Got to see Number 5 tonight. A stretch of highway, about a mile, the only way to the store and back for me. Seen 3 killed, burned bodies a few years back, another shortly after got hit trying to cross on his ATV, and tonight, who the fuck knows? Drifted across three lanes and plowed into a stopped Highway Patrol vehicle. Pulled out of the car and left on the asphalt. Covered, and uncovered, rag-dolled around for pictures and shit. Dead as shit. State Trooper was helicoptered out just as I rolled up.
Dude was driving the same year, make and model of one of my cars.
Weird thing is, estranged friend of mine, who had to roll right through this on his way home from work in town, stopped by the house (haven’t spoken to him in just under a year now) to see if (it was me) I was okay. Clearly, he should have recognized the car, and the color and plates were completely wrong, but perhaps knowing my proclivity for collecting this kind of stuff, was curious. I was off-roading and only caught him as he was coming down the road from the house. Exchanged a few gratuitous niceties and parted ways.
Unlike my Wild Horse thread, I won’t put up any pictures.
I feel pretty bad about this, but that was a beautiful car that was totaled today. If I knew the guy, I’d feel real bad about him, too. But I don’t, but I know the car.
At first look, it was hard to see what exactly happened, but from the North side, its pretty clear the NHP was parked, heading west, and the Beemer hit it, spinning it half the way around. Big, deep ruts where the wheels of the NHP dug into the ground.
Makes perfect sense. If the BMW was heading east, as the road has a slight bend (to the right, if you are heading east), and if the driver was asleep or not paying attention, would have gone straight ahead, across the west-bound lanes.
If the NHP hadn’t have been parked exactly there, he would have flown off into the desert. Likely would have been killed doing that, too. There is a pretty big bank there. (or worse, hit the bank, and bounced back into the west-bound lanes, right at the crest of a hill! :eek: )
Not a single skid mark.
Really weird accident.
About 150 yards from the spot the guy on the ATV got hit a while back.
It’s really not by the way. I’ve driven it as far as Austin and while traffic isn’t heavy I’ve seen sparser highways. There aren’t many services though.
Actually, they just did. Expanded from 2 to 4 lanes from about where the accident took place to several miles east. 3 deaths happened just prior to that construction a few years ago. All in the same vehicle. About a third of a mile east from the accident on Monday. That one couldn’t happen now, not there. Well, it could, but you’re going to go through the median, and it would be ugly! (Funny, the east bound lanes have large piles of rocks off to the right side of the road! Drift off, and instead of guard rail or desert, you get your world ROCKED! I can’t imagine why NDOT did that.)
The one in the OP happened about 150 yards west of where the road divides with a median down the middle. Number 5 was a fool trying to cross a four lane highway on an ATV. Got hit by a Prius, for Christ’s sake!
While off-roading, I use a tunnel they put in under the highway for the wild horses to transition from north to south.
But, its not too dangerous. Average speed right through here is about 70. I have to pull across two lanes to head west. The visibility is nearly unlimited, and traffic not too heavy, so you have to be kind of stupid to get killed.
It isn’t within a single mile but I have to drive on RT 24 south of Boston (aka “the most dangerous highway in Massachusetts”) during part of my commute. Part of the reason it is so dangerous is that it looks roughly like an interstate highway but it isn’t a real one. The average speeds are very high most of the time and people just bounce off the guardrails and kill themselves or others sometimes. I have seen too many rollover accidents to count and I am sure some of them did not make it judging by the carnage.
The nearest real interstate, I-495 is almost as dangerous. It is very fast moving (80+ mph) certain times of the day. The left-hand shoulder often just features a hill filled with trees as your next option. If you run off the side or get forced off by someone else, that is bad news because you are going to flip and then either land at the bottom, hit oncoming traffic coming from the opposite side or hit a tree. Judging by the roadside memorials and skidmarks leading down embankments that I pass every day, it isn’t a rare thing.
I was able to stop and help one person that was fairly badly injured and went into shock but I have witnessed many more that I couldn’t help. I have no idea how many of those made it.
Helped a lady change a boat trailer tire about 100 yards from the scene tonight. She had a tread separation, pulled over and called AAA. Waited two hours and they never showed. She said she got tired of waiting and starting trying to do it herself. I was off-roading with the dogs and saw her struggling and went down to help.
Bad analysis. The slight bend in the road is actually much further away. Dead Arrow Straight where this happened. How?
Did the guy target the cop? :eek: Other than texting, drunk, asleep or already dead, I can’t see how this happened.
The “official” Loneliest Road starts at Fernley (they have a little book you can get stamped at several places). Dayton is way west of the designated part.
I think I have hit my lifetime quota on that stuff. A few months ago driving home at night I saw a bunch of tail lights start swerving. By the time I got close enough there was a car beyond totaled crammed into a very small space under an overpass. There were about 12 people already around the car from various other vehicles. I got out of my car and started to walk over then just stopped, I really didn’t want to see it any closer, and it seemed virtually impossible there was anything I was going to be able to do to help. So I just checked that someone had called 911 already, and sat on my hood looking the other way, but listening if any one said they needed another hand. But from the mood of the people at the car it didn’t seem like there was much hope. Didn’t hear much of anything for the 3 minutes or so until the emergency folks showed up.
Nah. Carson City (cite TravelNevada.com). But strangely, you didn’t have to go there to get the full set of coffee mugs*. Only as far as Dayton. The little museum at the end of the street.
*Hot shit! PonyExpressNevada.com did a promotion a few years ago where you would hit Dayton, Fernley, Fallon, Austin, Eureka, Ely and Great Basin and get a coffee mug at each stop. A quick internet search of ebay shows NONE listed! I got three complete sets! Just sitting around collecting dust!
wolfman, I was on my way to my father’s funeral, when some fool up the road was going too fast in the snow and ran himself into the ditch and possibly a tree. The two cars ahead of me stopped. I pulled right around and kept on motoring. My wife looks at me, and says, “Why aren’t you stopping?”
I said something like, “What do you expect me to do? He’s got all the help he needs and you only get one shot at a funeral”.
How? 