then did it again to the left, spun the car 180 degrees and ended up with the rear wheels in the ditch on the left side of the interstate. Nobody was hurt, no other cars in the vicinity, but was I cited? You damned betcha I was cited. The Virginia State Policeman was very polite but also quite clear that I had been guilty of reckless operation, which is a big penalty. Since I showed up for my trial, I was given the option to plead “nolo contendere” and the judge reduced the charge to improper driving, and a $150 fine plus $47 court costs. But no points on my license.
Can you imagine the uproar if the driver had been texting on a cell phone? I’ve got very little need for texting, especially when it costs me 25 cents to send and/or receive one. The voice calls are already covered in my monthly plan.
Well, at least the driver knows he won’t get cited for running the red light! :/
I got blinded by one of those red light cameras. Not me: the guy next to me blew through the red light (half a second too soon), and I spend the next while parked behind the limit line trying to recover my night vision, at least a little.
Hmmn. I’ve never seen any emission from these cameras, night or day. Maybe the one in your area is mis-aimed or improperly mounted. I’d complain to the street department!
Tonight’s news reports the driver was cited for negligent driving.
At least he didn’t hit a bridge suppport. And he’s lucky he didn’t flatten himself on that abutment.
I was caught in a red-light traffic zone a few years ago in Del Mar, CA. I could have sworn my wheels were over the line at the yellow, but that’s not what they claimed. It cost $350 plus traffic court (online). I suspect it’s Del Mar’s way of getting tourist money. I’m responding by not going back to that town, or, indeed, to San Diego County. No more tourist $ from me!
But I love San Diego. I never had a bit of trouble there. Well, one time, I was driving on California 94 going east from downtown, and had just passed Lemon Grove. I looked in my mirror to see a black-and-white Mustang with a big 8 pointed star on the hood and a light bar across the top. I was in the middle lane, I was doing 65 mph, and it was a 55 mph zone. I figured I might as well give him the opportunity to give me the ticket and continue with his day, so I pulled over. What does he do? He guns it and goes right on by me. Neither his lights nor his siren were going, so he wasn’t on an emergency run (and no, he didn’t turn off at the Dunkin’ Donuts at the next interchange).
😆 Our cops are pretty merciful here in Spokane. There are areas (this accident area is one) where it’s premeditated murder to speed, and those highway areas (up on that freeway a few blocks from here) where it’s not going to bother anybody if you’re a bit over, and generally the cops will not bother you if you’re not being a fool. Of course, Spokane’s idea of a bad rush hour is the Monroe, Maple or Washington bridges at 5 pm, which will slow you about 10 minutes getting to somewhere across the river where you can go faster. The Division bridge (the widest) goes fast, but everybody avoids Division because it’s got so many businesses and lights. And of course if you want to get across town faster, it’s commonly faster to go to I-90, which runs through (above) town, blaze a course between Maple and Division (about 5 blocks), or Maple and Hamilton (about 10) and certainly if you’re going to the Valley: Maple to Argonne is about 9 miles).
And that little place where the fool got stuck? That’s Maple heading from the Maple Street Bridge TO the I-90 access.
Ways to be popular.
Headline for the day in Spokane:
“BEAR STUCK IN TREE
Fish and Wildlife are responding to a bear stuck in a tree. It’s on Indian Trail near the Yoke’s.[Note: that’s a major supermarket: Indian Trail is an area of luxury apartments.] Washington State Patrol is closing down Indian Trail. KREM 2 News has a crew at the scene. Watch KREM 2 News at 5 and 6 for the latest. ”
The usual is a moose on the green—bears usually make for the hospital district, not the golf courses. They’ll get him down safely, and relocate him to the nearby park, likely. They’re probably as confused by this weather as we are—don’t know whether to go hibernate or find a warm spot and hope for a sunnier tomorrow.
As with cats stuck in trees, have you ever seen a skeleton of a cat in a tree? While they might not like the height, it’s pretty sure that if they got up there, they can get down, again, on their own, with their own 16 or so claws, although they might jump the last few feet to get the agony over with more quickly.
In Virginia Beach, and also in Dayton, it’s the Canada geese on the greens. Gives a whole new interpretation to the meaning of “green”, and my bag cart still has green wheels. When you get to the green to find your ball not only “on” the green but also “in” the green, you more clearly understand the phrase, “loose as a goose”.
I wonder if “Samantha” (the voice of my GPS) will set us to avoid any of those bridges at 5 pm.
😆 I know those geese well: I used to live 30 feet from a lake with a grass lawn…
On the other hand, if you are thus situated and have a planter full of portulaca (moss rose) the Canadas will oblige you by dead-heading the entire lot so they bloom like fury. Apparently the portulaca tastes like candy to them, but only when wilted. Possibly the sugar level rises in the bloom. So they leave the good flowers and eat the spent ones. A perfect arrangement that made us content with their *ahem!* other gifts.