Hudson Fire and HPD Are Getting Really Good At Responding To Vehicle Crashes. Preventing Them Is Another Matter.

HUDseen was a little late to the scene of a 2-vehicle crash at the intersection of Frederick & Columbia this afternoon.  It was probably a terrific collision -- there are scrapes on the new asphalt where the vehicles met.  My assumption that someone pulled out from Frederick into the path of a car coming down the hill was confirmed when I spoke to the friendly fellow who lives in the large house at the northeast corner and who can often be seen standing sentry at the corner.  He said that he heard the crash while he was inside and that it was "really bad."  The two vehicles were a minivan and a car, both of which were towed away.  He wasn't sure if anyone got into the ambulance that was at the scene, but he thought it was possible.  By the time I arrived, a fire engine was leaving and all that remained was the sand in the street soaking up the spilled engine fluid.

It would be interesting to know how fast the 
vehicle headed down the hill was going before 
it slammed into the vehicle pulling out.

The City of Hudson has got to get serious about doing something to prevent vehicle crashes, as well as speeding and out of control drivers found all over town. The problem is that there is really no one to do this. Robert Perry? Surely you jest!  Mishanda Franklin? Stop it!  I did hear Margaret Morris recently mention that she sees a need for a Public Safety Department (or committee?) to get a handle on traffic and other safety issues so prevalent in our little city, but that isn't going to happen anytime soon if it ever does. That leaves one person to save us: Mystery Man Police Commissioner Shane Bower, our supposed traffic safety guru. Well, that says it all right there. We are in one heck of a pickle.

Be careful out there on our mean streets, smooth or not -- that could have been you involved in that accident today on Columbia.  Remember that the city is not going to help keep you out of an accident - they seem to be incapable of it.  They will respond to your accident if you are involved in one, but they won't have done anything to prevent the accident or prevent it from happening again.  The Columbia Street hill is as smooth as ever and the average speed has probably risen since it was repaved less than 3 months ago.  There are no speed limit or SLOW DOWN signs, speed humps or anything designed to keep vehicles, including trucks of all sizes, from driving too goddamn fast down that hill.  There isn't even a sign before the bend at the bottom warning drivers that they are quickly approaching a traffic light and busy intersection that they cannot see.

And get this:  After Colarusso paved the street, they installed stop lines for both stop signs at the bottom of the hill but did not install one for the light.  That is it in a nutshell:  Our city doesn't care if a pedestrian gets run over at that intersection or where (or if) drivers stop at the light at the bottom of a steep and long hill.  City Hall also doesn't care how fast cars and trucks drive down the hill as they approach and pass the hospital exits on both sides of the road, then Frederick Street and the out-of-sight light at the bottom.  This is a recipe for another crash, not an "accident."  Today's crash was no "accident" -- it had to happen eventually, and another one will come along unless something effective is done to prevent it. 

The quiet intersection of Franklin & Prospect got a stop line, but 
the very busy signalized intersection of Columbia & Green 
along the truck route did not.  Perfectly logical!