Hey, there! Log in / Register
Car, cab collide, close Green Line
By adamg on Sat, 05/19/2012 - 9:44pm
Robinite reports the two vehicles collided pretty much on top of the Green Line at Comm. Ave. and Allston Street around 9:30 p.m. That shut the inbound tracks; arriving emergency vehicles shut the outbound tracks as well.
Ed. question: Is that intersection cursed, or what?
Neighborhoods:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
That's a bad intersection
One of the windows in my apartment looks right out at that intersection. There are accidents there all the time. I've only lived here a year, and I've seen countless fender-benders and several serious accidents resulting in near-fatalities.
I've gone through that intersection myself a good number of times, and while it's not nearly as hairy as trying to make a turn at Harvard and Comm, it's definitely not the best intersection. The sharp curve in the road doesn't help with the cars, nor does the fact that the Green Line platform is often quite crowded with people crossing, yet there's only about 18" of space to stand without getting hit by a train.
It's the drivers
My apartment also looks out over this intersection and I've seen countless accidents since I moved here in September. It's not a "bad intersection." The setup of this intersection is no different from Washington & Comm or Harvard & Comm.
The issue is that there are red and green arrows for people making left turns on Comm. Drivers are always trying to beat the red arrows, and driving 50-60 mph to do so. We've all seen cars try to beat the red, and usually run it. This is just a more dangerous place to do that because of the turn arrows.
I was in an accident there a
I was in an accident there a few years ago (with a nun!). I think the problem then was a delayed green led her to believe that she had the right of way to take a left turn, when in fact I still had a green light to go straight, she just assumed I had to stop and turned out right in front of me.
I don't think there were arrows (on Comm Ave) at the time.
Traffic arrows
Another problem is that there are whole intersections that have green traffic arrows and no red. In the absence of a red arrow, people assume that they've got the green light or the red light intended for the "straight" lane of traffic, and make whatever turn is legal for a green or red light.
Also, because of this, if you DO know the arrow is there, you risk getting rear-ended if you stop when the arrow isn't displayed.
But this accident involved two cabbies, and cabbies are terrible drivers, so I won't lose sleep over it. They probably both did something wildly illegal and stupid.
And ...
What is it legal to do on a green light with full right of way? Go straight.
What does a green light permit you to do so long as you yield to oncoming traffic? Turn left.
A green light doesn't mean you can do anything you want without having to yield the right of way. It just means you can go, provided you follow other traffic laws (yield to pedestrians with signals, yield to oncoming traffic on left turns, etc.).
You're right
In Massachusetts, that's what a red light is for.
Especially ...
If you are driving a very heavy, dangerous vehicle and you are WORKING DAMNIT!!!
No, it is a bad intersection,
No, it is a bad intersection, in dire need of a competent traffic engineer. (I'm sure Washington/Comm and Harvard/Comm are also accident hot-spots.)
Look at the statistics, and you'll see that there are far more accidents there than at similar intersections that were designed properly, like most of Beacon Street in Brookline. Drivers don't magically get worse when they reach this part of Allston, but the roads do.
Competent traffic engineer
To a person on foot, those might be the three scariest words in the English language.
It's bad now -- but it could be worse!
Competent traffic engineers?
That's strange, I've been in cities where pedestrians and vehicles coexisted peacefully, efficiently and safely. I assume that didn't happen by accident.
The kind of competence
Well traffic engineering used to mean designing big "highway caliber" intersections that were either grade separated with lots of ramps, or if there's a light you were lucky to get a walk signal (if there was one) 5 seconds out of every 5 minutes.
Though, I hear now that they have started thinking of people on foot as more than just a "traffic impediment" lately.
Do you think the current
Do you think the current state of Comm Ave in central and western Allston is particularly friendly to pedestrians? Especially if you compare it with Beacon Street in Brookline, or Mass Ave in Central Square.
Competent traffic engineering helps everyone, especially pedestrians.
Traffic engineering has long
Traffic engineering has long meant optimizing "level of service" which is the number of vehicles passing through an intersection over a given period of time. There is no room for people on foot in that definition.
Even these days, with "level of service" discredited as a metric for city streets, it is still found in many planning documents that purport to be for city neighborhoods.
So yes, "competent" traffic engineers should not be taken for granted, and their work should be double-checked to ensure that they understand they serve walkers as well as folks in vehicles.
Mass Ave in Central was the result of citizen's groups getting together and telling the city they've had enough. Not "competent" traffic engineering.
It's true
I live at Washington and Comm, and I've witnessed a number of accidents from my apartment window. (Including one where a driver was going the wrong way on Comm, drove up onto the train tracks, did a u-turn thus making him go the wrong way in the other direction on Comm, wove in and out to miss the oncoming cars until he crashed head-on into another car, then jumped out of his car and started punching the driver of the car he'd just hit!)