It's been said that there are no guarantees in life. This is particularly true, I think, when it comes to being anywhere near a car or truck, a form of transportation that has only been around for a little more than one hundred years. For most of humanity, walking was never nearly as fraught as driving, riding in or being near a multi-ton vehicle is now.
Traffic collisions are the number one cause of death for children between the ages of 5 and 19 in the US and around the globe. Worldwide, 500 children a day are killed in traffic collisions, and road "accidents" take the life of one person about every 30 seconds. Can you imagine? You can be the safest, most cautious, aware, and defensive driver on the planet and still some other driver can destroy your car and injure or kill you and your passengers in an instant. Heck, your car doesn't need to be moving. Perhaps you are just waiting at a light when you are slammed into. You don't even have to be in your car. My Honda Accord was totaled a few years ago while parked on State at 6th because some kid came careening around the corner and slammed into the rear of my car, bending the axle. The one witness to the crash said the driver tried to get away (after also hitting the car parked in front of mine), but his steering was shot and his car couldn't go any further. If I had been gathering groceries out of the driver's side of the back seat when that car came around the corner, I'd probably be a paraplegic or dead right now.
Of course, some crashes are preventable, and some are not. Take the 3-car crash on Allen Street, just west of South 3rd Street, on June 21st. While it was probably not preventable, it is a stark reminder of how things can go bad so quickly for drivers and passengers just trying to get somewhere. The description of the crash(es) is also so bizarre that I feel the need to transcribe the full text of the HPD accident report, if only for entertainment's sake. It was in no way funny or entertaining for the 9 people involved, of course.
The diagram at the top was part of the report. The first impact, according to the report, occurred just 35 feet west of 3rd Street on Allen. It was a Friday at about 6 pm.
(Portions of the report are redacted, particularly as they relate to injuries sustained. I will denote any redactions as (R).)
Operator of vehicle 1 was (R) and was unable to be interviewed regarding the accident. Operator 1 was transported to CMH by Greenport EMS. Operator of vehicle 2 stated that he was travelling east on Allen Street. Operator 2 observed vehicle 1 travelling north on South 3rd Street and make a left hand turn onto Allen Street. Operator 2 stated that vehicle 1 was driving straight towards them in vehicle 2. Operator 2 then began honking their horn at vehicle 1 and began to reverse. Vehicle 1 then struck vehicle 2 head on while it was reversing.
Operator 3 stated that he was behind vehicle 2 while it was travelling east on Allen Street. Operator 3 stated he observed vehicle 1 driving westerly on Allen and that it was assumed that vehicle 1 was going to either stop driving or pull over to let vehicle 2 and vehicle 3 go by. Operator 3 advised vehicle 1 did not stop and vehicle 2 was observed reversing in a westerly direction on Allen Street, which is when vehicle 1 drove straight into the front of vehicle 2.
Vehicle 2 was then observed by operator 3 travelling backwards and off to the side of the street, from the collision. Operator 3 stated he was then stopped in the roadway where vehicle 1 continued to go straight ahead and strike his vehicle head on as well.
The only reported injuries were to operator 2, passenger 1 and passenger 6. Passenger 2 had (a very long R). Passenger 1 and passenger 2 were then transported to CMH by Greenport EMS. Passenger 6 advised she had (R) but she did not wish to be evaluated.
On 6/27/2024, operator of vehicle 1 was (R - probably "interviewed and") advised he was driving on Allen Street, in a westerly direction, when his ears started to ring. Operator of vehicle 1 advised he started to not feel good and the next thing he vaguely remembered was seeing white and feeling EMS drag him out of his vehicle. Nothing Further.
HPD officer Luis Martinez was the author of the report.
There were no indications of the approximate speeds of any of the three vehicles. Vehicle 1 had to be going pretty damn fast if it forced vehicle 2 out of its way while it was backing up (and sustaining serious damage), then continued on and slammed head on into vehicle 3. If I had to guess what caused the crashes, I'd say that the driver of vehicle 1 passed out with his foot on the gas pedal after he turned onto Allen.
It's also quite possible that this nasty accident had to do with the narrowness of the 200 block of Allen Street. Any crashes on Allen due to its narrowness are, of course, preventable. Allen from 3rd to Front should have been made ONE WAY long ago. If Allen were one way headed west, this accident likely never happens, regardless of its cause.
The two cars headed east on Allen that were rammed into by vehicle 1 each had 4 people in them. Vehicle 3, the second one to be hit, was the only car not towed away. 3 people were taken to CMH, but I have no idea of their outcomes. The driver of vehicle 2, a 30-year-old male from New York City, and a 29-year-old passenger with the same last name, were two of the injured sent to CMH. The driver of vehicle 1 was a 61-year-old from Cairo, the sole occupant in the car.
Presumably, no one died of their injuries. Had a bicyclist, mopedist or motorcyclist or two been approaching 3rd on Allen instead of one or both of the cars, certainly someone would have died or been seriously injured. The driver of vehicle 1 was "driving" completely out of control and apparently unaware of his surroundings, possibly unconscious.
On Friday, August 9th at 2:50 pm, I was walking toward the intersection of 6th & State. I noticed a blue car headed west on State approaching the intersection driving quite fast (not at all unusual). A second or two before the car reached the intersection, it was obvious to me that the driver would never be able to stop in time for the intersection. Sure enough, the driver, a 30/40-ish male looking straight ahead (not distracted), went straight through the intersection going at least 25 miles per hour, never once applying the brakes. I would not at all be surprised if that two-ton piece of deadly metal was going 30 miles per hour. It was frightening.
Prior to Covid, I would see HPD officers at that intersection waiting for just those drivers, the ones who intentionally or accidently blow through one of the four stop signs. HPD would nab drivers regularly, sometimes multiple times in a day. A cop once confided in me that 6th & State was the worst intersection in the entire city for stop sign runners. But now, HPD cops are rarely seen waiting there anymore. The problem of speeding and reckless driving has only worsened, and HPD has moved on to other issues, I guess.
In the month of June, HPD issued 5 traffic tickets to drivers for failing to stop at a red light, and 3 tickets to drivers who failed to stop at a stop sign. (That's about one ticket every four days). All 8 of those drivers will (or already have) come before either Judge Connor or Judge Roberts to adjudicate their tickets. With the assistance of the County DA's office and the Public Defender's office, the judge will automatically reduce each ticket to "1201A, Parking On The Pavement" with a total fine of around $125 and no points on their licenses. The defendants won't have to request a reduced charge -- it will just be given to them without hesitation, whether they knowingly or unknowingly went through a stop sign or red light.
That seems like a great way to encourage safe, responsible driving in Hudson, doesn't it? "Here, pay as little as possible for driving poorly and get the hell out of here. Next."
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