11 Comments

  1. December 24, 2009 at 11:04 am | permalink

    What is the matter with these people? That is not an intersection to be speeding through. Maybe a speed bump is a good idea (though I hate them).

  2. December 24, 2009 at 1:59 pm | permalink

    Ugh, Speed bumps are never an answer.

  3. By Matt Hampel
    December 24, 2009 at 5:07 pm | permalink

    Time for some embassy-protection blast walls.

  4. December 24, 2009 at 9:57 pm | permalink

    Huh!

  5. By Jim
    December 26, 2009 at 12:20 am | permalink

    This is further evidence of how futile these protection islands are, if anything they provide a false sense of security and thus endanger pedestrians.

    Any idea of the Police were called so the offending driver will pay for the replacement?

  6. December 27, 2009 at 2:05 pm | permalink

    Folks,

    1) it’s not a speed bump. Look at the picture.
    2) the pic doesn’t prove that protection islands are futile. It just proves that a careless driver hit one. If it saves one pedestrian’s life, it’s a good investment.
    3) I’m familiar with the intersection and I’m inclined to think this accident was at night. The area is poorly lit and a driver unfamiliar with the street might not realize there was a protection island there. Better signage or more traffic lights might help.

    Fred

  7. By Dave Askins
    December 27, 2009 at 2:47 pm | permalink

    Re: [6] “It’s not a speed bump. Look at the picture.”

    I don’t think anyone has suggested that it is a speed bump. Rather, in [1] there’s a suggestion that a speed bump be added — in the spirit of “better signage or more traffic lights — and in [2] a rejection of that suggestion.

  8. By Alan Goldsmith
    December 28, 2009 at 8:28 am | permalink

    “If it saves one pedestrian’s life, it’s a good investment.”

    You might want to talk to the city about the firefighter cuts.

  9. By Cosmonican
    December 28, 2009 at 9:02 am | permalink

    What the city installs now are correctly termed “speed humps” not “bumps”. They are wider, and designed not to tear up the bottom of your car like those brake line destroyers over at Arbor Farms.

  10. By Alan Goldsmith
    December 28, 2009 at 2:36 pm | permalink

    “…like those brake line destroyers over at Arbor Farms.”

    Fortunately, those were removed a few weeks ago, at least the speed bumps down the back driveway entrance from Maple Road.

  11. By Steve Borgsdorf
    December 28, 2009 at 4:35 pm | permalink

    The problem, apparently, is when people traveling west on Washington attempt to turn left (south) on Seventh. A motorist who fails to navigate the almost-90 degree turn will, apparently, wreak havoc on the signage. Cutting left turns without adequately pulling into the intersection is all the rage these days, and this little island has taken four (five?) motorists by surprise. I assume that there were no pedestrians in the crosswalk when these mishaps have happened.