Boxtruck decapitated on Friday the 13th
About a year ago I installed a camera to record the traffic outside my office in dwntown Durham. Over the course of that year, that camera recorded several boxtrucks crashing into the railroad trestle crossing Gregson St. Here is the newest one:
There’s more on my YouTube Channel.
The fundamental problem here is not so much that the bridge is too low (or the truck too tall) – it’s that everyone is speeding on this busy stretch of Gregson. The speed limit is 25 MPH. There is a school two blocks before the train trestle. There are five pedestrian crosswalks on the two preceding blocks. There are ample warning signs, flashing lights, but none of this appears to matter to most drivers. Frequently, vehicles come flying down Gregson easily twice the allowed speed. And when you’re barelling down Gregson in a rental truck … WHAM.
We (who have to cross Gregson) have had many, exhaustive debates as to what could be done. I think the only real remedy is to slow traffic down. And that can only be accomplished by vigorosly enforcing the speed limit. And of course the Durham cops have nothing else to do than to chase speeders on Gregson St.
So in the meantime all that’s left to do is to document what happens when you go too fast on Gregson in a truck that’s over 11 feet 8 inches.
See some photos below the fold …
