Trucks Keep Hitting Bridges

Every so often we hear or read about a truck trying to go under a bridge and hitting it and/or getting jammed under it. If hitting a bridge isn’t bad enough, the ensuing traffic jams danger to the public and fiascos make the situation untenable. The local newspapers write about it, occasionally it’ll appear on TV and radio and the pictures from cell phones wind up appearing on You Tube in short order. I understand that accidents happen. I also understand what it’s like to rely on a GPS instruction - the common reason for the mishap. I do draw the line with GPS units at disobeying one way street signs, going onto railroad tracks and so on.

The answer seems to be elusive to all those experts whom we repeatedly see quoted in articles about the accident. How is this if they are the experts? Perhaps they’re just book smart and lack any common sense intelligence. Maybe they should let us come up with ideas for solving this. And if they adopt our solutions, they return a percentage of their salary for inefficiency.

Last year, 33 trucks drove into bridges on Westchester parkways patrolled by county police; in 2009 it was 54. In 2008 it was 46. There have been 39 he bridge crashes so far this year, 30 of them on the Hutchinson River Parkway, sometimes tying up traffic for hours as cops from several agencies scramble to the scene. A bridge inspector and often a tow truck are called out, costing truckers sometimes more than $100,000 when repairs and lost cargo are added in, officials say. The boxes on tractor-trailer rigs can stand more than 13 feet high, while some of the bridges have clearances barely above 9 feet. This is an issue for emergency vehicles as well. But most of their operators are familiar with the bridges in their communities and have alternate routes they utilize when responding.

Sgt. Ira Promisel, of the New York State Police, one of the good guys, says a task force has been studying the problem for two years and trying out ideas. There’s an obvious waste of time - why fix it when we can talk about it? The task force is comprised of DOT, state police, and Westchester County officials, among others. They’ve tried reflective stickers on bridges in the Bronx, which didn’t work. Stickers. Really? The task force is about to try a device called “The Wizard” near the King Street Bridge. It constantly sends out a message to CB channels that bridges on the Hutch are too low for trucks. Not every solution needs to be a high tech one.

Here’s a simple solution, build an opening on the entrances that a truck might have access to to match the lowest bridge on the roadway. That way, as they try to enter the roadway, they hit the representative structure, set with a notification system to the appropriate police response agency, stop, and get to remove their vehicle without screwing up traffic on the highway/parkways. Most importantly, they haven’t hit and wedged themselves under the bridge, damaged the bridge, other vehicles or hurt anyone. Simple. If you want to argue the cost, we’ve already spent $3.3 million dollars dealing with last years accidents and there’s no reduction in sight.

Being a leader means stepping out of your comfort zone - or, in this case, off the curb. Propose some common-sense solutions to a reoccurring problem and make a difference in a positive way. The truck drivers, insurance companies, responders, motoring public will all appreciate what you do: providing real solutions to real problems.