(I have no idea what big penny means.)
Richest country in history cannot afford to maintain its infrastructure or healthcare for its citizenry.
Sure, but what does that have to do with this picture? The bridge looks deteriorated on that leading edge because 75 trucks have crashed into it at speed.
Drivers are going hit hit that bridge while trying to figure out wtf that sign means.
(I have no idea what big penny means.)
It’s a reference to how expensive it will be to repair the trucks.
Was this photo taken some time around 2007 or did something change that made this year so bad?
That’s the current total. There’s road work routing more people through there at the moment, but there kind of always is. Penny’s also getting a lot more attention now, so the historical numbers may be underreported
Sign bad.
2275 trucks munched this year since 2004?
I mean, if you’re making a conscious effort to read that totally wrong…. yeah, that’s what it says.
Funny but also fucked up.
Wasn’t it during the Bush or Obama years we got failing grades nationally on bridge infrastructure?
We have done fuck all to fix those bridges in the years since.
Soon, Penny will munch its last truck and the driver will go with it as Penny collapses down on them both.
Just look at how absolutely fucked the side of that bridge is. I’d be praying to every conceivable god anytime I had to go over or under it.
For the record, it’s not factual that nothing is being done about poor bridge conditions. Just one example is the North Washington St. bridge in Boston.
But, I’m sure you’ll reply that “one bridge” doesn’t count.
https://www.mass.gov/north-washington-street-bridge-replacement
The fact that 22 of those 75 were just this year reinforces my suspicion that drivers have been getting enormously worse recently.
Or counting has gotten worse
Or counting has gotten better
What are our bets on what forever chemical is our generations leaded gasoline?
Carltonbanksium.
I cycle a lot around my city and no cap I believe that they fucking gift driver licenses in cereal boxes nowadays.
I cannot begin to describe the enormous stupidity one can found on the road.
(And not only drivers, electric scooters are almost worse. At least when I have an accident with them they are the ones who take the worst part).
I haven’t done an actual statistical analysis, but relying on my human over-ability to notice patterns and a tendency to laugh at the 11’8" bridge channel on Youtube (said bridge is located in Durham NC and I’m a lowercase t tarheel through and through), most of the trucks that hit the bridge’s crash barrier are Ryder, Penske or Enterprise box trucks, which are rental vehicles available, for reasons completely beyond my comprehension, to anyone with a Class C driver’s license in the state of North Carolina. Also over-represented are RVs that have their rooftop air conditioners scraped off. The vast majority of drivers that hit the 11’8" bridge are amateurs driving a vehicle significantly larger than they’re used to with an absolute height significantly taller than the roof of the cab.
It’s the very occasional semi truck that leads to the most spectacular, and baffling, crashes. They don’t rent articulated trucks to just anyone over 23 with a credit card.
What a great idea. Perfect execution.
The bridge is on S Pennsylvania Ave in Lansing, MI, hence “Penny”. Construction has routed more people through there than normal lately increasing the bridge’s hunger.
If there’s one thing people that rent trucks or RVs never learn, it’s the height of their vehicle (and that yes the flashing overheight lights are in fact for you).
Source: Used to live near there.
Oh shit, I posted a separate comment before I read yours – this is my bridge! Oo
…increasing the bridge’s hunger.
They’ll follow Google maps anywhere blindly. Rational thinking is turned off.
That’s how people drove into a lake, under a train, het themselves stuck in too narrow streets, arrive on the wrong country and so on.
This bridge has been stupid low for decades, and it’s a main artery from downtown to the (e hospital and) highway. As of the last time I drove past it, the advance warnings signs didn’t seem adequate to me.
it’s important to know your motorhome’s height, how else are you supposed to get drive-thru food?
Thanks!
So what’s the signage before trucks can no longer turn around?
It does seem more effective to place some other form of markers like metal poles down up higher with bells hanging on fishing line or some shit, if you hit the bells, you’d hit the bridge. Place the 50 yards before the bridge
That’s how it’s done in my country. If you hear the dangly bits scraping on the roof of your truck, you won’t fit.
Reminds me of a bridge that the road passing under got resurfaced and raised a few inches but the signs never got changed. After a truck got stuck, at least they fixed the sign.
One would get the impression that truck drivers cant read
Its not usually “Truck drivers” its people who have rented a box truck.
This looks like they want this stat to increase. No warning colors or symbolic signs of danger. But they have a probd counter for their trap.
Iirc, this bridge has a ton of signs, signal lights, and indicators leading up to it- they’re just farther out, so you can actually turn away from it BEFORE you’re committed to going under it, or stopping dead in the street.
You don’t see the big ol flashing hazard lights directly below the googly eyes?
If only there was a conveniently placed security camera nearby that could show us these accidents…
It’s probably the local name for the monster.
