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Thursday, February 25, 2010

MY GOSH . . . SAY IT ISN'T SO. . .NOT AGAIN!


I have lost count on the number of times that this fence has been hit. Although I know that this section of roadway - Beaglin Park Drive - is a little winding - but for the life of me - I cannot figure out why so many cars and trucks run off the roadway and strike this section of fence. I estimate that this section of fence has been hit, and replaced, at least 10 times over the past 5-7 years.

Is there anyone out there that can help to explain this phenomenon?

I shot this photograph while driving so please forgive me if it is not all that great.

41 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe people are too busy taking pics with their phone instead of concentrating on driving their vehicle. Just a thought.

It could be a combination of the winding road, speeding, and the fact the storm drains dip way down along the curb.

Anonymous said...

Glad I wasn't walking down the sidewalk!

Steve said...

Most of the time it is because of wet roads or icy roads. i can't tell you how many times I have towed card from that area. It is excessive speed coming down around the corner. It is basically a self-cleaning corner.

Anonymous said...

Baffles the heck outta me, but mine was hit and Im on a straight street in town.

Anonymous said...

because they put in a new road and never brought the drain up high enough to the road and it sucks you in

Anonymous said...

It's that darn curb... people drive pretty fast on this road and when they hit the curb, they go out of control. If there were just grass on the side of the road, there would not be near as many accidents. Or at least they wouldn't be so awful or fatal as some of them have been.

Nikki said...

I have often wondered the same thing -- it seems like every time I drive by that fence a different section has been hit!

Perhaps the homeowners assoc. should put up some steel poles or something to help stop the cars before they get to the fence? That would probably damage the cars more though.

Anonymous said...

I would hazard to guess that the vast majority of accidents like this are caused by drunk drivers. I have seen many accidents where the driver had been drinking but very few that were the result of inattentive driving.I would be willing to bet that 95% or more of all "run off the roads" that you see at stop signs and bends in the road are caused by drunk drivers.

Anonymous said...

The last one I saw there the guy had his front hood wrapped around the tree instead of the fence. I drive by there all the time and still can not figure out how people manage to hit the fence or tree, other than speed and stupidity.

Orsonwells said...

If you don't like the way I drive, quit putting fences in the way! Now get out of here, I'm texting!

Anonymous said...

I rode by as that was going on this morning. Looked like a red newer model pontiac gto and a guy standing with a bookbag. It appeared as if he had come from the other lane, crossed oncoming traffic, and then hit the fence due to the way his car was facing.

Anonymous said...

Why not take a picture of the ridiculous pothole located just past the North Park Drive light headed north on Beaglin in the right hand lane? Talk about something to avoid!! This needs to be fixed.

Anonymous said...

I know someone who went thru the fence and they told him their was dip in the road and if speeding you good go airborne and that is what he said it felt like.

Anonymous said...

I like how everyone wants to blame the curb or drain holes. It all comes down to how fast people go through that area. If you drive at a reasonable speed then you should be able to navigate your car around the curve properly.

Anonymous said...

several years ago my daughter had an accident on fitzwater street, the drainage and slope of the road is not up to federal highway standards. I asked the state highway admin for the data on the number of accidents on that road over the years. Their first question was what was i going to do with it. They were worried I was gonna give it to the press or sue someone. I scheduled a meeting with B. Tilghman the mayor at the time, and explained the situation and gave her the data on the number of accidents, which was extremely high! Nothing was ever done about it! Fitzwater is still a terrible road to drive down! And if you have an accident there I would suggest suing the city since the road has not been set up to the proper federal standards! And they have known about it for some time and refuse to address it!!
That's negligence!

Anonymous said...

It happened this morning around 8:30 am. It was a smaller car traveling towards Mt Hermon Rd. People need to slow down!!

jspur said...

that is a phenomenon!!!

A jumping fence!

Anonymous said...

I got it...all the drivers must have been from PA, because MD drivers are too good to cause this type of accident.

Anonymous said...

People are driving entirely too fast on this road; and are also not paying the necessary attention to how they are driving (ie talking on a cell phone, talking to the person in the back seat etc).

Anonymous said...

It's was probably the horrible road conditions from the snow that we had this morning that caused the accident.

Anonymous said...

No it wasn't any of that it was Chase Washburn in his 400hp GTO!!! Way to go CHASE!

Anonymous said...

How do you know it was Chase?

Anonymous said...

I can tell you this much...for some reason, that portion of Beaglin Park Dr from North Park Dr to Glen Ave is slippery as hell when it gets even the slightest bit wet-It has been like that forever it seems! I think that it could have something to do with the types of trees along the road that may drip sap on to the roadway causing it to be a little more slippery, but I'm certainly no expert when it comes to the real reason.

I know that I, for one, NEVER speed through that section for this very same reason! The speed limit there is 35mph but anybody shooting down that road will certainly risk crashing if they are going any faster than 45 mph! My truck will actual start to fishtale if I press the gas just a little bit too hard coming through the uphill portions there. And if I'm stopped at the light at Glen Ave going towards Rt 50 it's so slippery there when it rains that I have to just drift from a stop for a little bit before I can even think about touching the gas pedal.

I'm not sure what it is, but there are a lot of accidents in the short section of road. I'm sure that a lot of it can be attributed to carelessness and wreckless driving, but I imagine that there is something about the road that induces some of these accidents as well. I think it would be worth the City doing a some investigating.

Anonymous said...

So this is a post about accidents....and the poster is taking a picture while driving? All I can say is wow...

joealbero said...

anonymous 3:31, I do it ALL the time. In fact, look at the post I recently put up of the Hazmat vehicle. Do you think I was standing on the side of the road taking those shots? There's nothing illegal about it.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the poor drainage height placements. I did not run into the fence or off the road, but did strike the curb and had a flat tire (sidewall) several years ago. I wasn't speeding, just hit the dip and the curb at an odd angle, that's all it took.

Anonymous said...

I've been told before that it has to do with the grade of material used in that section. I guess there are different types of ashphault with different grades for different things. bottom line is pay attention and drive the speed limit and you will be fine. If it's wet, slow down even more and you won't be buying a new section of fence.

Anonymous said...

Its the ghost of Schumaker Mill, he cursed that corner.

Anonymous said...

People around here drink too much and some ggets behind the wheel of a car and drives into fences.

Anonymous said...

1:35, sorry, but you are wrong. The vast majority of runoff the road accidents are not caused by drunken driving, but rather inattentive driving, and driving too fast for conditions. People don't seem to grasp the idea that when roads are wet, they are slippery. You can't drive pedal to the metal all the time. People can blame it on the "drains" as it was put, or as one commenter said, "not to federal highway specifications" (lol), but the bottom line is that driver error is to blame for nearly all these crashes. Those signs on the side of the road that have a 35, with mph under it means to go 35 mph, in case you didn't know.

Anonymous said...

I try not to use that street. It is very narrow in front of Parkside School. The entire road feel unsturdy when I drive on it..Glad there are other ways to get where I am going.

Anonymous said...

It's very simple. People need to SLOW DOWN and PAY ATTENTION when they're driving.
A huge number of people have totally forgotten HOW to drive. They would rather do other things at the same time rather than focus on their driving.
Maybe we should start mandatory driving tests every 5 years or so to give people like these a refresher course!

Anonymous said...

I'm with you for fixing the pothole just ahead of this. It is HUGE and will tear up your vehicle. My brother and his girlfriend both got caught up in it last week and were really upset about it's size and damaging capabilities. They called it in but, who knows if that makes a difference.

countrygirl@heart

Mike said...

Bottom line is SLOW DOWN AND PAY ATTENTION. The little numbers on the side of the road are MAXIMUM speed LIMITS, they don't necessarily mean you HAVE to drive that fast. You can actually be ticketing for speeding if you are doing the speed limit in adverse weather conditions. If it is raining or icy maybe it would be a good idea to go a little slower while driving around curves in the road. Amazingly I have been through this intersection probably thousands of times and have never once run off the road. I guess I'm just the luckiest person in Wicomico County or my car laughs in the face of "federal regulations".

Anonymous said...

Is this location in the county or city?

Anonymous said...

i'm thinking if it was a 400 hp GTO it was probably trying to avoid a car that was trying to avoid that huge pot hole and he hit the gas and away he went and lost control. so i think he should blame the city and make them pay for it.

Anonymous said...

I was hit head on by a 17 year old moron going 65mph cutting school early a few years ago at the intersection around the corner from this fence(Beaglin Park and N Schumaker Dr.) People drive entirely too fast on Beaglin... where are they going in such a hurry?!?!?

Anonymous said...

447, go get yourself an education, anybody with a brain would know to look up what standards are put in place for everything in today's society! must be some uneducated person with a 7th grade education! and that qualified you for your job with the city roads department! lol!

citygoer said...

A friend works for a large electric company locally. They have more poles hit on a weekly basis than what is normal for an area with low amounts of traffic like here. Hitting the same fence over and over proves how many morons are out there driving around. I see traffic violations constantly around here. Ppl that pull out in front of you when there are no cars behind you(and they could have waited), no turn signals, not paying attention etc. Ive found that local drivers here SUCK!!! There is no happy medium, some ppl drive 10 mph under the speed limit in the left lane and then there are others that are tailgating you when you are doing 70 on rt50. Ppl here are used to driving on backroads by themselves, which develops no driving skill whatsoever. Stop signs here confuse everyone. Ive watched drivers stop and talk with someone in another car while blocking traffic. Decision making from ppl here involves ME, ME, ME. Considering the lack of common courtesy here NONE of this surprised me.

Anonymous said...

6:16 AM, Oh please enlighten me as to what particular specifications you are referring to. On Fitzwater st, you have a slight downgrade to a curve that if anything has become polished smooth from traffic. There is no sloping issue here, it is nearly flat. It amazes me when someone crashes, they look to blame everyone else but themselves, or relative. Also, the state only furnishes crash data specific to roads in their inventory. Not other jurisdictions. That is the way it works. The reason is because you can't just look at the data and obtain a true sense of what the problem may be without having a good understanding of how the database is setup. The data consists of codes that are entered at the time of a crash. It would only be a bunch of numbers to most people. Sorry to burst your bubble, but my education extends beyond the seventh grade. Everything I have mentioned can be confirmed if you want to take the time to actually look up facts. I can also tell you that only a VERY small percentage of the crashes in that vicinity of Beaglin Park Dr. are alcohol related. The VAST majority are inatentive driving and driving too fast for conditions. I can also state that many standards in place today, were not in place 40 or 50 years ago when many of these roads were built. If these roads frighten you, you can take a different route, however, the 18000 vehicles per day that use Beaglin Park dr somehow manage to get through there.

Anonymous said...

wow not again i agree at least 10 times i have seen that fence hit!!! one time i was walking down that sidewalk and found a few dollars in a mess of broken glass im sure from someone hitting the fence. and another time i actually saw a truck in the woods shortly after the fence ends....i do believe alot of people speed around that curve...