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Tag: highway

  • Water Main Break Causes Malibu Highway To Shut Down

    On November 27, part of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu was shut down after a water main break caused a sinkhole to appear on the thoroughfare as well as causing flooding in the surrounding area. The break occurred near the Pacific Coast Highway and Trancas Canyon road at 6:50 p.m. After the incident, a full closure was ordered for the highway but by 10:40 in the evening one lane was reopened. A second lane was reopened at around 1 a.m. A press release that went out after the incident said, “These plans are contingent on there being no additional damage found to the roadway.”

    A statement released by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department read, “Lost Hills Station units responded to assist Los Angeles County Fire Department units with a water line break. Water was spraying across all lanes of Pacific Coast Highway, downhill and across Broad Beach Road. Both roadways are closed to all traffic. A significant hole formed along the eastbound side of Pacific Coast Highway as a result of the water flow.”

    The water flow was stopped at 9:20 p.m. as crews were deployed to assess the damage and clean the roadways. Authorities urged Thanksgiving travelers to expect delays on the highway as repairs are still ongoing. Local officials have also been going around checking homes for any signs of damage from the flooding. According to reports, water gushed out around 100 feet into the air from one of the lanes. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works have been informed about the incident.

    Around 50 homes have been affected when they shut off the water flow, but they were not damaged during the flooding.

    The Pacific Coast Highway is part of State Route 1, one of the major highways in the state of California and runs along most of the Pacific coastline.

  • I-25 Pileup in Denver Injures 30, Kills One

    A vehicle pileup occurred on Interstate 25 in Denver, Colo., Saturday.

    The multiple-crash was first reported at 10:50 a.m. The Colorado Department of Transportation has determined that the 104-vehicle pileup involved two separate accidents.

    The northbound interstate was closed for nearly five hours while traffic was at a standstill for at least a mile long.

    Motorist Darrell Barber told The Denver Post that the pileup could have been avoidable if commuters were driving a little safer. His Chevy Tahoe was hit multiple times during the crash.

    “People were just driving too fast for conditions. It was totally preventable,” said Barber.

    According to The Weather Channel, Winter Storm Titan caused an extensive snowfall. Meteorologists said that initially a fog froze the roads and then “one to three inches of snow…fell in under two hours.”

    “As with a couple of multi-vehicle pileups earlier in the winter, you don’t need a major snowstorm. Sometimes quick bursts of snow are all it takes,” said meteorologist Jonathan Erdman.

    The Denver Post reported that 6 to 8 inches of snow fell since 5 a.m. that morning.

    Wrecked cars were taken to the neighboring South High School.

    The Denver Police Department reported that 30 people were injured and taken immediately to the Denver Health Medical Center. One unidentified woman was killed.

    All other uninjured motorists were transported onto a city bus. Investigators later questioned them about the incident.

    Colorado DOT ordered four tankers and 100 snowplows to clear the icy roads. The highway was eventually reopened at 3:48 p.m. yesterday.

    The department has suggested that motorists pack their cars with water, food, blankets, and all other emergency supplies for future travels.

     

    Unfortunately, this is not the first vehicle pileup of the wintry season.

    In December a pileup involving more than 30 vehicles occurred on Interstate 78 in eastern Pennsylvania. Additionally, just last month 30 people were injured in yet another pileup on a Pennsylvania turnpike. At least 100 vehicles were involved. No fatalities were reported in either event.

    Image via YouTube

  • The Science Behind Traffic Jams

    Each snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty. It is the same for drivers in traffic; we are traffic, but we wonder how traffic can possibly exist (all while it’s secretly killing us).

    Inspired by Tom Valderbilt’s presentation (the video above), Brad Plumer over at The Washington Post typed an excellent piece on why traffic accumulates, of which, was the inspiration for this article.

    So what are the reasons for traffic accumulation?

    No one drives at a steady speed. The New Journal of Physics uploaded a report back in 2008 in which a group of Japanese physicists experimented with a group of drivers by placing them in a closed loop course. The physicists told the drivers to maintain a certain speed and following distance, in which, they failed at executing.

     

    (Images via WikiCommons, (2))

    What does this actually mean? Well, much like the combination of a pack of sardines and a tortoise, we humans tend to occupy as much of the open road as possible, while never maintaining a steady speed and following distance.


    (Image via WikiCommons)

    We can be good at a lot of things, but merging will never be one of them. Do you see that terrifying sign above? When two lanes somehow magically transform into one way? Well, it’s taught that the zipper merge is the most effective way to go with the flow without jamming the river. Notice how the cars’ flow majestically, like a zipper closing slowly.

    YouTube user Oddie Eddie said it best:

    Usually, drivers feel bad about merging so late at the end of the lane, so they make the move early, thus creating congestion.

    (Image via WikiCommons)

    All honkers are do not honk equally. According to Jeremy Dean over at PsyBlog, men, (being the emotional cases that they are) tend to honk more quickly than their female counter parts. Luxury drivers tend to honk more rapidly, but less people tend to honk at luxury drivers due to the fear of their money being used to crush their proletariat lives. Those who drive convertibles have a tendency to honk less, thus proving their is still some hope in the world. 


    (Image via WikiCommons)

    If there’s a wreck, it’s either in the middle of the road, or everyone’s rubbernecking. Yes, a lot of people gawk at the sight of a crash. It’s usually because drivers want to see what the holdup was (and thus, adopt the role), to see who caused it, and/or to see how much carnage the people or car(s) involved have suffered. With this, there is usually a slow down, and an inevitable domino effect that occurs because the driver in front of you is taking their sweet time before realizing the car in front of them has already passed the spectacle that is life and death.


    (Image via WikiCommons)

    Driver courtesy, who’s a believer? More mature and older drivers are more likely to brake for others. If an automobile is carrying more passengers, other drivers have a higher tendency to be more courteous. If you’re closer to home, you have a higher chance of violating traffic rules. ScienceDirect’s Accident Analysis & Prevention report notes that this is due to unfamiliar settings forcing drivers to be more alert, while familiarity makes drivers less cautious.