This is a clusterf*** of bad decisions
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Traffic safety is a must. So is a copy of the MUTCD. The guy with the camera really didn't seem to help much...probably would have done more good if he had called the local law.
I'll admit I was kind of hoping one of them was going to smack the Comcast truck.
Someone once said "those that don't pay attention to history are doomed to repeat it". Traffic statistics for years have proven one of the most dangerous places for the travelling public is a two lane urban arterial secondary route. You have a mix of people using it is a thoroughfare, and people backing out from their houses. Speed differential is the common denominator in these serious accidents. And the guy with the "cookbook" answers about number of cones is full of crap. Each site should gauged on its own criteria. Sight distance is an important part of a proper and SAFE lane closure. The traffic count (number of cars) and length of closure may indicate a flagman should be required. Nothing about their lane closure was proper or safe.
The actual road conditions in the video indicate to me those guys need to be busted back to installing cable boxes in the projects.
Apparently this was right in my back yard here in Indy. Glad I chose to stay home on Tuesday.
Alright, get ready to roast me, but I am on both sides of this. The Comcast guy set out what he was taught, and he obviously didn't carry more cones, or have an extra man to stand down the road and flag. He was gonna fix the problem and get the heck outta the way. The camera guy was in the way, slowing down the comcast guy, standing in the road, and I didn't see him going down the road to flag traffic either. Placing his own "cone" (sounds singular to me) was about as effective as the 4 or 5 cones comcast had out. The traffic was quite obviously driving in their normal state, which is to say, like closed minded, closed eyed idiots. I think I heard the comcast guy say the speed limit was 40mph, but in my mind, the weather conditions made that road much more like about 20mph. Whose most at fault? My money says the brown pickup was gonna hit someone that day, no matter what, but we'll never know. This is a great example of in a better world, Comcast would not have the customers calling and screaming and cussing about loss of service, while they had time, manpower and the equipment, such as more cones, signs, attenuator, etc, and traffic would of slowed way down because of the weather. All I can say is I'm glad I am not an insurance adjuster looking where to look at percentages of fault.
One cone per 10/mph ? If I remember our recent safety meeting, the uniform traffic code mentions a 10:1 taper with 25' spacing between. At 40mph you should have signs out beginning at 800'.
Saw this on reddit. Unsafe at any speed. Plus, folks w southern accents don't know how to drive in the snow....
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Several years ago it was snow covered everywhere here and several inches of packed powder, ice, pack snow and some sleet coverage on the highways.
Returning home I came upon about a dozen cars on the side of the hwy in an "S" curved section a few miles from home.
As I was making my way thru a man stepped out and halted my travel and said I could not go thru and said to find another way around.
I told him to get out of my way cause I was going to pass on thru.
When I went back about a mile and turned around and came back he did the same thing.
This time I got out stood him in the face and told him that I was going to give this one more try and if he stepped out again I would tie him to the tree in Dan's front yard so he would not get run over.
On my third trip nobody was in the road and all dozen drivers were bugeyed as I drove past them.
It was not long before many of those cars came by my house on their way home.
Sometimes, it only takes one nut to mess up everyone's day.
Paul D, post: 404120, member: 323 wrote: folks w southern accents don't know how to drive in the snow....
I dunno bout everyone else, but I drive fine in the snow. Unless I need to get out of the gate and onto the actual road, then I just usually realize I am just as bad as everyone else, and stay home.
Paul D, post: 404120, member: 323 wrote: Plus, folks w southern accents don't know how to drive in the snow....
Folks in Seattle find it hard to drive in the snow; they are a long way from a southern accent. Maybe a south Canadian accent?
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People were driving way to fast for road conditions.
Had i been there, I'd have gone to flagging traffic, at the hiltop. (monte has a good point). Then, got on the phone, and called a cop to flag.
Regardless of the lack of wisdom on the part of the Comcast crew, the cause of the problems was a lot of people driving too fast for conditions.
No number of cones would help. There was enough visibility for drivers to see the obstacles and stop if they had adapted to road- conditions. If there was a warning at the rise (what hill?) too many would have sailed past and not thought about slowing down until they saw the trucks.
The inciting incident could have been someone backing out of a driveway or a dog or deer running across the road and started similar carnage. The trucks were just there for a longer time.
Just because you have sufficient traction to GO does not mean you can STOP in a reasonable distance. Even with 4wd you don't have any more brakes than anyone else.
Bill93, post: 404141, member: 87 wrote: Regardless of the lack of wisdom on the part of the Comcast crew, the cause of the problems was a lot of people driving too fast for conditions.
Bill, They closed a lane of traffic.
R.J. Schneider, post: 404152, member: 409 wrote: Bill, They closed a lane of traffic.
They unsafely closed a lane of traffic. If your going to do a lane closure - you generally need flaggers at each end to regulate traffic (as well as significantly more signage than they provided). You also need to position the flaggers so as to avoid dangers associated with lack of sight distance and storage of stopped vehicles. It IS possible to get an OSHA fine based on a video or photos.
The Comcast guy should have pulled off the job due to his own safety and returned when the road department or law enforcement had a handle on the accidents.
The entire situation was potentially deadly. I was envisioning the guy laying on the ground pinned under his car once it got smacked again.
I think most transportation departments avoid permitting temporary lane closures when there are icy conditions or fog. Restoring service for Netflix is not an emergency.
Speed doesn't kill. Stopping does. Said Mario Andretti.
That was an illegal lane closure if I have ever seen one. Comcast was 100% at fault. When working with traffic on road construction we are required to protect the idiots from themselves as much as possible. There were too many idiots on the road that day to be handled by one person.
James
Remember for every snowflake that falls there is someone who doesn't know how to drive in the snow....
And that doesn't account for the people who simply have no clue how to drive in any type of weather. Sun, clouds, rain, snow, there are people who pay no attention to their surroundings and are convinced they are the only ones on the road. I see them almost daily.
