Hey can-opener bridge lovers, it turns out that the post that @markfrauenfelderposted in May was just one of a treasure-trove of 11-foot-8-plus-8 goodness that got dumped on the channel in the last couple months.
My mind is blown by crash #161, embedded below for your consumption:
This is the first time in my memory that the warning lights really did fail to go off! I’m presuming that this is because the laser height sensor is narrow enough to have missed detecting the hinge on the crane, which apparently was the only part of the vehicle that was overheight. Nevertheless, the driver should have known the height of their vehicle and detoured based on the signage alone – especially given that this driver is presumably not your standard box-truck-renter.
Anyway, head over to the 11-foot-8 YouTube channel for a trove of about half a dozen videos posted between Mark’s most recent two updates. So far, this one takes the cake in terms of interest and drama.
Whoa, looking more closely, it looks like all the crashes in March and April (a number of which all took place on April 9th) have in common that the height sensor failed to go off. But on the one from May 11th that Mark shared, it was working.
That’s an elegant one. No running the red light, just charging forward at green with complete confidence in their ability to make it under the bridge. And at a relatively low speed they almost make it all the way through, as though they just kept pressing the accelerator in denial that there was any issue. The finishing touch is the unflinching reversal-of-shame as they extricate themselves from their predicament. Beautiful.
If this video is accurate, it sounds like they never adjusted the ahem laser height sensor to the new clearance – the minimum clearance to trigger the signal appears to be 11’ 8".
Better than the reverse, that’s for sure! That said, if there are cavalier folks who trigger the height sensor and still make clearance, the next time they come by in a slightly taller truck they might be in for the big regret.
