Tough bridge!
World's Toughest Bridge
World's Toughest Bridge
Been there, done that ...once!
- Thread starter louixo
- Start date
They should title that video "how to turn your box truck into a flatbed for free!"
purgoose10
Veteran Expediter
More than 15,000 bridge strikes last year. Funny film. Why fix the bridge to much entertainment watching the flick.
runrunner
Veteran Expediter
You can't fix stupid.
AMonger
Veteran Expediter
They might be limited by the water table.
cannedmeat27
Expert Expediter
How dumb can people be to not know the height of there truck?
Way back in '87 I learned how to drive a rig. One thing I learned is never go under a bridge that has a close clearance at highway speed. You slow to a crawl and "walk" the trailer under the bridge. If it touches, you know it before you destroy the trailer.
Any tall truck-- and some rental vans-- that I've driven have had markings indicating vehicle height. It's inexcusable not to know how tall your vehicle is. My old Sprinter had the super-high top, it was 8.5' at the high-mount brake light and 9' at the tip of the antennae. The Chevy I drive now is a hair under 7 feet at the high-mount brake light.
A couple of those guys really get the "Rocket Scientist of the Day" award. The first truck hits the bridge and shaves part of his load off. The following truck, loaded identically to the first truck, doesn't even attempt to slow down before doing the exact same thing. How could you not know that if the truck ahead of you couldn't make it, your identically loaded truck full of bricks won't make it either?
I might give a couple of those guys a break. They were driving rental trucks. People who rent a truck to move their household belongings have no clue about things like this even after the rental agent tells them several times to check clearances. They don't drive big vehicles daily, so it never enters their heads that a 12'6" truck won't fit under a 11'8" bridge. Same thing about the camper van. He doesn't do it every day so he doesn't realize how tall his camper really is, even if it's marked on the vehicle. He passes that same bridge every day twice a day in the family minivan, no problem.
Any tall truck-- and some rental vans-- that I've driven have had markings indicating vehicle height. It's inexcusable not to know how tall your vehicle is. My old Sprinter had the super-high top, it was 8.5' at the high-mount brake light and 9' at the tip of the antennae. The Chevy I drive now is a hair under 7 feet at the high-mount brake light.
A couple of those guys really get the "Rocket Scientist of the Day" award. The first truck hits the bridge and shaves part of his load off. The following truck, loaded identically to the first truck, doesn't even attempt to slow down before doing the exact same thing. How could you not know that if the truck ahead of you couldn't make it, your identically loaded truck full of bricks won't make it either?
I might give a couple of those guys a break. They were driving rental trucks. People who rent a truck to move their household belongings have no clue about things like this even after the rental agent tells them several times to check clearances. They don't drive big vehicles daily, so it never enters their heads that a 12'6" truck won't fit under a 11'8" bridge. Same thing about the camper van. He doesn't do it every day so he doesn't realize how tall his camper really is, even if it's marked on the vehicle. He passes that same bridge every day twice a day in the family minivan, no problem.
Ha ha.
A mere 12 feet to the right of this bridge, and only a few feet below the level of the pavement, lies Onondaga Lake. If the driver had had the sudden realization that he couldn't fit a 13 foot tall VanDrool bus under a 10'9" bridge, his only alternative move would be to ditch the bus into a lake on his right.
Perhaps a fear of unknown water prompted his decision to plow at full speed into a railroad overpass nearly two-plus freakin feet too short for his vehicle.
This moron drove through THIRTEEN warnings within a 1-mile stretch of roadway - warnings that include enormous orange signs and blinking lights, pavement markings, overhead signage, shoulder signage, height detectors and warnings, and an enormous two foot wide strip of hideously reflective orange tape on the bottom of the bridge itself that can be seen by veritably blind people from a mile away - yet he managed to slam a double decker bus into it at full speed.
Can you imagine being awake, in the forward upper level, and seeing this overpass coming at you at 55 mph?
Yet somehow, he was ACQUITTED - and locals appear to favor blaming the railroad for their low bridge that's been in place for 100 YEARS.
When did responsibility separate itself from the CDL holder?
This stoopid ******* should be in jail. Period. He had ample warning. He also had a far more precious cargo than the morons in the provided link.
Had to vent.
Thanks.
One thing is that alot of these low bridges were in place before there was 13-6 trucks also they can not raise the brige because the rail would have to be raised. Cutting the road lower would be virtully immposible because , increasing greading would have to be done and then you would and could have flooding problems.
So many of these guys approached the bridge at speed, never even thought to slow down as they approached a bridge that had to look "close". I will grant that the ones driving rental trucks and the ones pulling a camper trailer might not have realized just how close. But many of the others are-- or at least should be--- trained, professional drivers. That's what is surprising. Your 12'-6" truck isn't gonna fit under an 11'-8" bridge. That even assumes the sign is right and that it's not a bit tighter than that. If you're driving an 11'-6" truck you should approach the bridge at a dead crawl and be prepared to stop if it touches.
I note in the article you've linked to that some brain-donor had the idea of tearing down the bridge, which might require CSX to install a grade crossing instead. That's even worse. Sooner or later a train will hit a vehicle at a grade crossing. It happens all the time. Does anybody really think that a professional driver who ignores multiple warnings that a bridge is too low for him would pay much attention to lowered crossing gates? Count on it, when someone gets killed at a grade crossing the railroad will get sued because they didn't have a bridge or an overpass.
OK, I'll ask: Why are there three different camera angles on this? Why are there cameras filming this in the first place? You can see the zoom effect being used, it's as if this happens all the time, and every amateur filmmaker in that area knows it.
bluejaybee
Veteran Expediter
It's pretty obvious that it happens quite frequently. I also read somewhere that the RR has a steel beam across the road in front of the bridge, so the bridge is not being hit. Trucks hit the beam and it saves the bridge.
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/9810394/
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/9810394/
Last edited:
Not surprisingly, the state of NY and CSX differ in opinion:
-- and --
*sigh* Gotta love New York. Yep, our opinions differ, so let's just marinate the issue for another generation or two.
Yes, that's also addressed in the link provided above.
Ultimately, the DRIVER is responsible. Period.
My husband was a motor coach driver before we became a ST team. His primary and consistent concern was the safety of his passengers. He appreciated that each one was entrusting his or her very life to his driving ability, and he never once took that trust for granted.
I find it appalling that in this case, at least, none of the entities involved - the railroad, the bus company, the driver, the state, the city - are willing to actively work toward a reasonable and permanent solution for the Onondaga Lake Parkway CSX bridge. It's just more finger-pointing.
But
Utimately
The
Driver
Was
Responsible
.