Perhaps unsurprisingly, the City of Hudson has no comparable rule in its code. So, what is allowed here, and what has been the case in the 400 block of Columbia Street for weeks, is for a parked trailer to occupy one third (ten feet) of the width of a busy city street which also happens to be our notorious truck route. The owner of the trailer just leaves it there, and the city is perfectly fine with it being parked there at all times of the day and night. Imagine if the whole block were lined with parked trailers at least 10 feet wide!
But drivers approaching the parked trailer can't ignore it like City Hall does, especially drivers of trucks and cars headed west at the bottom of the hill! And when traffic in both directions meet at the parked trailer, someone needs to either pull over and let others pass or proceed really slowly. This morning, I watched as a car headed west decided to pull over in front of the trailer and let 4 or 5 vehicles headed east pass, including one tractor trailer, rather than try to squeeze past the trailer and risk getting into an accident. This dangerous situation simply shouldn't be, but Hudson City Hall sees no problem at all. A trailer parked unmoved for days and weeks on the truck route forcing passing vehicles into a dangerous situation? Not their problem, of course!
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| How to create the perfect conditions for an accident. Or two. Or three... |
Of course, were the trailer parked in Albany, it probably would have been ticketed and towed weeks ago. Is it possible that Albany understands something that Hudson is incapable of understanding? Or is it that no one at Hudson City Hall is paying attention or actually cares about safe streets? Or is it all of the above? Because somethin' ain't right for this to be tolerated for even one day!
I have no idea if the trailer has caused any accidents since it has been parked on Columbia for most of the past few weeks, but there has been no shortage of accidents on Columbia Street recently. According to HPD accident reports, the police responded to a total of 70 traffic accidents on city streets during the 3-month span of August through October. 16 of those 70 accidents, or 23%, were on Columbia Street. Given that Columbia is our longest street, our main thoroughfare (and throughfare) and the truck route, this probably comes as no great surprise to anyone. But still, it's worth examining.
The report for August shows that just shy of one-third of reported vehicle accidents in Hudson occurred on Columbia Street (8 of 25). This is astounding! The first traffic accident that HPD responded to that month was at 78 Green Street, on the first of the month. Over the following 8 days there were 5 more accidents, every one of them on Columbia Street! First it was at Prospect Avenue (the deadly triangle!); 3 hours later that same day it was at North 6th (so many accidents at that intersection due to running of red lights, and where there are zero stop lines or crosswalks!); 4 days later it was at 445 Columbia; 2 hours later it was at 821 Columbia; and 2 days later a crash occurred at 718 Columbia. For the remaining 21 days of that month there were 19 accidents throughout the city, 3 of which took place on Columbia Street. Those crashes occurred at 325 Columbia, 1st & Columbia, and - you guessed it - 6th & Columbia!
While there isn't a reported automobile accident every day in Hudson, we do average one a day. To make up for those days lacking an accident, some days there are 2, other days even as many as 3, as on these 4 days: August 29th, September 6th, 20th and 27th. Some days we get really lucky and HPD has 4 accidents to respond to, as on October 10th of this year. Surprisingly, none of those accidents occurred on Columbia Street! Instead, it was 71 Prospect Avenue (CMH's address); Fairview Avenue (without a number); 1st Street at Warren; and 215 Harry Howard Avenue (Hudson High School's address).
The next day, on the 11th of October, HPD responded to an accident - you guessed it - on Columbia Street! Not at 6th Street, but at the deadly triangle at the top of the hill by CMH at the intersection with Prospect (and Columbia Turnpike). 2 days later there was an accident, once again, at 71 Prospect Avenue, which could have been anywhere on Prospect from Columbia to Warren. On the 27th and the 31st, there were 2 more accidents at 215 Harry Howard Avenue. The third accident on the month's list described as 71 Prospect Avenue (what we know as CMH) occurred on the 30th.
I did not include hit and run accidents or pedestrian-involved incidents in my numbers. There were 23 of those during the 3 months -- 3 on Columbia Street and 3 listed as occurring at 71 Prospect Avenue, all hit and runs. 93 reported accidents over 3 months results in an average of one crash a day.
My parked Honda Accord was hit a few years ago by a young driver who careened around a corner and slammed his car into the area around my rear wheel, totaling the car by bending the axle. According to a witness, the out-of-control car then hit the car parked in front of mine as the driver tried to drive away, but the front end was so badly damaged that the car would not allow him to steer. When I arrived on the scene later, after the police had completed their accident report, I asked the driver what had happened. He refused to speak to me or to show me his driver's license.
Basically, there are too many speedy drivers in Hudson on our busy narrow streets, and HPD is incapable of doing anything about it. And while we may get a city-wide reduced speed limit soon, I doubt it will improve things one bit. The speeders will continue to speed and drive recklessly and HPD will continue to not enforce the limit, regardless of the new 25 mph speed limit signs. Maybe it's time to invest in some speed and/or red light cameras. I think Columbia Street would be a good place to start with two or three of them, with one definitely at the intersection with 6th Street. Some friggin' stop lines there wouldn't be a bad idea, either!
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