134 replies to this topic

[ducky]

I tried to post this earlier. Hopefully this isn't a duplicate. If it is, not intentional.

Isn't the property that Folsom Lake Crossing was constructed on state or federally owned?
The City of Folsom may have had nothing to do with engineering and building it.

The whole undertaking of the new bridge was a collaboration of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, and the City of Folsom.

[Redone]

This sounds like an easy opening for a class action lawsuit against the city for making bad decisions that are causing traffic fatalities. This is what you get with Starsky on city council

You get 100 MPH from Starsky ?

You get a lot , but I don't think you get 100 MPH speeding.

[ducky]

I am the one who stated the Honda driver was a teacher. I gathered that from the comments left. I'm sorry if I have spread misinformation.

You haven't spread misinformation. He was a former mathematics teacher at Cristo Rey High School in Sacramento before he went to work at Intel. There is a segment on the news where the staff remember him for being a kind individual with a sense of humor, as does his best friend. It's so sad.

[Silmiriel]

I've been a lurker on the site for quite a while, but finally got registered, mainly due to being frustrated about this story!

The drastic increase in head-on collisions is alarming to me - from this weekend's tragedy to the horrible June accident on Blue Ravine. What steps need to be taken to get the city (and/or Federal Government, if this is their jurisdiction due to the federal funds used to build the crossing) to address this issue and install safety barriers and adequate lighting on this road, as well as the other dangerous, heavily-traveled thoroughfares in Folsom?

I take a FLC college class twice a week, and always drive in the slow lane coming home on the crossing to North Folsom to try to avoid drunks, speeders and distracted drivers. However, I read in one of the news articles that the designated driver who was tragically killed in this accident also took the precaution of driving in the slow lane and yet he still lost his life due to the other driver, so even that may not be enough if someone completely loses control of their vehicle coming the other direction. It is also nearly pitch black on that curve; very unsafe.

So, how do we get this going? It's completely ridiculous that this road has no center divider and such poor lighting for a road that has essentially become a freeway!

I will echo what Maxine and others have said; people drive way too fast in Folsom, and driving manners seem to have been completely thrown out the proverbial window by some drivers who are too selfish and reckless to consider the safety of others and feel it's their right to tailgate, text and talk on the phone while driving, and drive at excessive speeds. I also drive the speed limit and am really tired of getting tailgated and nearly rear-ended by inconsiderate drivers who can't seem to put their phone down while driving. It's made me leave even more room when I drive and when I am stopped at signals so that I can try to avoid a collision. Inevitably, I'll look over and see the familiar head bob of someone trying to text and drive.

My heart breaks every time I read a story about the carelessness of another taking the life of someone who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

My sincere condolences and prayers to the families involved... such needless loss!

[Steve Heard]

I've been a lurker on the site for quite a while, but finally got registered, mainly due to being frustrated about this story!

The drastic increase in head-on collisions is alarming to me - from this weekend's tragedy to the horrible June accident on Blue Ravine. What steps need to be taken to get the city (and/or Federal Government, if this is their jurisdiction due to the federal funds used to build the crossing) to address this issue and install safety barriers and adequate lighting on this road, as well as the other dangerous, heavily-traveled thoroughfares in Folsom?

I take a FLC college class twice a week, and always drive in the slow lane coming home on the crossing to North Folsom to try to avoid drunks, speeders and distracted drivers. However, I read in one of the news articles that the designated driver who was tragically killed in this accident also took the precaution of driving in the slow lane and yet he still lost his life due to the other driver, so even that may not be enough if someone completely loses control of their vehicle coming the other direction. It is also nearly pitch black on that curve; very unsafe.

So, how do we get this going? It's completely ridiculous that this road has no center divider and such poor lighting for a road that has essentially become a freeway!

I will echo what Maxine and others have said; people drive way too fast in Folsom, and driving manners seem to have been completely thrown out the proverbial window by some drivers who are too selfish and reckless to consider the safety of others and feel it's their right to tailgate, text and talk on the phone while driving, and drive at excessive speeds. I also drive the speed limit and am really tired of getting tailgated and nearly rear-ended by inconsiderate drivers who can't seem to put their phone down while driving. It's made me leave even more room when I drive and when I am stopped at signals so that I can try to avoid a collision. Inevitably, I'll look over and see the familiar head bob of someone trying to text and drive.

My heart breaks every time I read a story about the carelessness of another taking the life of someone who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

My sincere condolences and prayers to the families involved... such needless loss!

This has been going on forever, and I am always hoping for solutions.

When we think of recent deadly accidents in Folsom, one was due to a kid snorting nitrous oxide while driving, which caused him to hit the gas and killed 2 brothers on their way home from dance class. One was a drunk who entered the freeway at the off-ramp. With this most recent one we may never know due to the fire, but witnesses claim he was speeding with his lights off, which does suggest it wasn't your typical drive to the store. There was one on a residential street a couple of years back where the guy lost control while drunk and speeding in a 35mph zone.

Before the new bridge was open, my daughter and her friends were hit head-on by a drunk driver who was speeding through the traffic cones.

The fact is that if everyone drove slowly and cautiously, and sober, there'd be no need for barriers and very little chance of fatalities.

For about 3 years, we ran the 'Slow Down Folsom' campaign, but interest seemed to wane, so we gave up on it.

My guess is that the city will say they don't have to money to put up barriers in the roadways, and I'm sure there are those who will want them installed allover and those who will want none installed at all.

By the way, where that car ended up is directly on top of the bike path that I jog every now and then, and I'm always concerned about the speeds as people come into that turn.

[Folsom_Blues]

As has been mentioned here before, Folsom is covered with suburban highways. As a city, we've prioritized getting as many people quickly through our town as possible. Of course this has tremendous consequences, but until we decide to change it, the cost for living in Folsom is random deaths on our roads. We need narrower lanes, slower speed limits and more enforcement. None of those are popular choices around here though. Please don't say, "We need people to drive safer!" because that is not going to happen.

[old soldier]

As has been mentioned here before, Folsom is covered with suburban highways. As a city, we've prioritized getting as many people quickly through our town as possible. Of course this has tremendous consequences, but until we decide to change it, the cost for living in Folsom is random deaths on our roads. We need narrower lanes, slower speed limits and more enforcement. None of those are popular choices around here though. Please don't say, "We need people to drive safer!" because that is not going to happen.

i wold put some speed bumps on those roads that get all the speeding...would also help the economy cause it would save gas

[MikeinFolsom]

Hard to read that the reason people are blaming the accident on is a lack of lighting and barriers to prevent cross-over into oncoming lanes.

The guy is driving 100mph and has no headlights on. Obviously something isn't right with that situation. I've been on a few head-ons on the Folsom blvd corridor from 50 out to the Greenback turn. Like it was mentioned, there was usually one impaired driver of the two vehicles involved.

As we used to say in the Army, when your ticket is punched, it's punched. No amount of lighting would have saved the Honda driver. Maybe a barrier. Maybe. BMW SUV at around 100mph is a pretty formidable projectile. Sad world that people are always willing to put the lives of other drivers in danger just because they can't make sensible decisions before getting behind the wheel.

And yes, we have had way too many fatalities in our little part of the world lately. I dread every time the light goes off and I hear 'vehicle accident'. Our roads are big. We all have really nice and fast cars. And we all feel a sense of entitlement. Tragic.

[BuffaloRon]

As has been mentioned here before, Folsom is covered with suburban highways. As a city, we've prioritized getting as many people quickly through our town as possible. Of course this has tremendous consequences, but until we decide to change it, the cost for living in Folsom is random deaths on our roads. We need narrower lanes, slower speed limits and more enforcement. None of those are popular choices around here though. Please don't say, "We need people to drive safer!" because that is not going to happen.

I am not a proponent of narrower lanes. I also ride a motorcycle and I've had many motorists pull bone-headed dangerous actions around me. The streets are dangerous enough without making them skinnier.

Hard to read that the reason people are blaming the accident on is a lack of lighting and barriers to prevent cross-over into oncoming lanes.

The guy is driving 100mph and has no headlights on. Obviously something isn't right with that situation. I've been on a few head-ons on the Folsom blvd corridor from 50 out to the Greenback turn. Like it was mentioned, there was usually one impaired driver of the two vehicles involved.

As we used to say in the Army, when your ticket is punched, it's punched. No amount of lighting would have saved the Honda driver. Maybe a barrier. Maybe. BMW SUV at around 100mph is a pretty formidable projectile. Sad world that people are always willing to put the lives of other drivers in danger just because they can't make sensible decisions before getting behind the wheel.

And yes, we have had way too many fatalities in our little part of the world lately. I dread every time the light goes off and I hear 'vehicle accident'. Our roads are big. We all have really nice and fast cars. And we all feel a sense of entitlement. Tragic.

I'm with you 100%, I'm seeing operator error, bad decision making, and questionable control.

[Steve Heard]

I'm no traffic expert, but from working with the City on 'Slow Down Folsom' and attending planning sessions for the Sutter Street revitalization, and from the comments made on the forum here, when discussing the issue, we usually get:

* we need barriers
* we can't afford barriers and they're ugly
* we need speed bumps
* speed bumps cause more wear and tear on cars and causes pollution and slows emergency vehicles
* we need lower speed limits
* we don't need lower speed limits, we need people to follow the speed limits
* people aren't going to drive slower, we need more traffic cops
* we can't afford more traffic cops
* hey! I see cops hiding looking to bust some poor guy who went over the speed limit while they let criminals go free!

barriers, speed bumps, lower limits, wider streets, narrower streets, lights, stops signs, speed bumps, enforcement or lack thereof, is there a solution which would please everyone?

[cw68]

I'm no traffic expert, but from working with the City on 'Slow Down Folsom' and attending planning sessions for the Sutter Street revitalization, and from the comments made on the forum here, when discussing the issue, we usually get:

* we need barriers
* we can't afford barriers and they're ugly
* we need speed bumps
* speed bumps cause more wear and tear on cars and causes pollution and slows emergency vehicles
* we need lower speed limits
* we don't need lower speed limits, we need people to follow the speed limits
* people aren't going to drive slower, we need more traffic cops
* we can't afford more traffic cops
* hey! I see cops hiding looking to bust some poor guy who went over the speed limit while they let criminals go free!

barriers, speed bumps, lower limits, wider streets, narrower streets, lights, stops signs, speed bumps, enforcement or lack thereof, is there a solution which would please everyone?

That and the California Vehicle Code is messed up!

[SacKen]

I started a topic several years ago about the oddity of automobiles. Don't get me wrong, I love cars and I like going fast, but it's the only product I can think of that is designed and marketed to break the law. They focus on speed and power and advertise those capabilities. Commercials often show cars performing in a manner that would be illegal (speeding, drifting, etc.).

From a philosophical perspective, it makes no sense. Speed related accidents, public resources to combat speed (road design, police officers, rescue personnel, vehicle fuel economy, vehicle cost of ownership, etc., would all have a dramatic shift toward the positive if cars were designed to perform closer to the limits.

Again, I'm not advocating this nor do I believe such regulation would be easy to enforce or change quickly since there are so many cars already on the road. I just think it is interesting that we spend so much time and resources to combat something that could, for the most part, be nearly eliminated at the source.

[Sandman]

Way to much blame being put on the road design here in my opinion. While it may not be the safest the fact of the matter (please correct me if I am wrong) is this guy in the SUV is local and has more than likely traveled this stretch of road on more than one ocassion. Should have been no surprise a curve was coming...

Also way to much blame being put on the automobile itslelf. ANY modern car is capable of reaching 100MPH if the driver decides to push it to the limit. So whether it was a 500HP monster or a 150HP economy car really makes no difference. Either one in the hands of the wrong person making poor decisions will have the same outcome.