Eight-car pileup @Waxpool & Loudoun County Parkway

Gee, I wonder how many more people are going to get hurt or killed before they do something about this intersection!? I understand they are just clearing an eight-car pileup there...

Can't say they weren't warned...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/14/AR2009011400145.html

 

It's taking them a long time. The tow trucks were already there and in place at 10:20am when I went by this morning.

 

I went by there twice this morning. The accident appeared to be back in the left turn lanes - to go from Waxpool to LCP - not in the intersection itself. There were numerous ambulances and firetrucks on the scene the first time I went by and then on my way home there were 4 flatbed tow trucks and police there. Amazing that several of the cars were facing the wrong direction on Waxpool. Could the wind have been a factor?

 

amen!

 

When you have statistics that high about an intersection's high incident rate, I think it starts becoming something a little more than a "personal responsibility" issue. I don't want to take this thread off topic, though...so...away I go....with my seat belt pulled tight!

 

We all have to pass a written and driving test so it is not so much education as for actual driving. It is in most cases driving distracted (cellphones) or just plain stupid (red light?!? not for me, VROOOM!), which in my opinion is a conscious choice.

Ban cellphones while driving and figure out a way to enforce it and I bet there is a significant drop in accidents. Not only for those who are talking but for those who a desperately trying to pass or avoid them. I know I get frustrated at times being behind someone on the phone and they are driving 10-15 miles below the speed limit, doing erractic or late lane changes and not using the signals (just to name a few)

 

I personally think cell phones get a bad rap. DISTRACTIONS should be the focus....like the woman who was reading a book the other day on the LCP (I am not making this one up!)...or heck, even radios--do you know how many accidents are caused by someone changing a radio station b/c they took their eyes off the road? Yes, there are people we obviously cannot drive and talk on the phone at the same time and they are probably the same people who shouldn't have radios, books, navigation systems, DVD players, maps, or other people in the car as well. It's all about being a responsible driver. I use a hands-free headset and IF I'm on the phone, I'm not driving at a high rate of speed and keep aware of everything going around me. Driving is first, the conversation is second.

 

While we are on this topic, can we please get people "edumacated" on how to properly navigate 4-way stops?

Clearly, the preferred NOVA methodology of "I'll go when I damn well please, because my time is more valuable than yours" needs to change.

 

I did not have to take a drivers test, only the written test.

 

But what if the speed limit IS a high rate of speed?

Researchers have determined that for many, it is the conversation that "distracts" the driver.

When I drove the Greenway more frequently when it was cheaper, there were MANY drivers doing well below the speed limit and pretty much everyone of them was on the phone.

And as I said before, I bet alot of accidents are people who are frustrated and do something stupid or illegal BECAUSE of the driver on the cellphone. I know it is not a valid, legal argument but a lot of people easily get frustrated with erratic cellphone drivers.

 

You NEVER had to take a driver's road test????? Where did you grow up?

 

Correct, BUT the conversation could be with people IN the car or on the radio (I've seen drivers arguing with themselves before, too ;-)) not just on the phone. I agree that distractions occur, I just think that the cell phone gets the worst rap b/c it's the most visible. Plus, in areas where cell phones were banned, there was no improvement in the number of accidents. My mother was a drivers education instructor for over 25 years so I've constantly gotten barraged with accident stats (and traumatized as a youth when she installed a passenger's brake in the car!) ;-)

 

I didn't. At the time the state of VA provided drivers education courses during high school. As long as I completed the course with a B or higher, I didn't have to take teh driver's road test at the DMV. Granted they were over a duration of 6 weeks with sessions held 2 times a week at a driving range and then at least 4 hours of driving on the road with an instructor.

 

I grew up in Virginia Beach. And no, I never had to take the drivers road test. I took a program through my high school and the second week he told me I no longer needed to show up for the class, that I passed and did not require even *his* drivers road test.

I was a little upset because I paid $75 for the course and I wanted to learn at least how to merge onto the highway, which I was never taught (not by the instructor or my parents) I had to teach myself!

I consider myself a safe driver, only having one fender bender while pulling out of a parking spot (which I happen to feel that the passing driver should hold some responsibility for the accident... they see the driver pulling out and they should understand that that driver may not see them...possibly due to sometimes having an OVERLY LARGE SUV parked next to the driver pulling out, preventing that driver from seeing the passing car).

 

Perhaps this backs up the "conversation is the culprit" position. Almost all cellphones bans are related to the phone being hand-held, not the actual use. This is to prevent attention being taken away from the road to dial or even worse, text.

 

Here is how they do it in California

Almost funny story about people being too dumb to be allowed to drive.

A bunch of years ago, my Mother, who lives in California, had just completed her written driver's test. In that DMV, you had to stand in line for your test to be scored. There was a woman in front of my mother who was arguing, with the examiner, about a question she missed.

The question was

You are making a left turn at an intersection. There are oncoming cars entering the intersection. How many cars do you let pass before making your left turn?

A. 3
B. 5
C. 7
D. You wait until the intersection is clear and it is safe for you to make your left turn.

The lady had answered "C" (seven). When the test examiner tried to explain her error, the lady yelled "what am I supposed to do, wait there all day???"

One hopes that when she is driving that you are not the "lucky" eighth car entering the intersection.

 

I was at the intersection when it happened and there was nothing about the design of the intersection that caused the accident. I really thought that someone was being chased and that caused the driver to head into traffic then crash into the cars waiting in the turn lane.

I do have a gripe with the intersection though. There is a No Turn on Red sign above a straight only lane and everyone uses the second right turn lane to illegally right turn on red. All because the County is too lazy to move the confusion sign

 

Where did you hear someone was being chased? I heard the man driving the car had a medical emergency and that's what caused the crash....that's totally unavoidable.