Originally published at: Watch a crane truck almost break the famous 11-foot-8 bridge | Boing Boing
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For those breaking out the bingo cards, a reminder that the free space is now “It’s not the fault of the driver, but of the city (railroad company? what railroad company?)”, or “Libertarian Reply” for short.
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This is the first one I’ve seen that DIDN’T trigger the overheight sign and the lights. Usually they blow through the red. He might have actually thought he was okay.
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This happened back in March. Did we not all do the standard fault runaround back then?
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Schadenfreude is not necessarily misanthropic. Most of the people who hit this bridge bring their misfortune upon themselves, though a combination of stubbornness and ignorance.
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I don’t understand why the roadway can’t be lowered under the viaduct. It would only need at most a couple feet… Has that ever been explained in the long saga of this bridge?
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Yes, it’s been explained before.
I believe there is a sewer main under the roadway than cannot be lowered further.
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Can someone explain the joy that this seems to bring to so many? This is likely the worst thing that ever has or will happen to the driver. It may well throw them into economic ruin, because the “insurance” company will do their best to find a way to avoid paying out.
maybe. the speed they were driving at… i don’t know. they seemed supremely confident they’d make it. not even slowing down at all [ to check that light ]
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Surely those 12’4" signs are just asking for trouble!
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The sacrificial bar looks like it needs a new coat of paint. Anyone got an orange truck that’s slightly too high?
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Usually, the lights turn red and a giant OVERHEIGHT MUST TURN sign flashes at the driver. As I said upthread, most drivers blithely blow through the light and ignore the HUGE FLASHING WARNING. So it’s watching people get their comeuppance for ignoring all possible warnings to stop. I don’t know about you, but enough people get away with flouting rules all the time that it’s cathartic when they can’t argue with basic physics.
Now this guy somehow didn’t trip the warnings, so one might very well feel bad for him.
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Idiots gonna keep idioting.
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People who intentionally misbehave are a problem. Are you so sure that that is what happens in this case? It’s tempting to assume that someone sees the warning and chooses to ignore it, but it is also possible that what looks like a useful warning system actually isn’t sufficient to the task. How well does this system work? How many successes does it have, and how many failures? It’s tempting to blame the individual, and possibly correct. However, a situation that requires such a warning is inherently problematic, and other solutions can and should be found, if only because continued damage to the trestle will eventually result in a catastrophic failure that will likely cost more than something done now.
I very specifically said it’s NOT what happened in this case.
In any event, this isn’t a debate. You asked for an explanation and I provided one. You’re free to scroll through any of the other threads on the topic to see responses to all your other points.
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A) I thought it was now the 12 foot 4 ins bridge
B) His problem was over-inflating his rear tyres that morning. The front went under, just fine, and the rear very nearly did - and would have done if he hadn’t been staring into the distance thinking sexy crane thoughts while holding the air line trigger, earlier on.
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Nor do I consider it a debate. That said, your interpretation of the motives of the drivers is suspect - the evidence for them “blithely ignoring” the warnings is weak in my opinion. But I have no interest in carrying on a discussion you’re not interested in, so, thanks for the explanation (which I had said in an earlier draft of my first response but accidentally deleted).
It’s too far from water for a mermaid to be at fault. Perhaps a centaur?
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That and flooding issues.
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You’re not familiar with the many discussions here about this over the years, I guess. Search the BBS for 11-foot-8 bridge and then review the many very lengthy and repetitive discussion threads about all the other ‘solutions’. They’ve all been considered at length, here and in real life.
ETA - see the bingo card below, too.
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