Accident Caused by Chicane

Maybe the driver should get the benefit of the doubt here. If the sign before the chicane shows a curve, most of us would be expecting a curve, not a chicane, or turnback, or speed bumps, or a hairpin. If the sign was not the right sign, the construction crew that set it up is definitely at fault. Lets play what if.... what if you entered a construction zone that had a sign "maintain xx speed through work zone" then you find a stop sign 300 feet ahead???? I agree that we have to be ready for tons of idiocracy out here, but that does not absolve others from their responsibilities. I would say talk to a lawyer... If a lady can get millions for spilt hot coffee she drinks every day and a guy can get half million for setting the cruise control and leaving the driver seat to make a sandwich, then this guy might have a case.....

 

I've been going thru there almost every day for the last few weeks. A chicane is where you shift travel from one lane to another, and then immediately back to the original lane. Where this happened is two half chicanes a significant distance apart. It's 4 lane divided, SB is merged to one lane, then shifted to the left little more than a lane's width, and then shifted left across into the NB passing lane. I'll take video later today.

While the double zig is a pain, the 2 segments are far enough apart to be separate events, easily manageable. The zigs are lined with portable jersey barriers, so there's more to this than "clipped a barrier." Either the drag link was bad and load induced from riding a steer up the jersey wall snapped it (unlikely) or the truck strayed far enough from the lane that the barriers (if unpinned) were forced out of alignment and caught the end of a barrier at the studs which break things. I'll eyeball it closely when I go thru, see what I see; but this has all the earmarks of an "Anybody's fault but mine" scenario.

 

some of these construction zone designs are very faulty, even allowing two lanes of traffic when only one can fit

they arent perfect and even though some may make it, that doesnt mean it is sufficiently safe

we have building requirements and road requirements for a reason, and when the designer fails in his duty, he has that responsibility just as the driver has their responsibility

for the life of me, when driving thru some of these roads and night when its raining, you just cannot see the lines and lanes, we have those reflectors for good reason, add on-coming bright lights and that makes it more dangerous

does everyone have an accident in these conditions, NO, but that doesnt change the fact that it is potentially unsafe

 

Perhaps the driver had sampled his cargo prior to beginning his trip?

 

Wow, we agree on something. ... cool...

 

It sounds like the company posted the minimum speed for a highway which may still have been too much even for a car to navigate thru safely. In zig-zagging back and forth it sounds like the trailer was perhaps swinging out as the tractor was going forward. I hope the driver made it out ok too, tractors have so much fiberglass in them that it doesn't take much to crush the cab.

 

i am sure one of the citations read unsafe speed for road conditions the driver and the driver alone is at fault. that is one thing that is wrong with trucking, they have made the trucks so easy to drive anybody can drive one. jon

 

Sadly, my phone rang and cut the video at the critical spot! But you can see it is all well marked as a half-chicane, and the second one has more or less the same profile as the first. It was a little closer than I remembered, but still nearly 2 truck lengths from exit to the next entrance. Far enough that they were two separate maneuvers. I couldn't pick out where the truck left the roadway.