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Car accident at Ridgeway and Claiborne Pkwy

Discussion in 'Broadlands Community Issues' started by Merlin, Aug 16, 2012.

  1. Mr. Claws

    Mr. Claws Got Coffee?

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    Not a day goes by when I don't see someone running a red light, weaving through traffic and cutting people off, failing to use their blinker when turning, or speeding along local roads like Waxpool and 28 like a drag racer. While I'm somewhat used to this because it happens so often, it still surprises me how many mothers and fathers do this with kids in the back seat.

    This intersection is about as normal as they come for a 4-way stop. If people run the sign it's because they choose to drive recklessly, and I don't think any amount of changes to signage or speed limits will change people like that. I wonder how fewer accidents there would be if people just obeyed the rules, were considerate of others, and didn't drink and drive.
     
  2. PowerPlay

    PowerPlay Member

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    It's not just stop signs. Just last week I was on Claiborne heading towards Rt 7 and was stopped at a red light. A car pulled up in the left turn lane, not stopping at the line but drifting halfway into the intersection and waited for opposite traffic to clear and proceeded to make a left turn. Keep in mind, our lights were still ALL RED.

    Another incident I witnessed (just a week before, also on Claiborne) where I was stopped at a red and a car pulled up next to me, stopped as if it was just a stop sign, proceeded through the intersection, tapped on their brakes (after they were already all the way through the intersection) and then took off.

    It doesn't matter what the speed or the signs are if people aren't FREAKING PAYING ATTENTION!!!
     
  3. boomertsfx

    boomertsfx Booyakasha!

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    How about strobe lights on the stop signs :)
     
  4. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    I still advocate 'community policing' where we get to mark stupid drivers :)
     
  5. Chsalas

    Chsalas Active Member

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    oh so agreed.
     
  6. KTdid

    KTdid Well-Known Member

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    It has a lot to do with speed and aggressive drivers with selfish attitudes; willing to put someones life at risk for their own ego. Speeding increases the chance of an accident...speeding IS aggressive behavior as is tailgating, cutting another driver off, not using directionals, etc.

    Would lowering the speed limit make aggressive drivers slow down? Probably not. Would an accident change an aggressive driver's behavior? Highly unlikely.
     
  7. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

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    Sounds like the blockade bars like at railroad crossings are in order. The thing that bothers me is that the people who do these things (which, incidentally, I realize that I have made mistakes in my life as well) are our friends and neighbors. I've been a passenger in cars driven by my friends and been surprised at their lack of attention to the rules of the road or disregard for speed limits.
     
  8. T8erman

    T8erman Well-Known Member

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    I would say that there is a problem with overly defensive drivers too.
    You know the type, eyes fixed on nothing but the traffic in front of them, 5-10 mph below the speed limit, plodding along in the passing lane as if they own it, white-knuckled gripping the wheel.
     
  9. loudgrowler

    loudgrowler New Member

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    There are 2 stop signs at that intersection heading south. One on the right side which I guess could be obstructed if a large truck was in the right lane, but also one on the median/left side of the intersection. Scary that people still miss both stop signs as well as the traffic that was likely there on a usual evening about the time of the accident (6pm-ish). Maybe a "4 way stop ahead" (blinking?) type sign posted near or before the nature center would help? Thankfully it sounds like no one was seriously injured...this time.
     
  10. Chsalas

    Chsalas Active Member

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    A traffic circle, that would certainly require people to slow down and think about how to navigate the intersection.
     
  11. cobymom

    cobymom Sheila Ryan

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    I agree with most of your post, but really don't think going 5-10 miles below the speed limit is a problem; the speed limit is the top speed you're allowed to go, not the required speed to travel the roadway.
     
  12. T8erman

    T8erman Well-Known Member

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    IMO, the slow drivers make the aggressive drivers (and I would even say most law obeyers) drive even more aggressively to get around said slow driver.
     
  13. cobymom

    cobymom Sheila Ryan

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    They don't "make" the aggressive drivers do anything, it's the aggressive driver's choice to respond to the situation in an inappropriate way. You can't blame the cautious driver for that situation....
     
  14. latka

    latka Active Member

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    As long as you are not in the left lanes, I don't care how slow you drive. Droiving too slow in the left lane causes people to pass on the right and weave in and out of the traffic. This does cause accidents on the highway.
     
  15. T8erman

    T8erman Well-Known Member

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    Almost all drivers get a more aggressive in passing when they encounter an extremely cautious driver who is driving significantly below the average speed or posted limit and in any lane but the far right. They will increase speed, make sudden lane changes, cut in front of cars. I see it almost every day on Rt 28, all the time when I drive Rt 95.

    FWIW, I do not think that speeding unto itself is aggressive unless the speed is much higher than the traffic flow. I think there are roads that if one wants to risk a ticket, so be it and there are roads where one should never speed (communities).
     
  16. gunzour

    gunzour "Living on the Edge"

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    My two cents... I never saw frequent stop signs on a four-lane roads before moving to Loudoun. The wide road, shoulders, etc. lull drivers into a feeling that they are on a highway. There is very little visual indication to a driver on Claiborne that they are approaching an intersection. I think most stop sign running at this intersection is accidental. That doesn't excuse the driver, but it changes the approach to how you make it happen less often.

    You can argue all you want that drivers *should* be more attentive, they *should* see the stop sign, they *should* drive at a reasonable speed, but many don't. You are not going to change that no matter how harsh you make penalties, because penalties only apply after someone gets caught (or hurt). What should happen is intelligent visual design that naturally grabs drivers' attention, and gets them out of the "I'm on a highway" mentality.

    Here are some things you could do to make that happen, roughly in order of how drastic they are. You can do various combinations of these.

    - use larger stop signs. We used to have signs that were twice the size of the current ones, I think the current ones are too small for the speed people drive on this road.
    - post "Stop ahead" signs on both sides (i.e. in the median as well as on the right side) of the road prior to the intersection
    - put two red flags on top of each stop sign
    - put yellow blinking lights on the "Stop ahead" signs
    - put lightweight barriers up at the intersection to 'choke off' the shoulders. (example: http://blog.seanshaw.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/boulevard.jpg) I'm not thinking of the same layout as the picture, instead put these up on the shoulders and use them to make the road narrower by taking away the shoulders right at the intersection. This will give a strong visual effect that makes it obvious to drivers that they are at an intersection, and it might also let you move the stop signs closer in next to the travel lanes.
    - put rumble strips on the road ahead of the intersection (probably not a good idea because you wouldn't want that noise in a residential area)
    - put red blinking lights on the stop signs
    - put up a full traffic light

    I don't think the speed limit is really going to make a difference -- people who miss the stop sign probably also don't see the speed limit signs, so changing them won't matter.
     
  17. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    rumble strips is a good idea IMO
     
  18. joerig

    joerig New Member

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    Here's the other thing that's annoying at that stop sign...idiots who don't use blinkers, especially when making left turns from Claiborne onto Wynridge while you're going straight or right and arrive at the same time...or maybe I'm supposed to automatically know they're going left since they're in the left lane...
     
  19. lilpea

    lilpea Member

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    UPDATE # 2

    Meeting with (several) VDOT reps & Supervisor Williams staff and myself has been scheduled & confirmed for tomorrow.

    I will post a summary of meeting, so the Community can be looped in. Please feel free to post recommendations. Below is a list of viable solutions I plan to discuss

    1) Reduction of speed limit (35-45mph)
    2) Installation of signage alerting drivers of 4-way stop ahead
    3) Installation of signage for Pedestrian Crossing ahead
    4) Potential Install of red/yellow flashing lights warning 4-way stop ahead
    5) Potential acceleration of installation of traffic signal

    Again if others have suggestion, I would warmly welcome them. I am very thankful to Supervisor Williams & his staff and VDOT - both of whom have been incredibly response my inquiry and to the Community's concern.
     
  20. Dutchml

    Dutchml Member

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    Put "STOP" then AHEAD" in huge letters right on the pavement as drivers approach the intersection.

    Maybe even one of those zig-zaggy line thingys like they have on Belmont Ridge before the bike trail crossing.
     

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