two people hit by truck in Tarrytown, one dead, the other in serious condition

[Derka 6,354]

https://cbsaustin.com/amp/news/local/one-dead-another-injured-after-being-hit-by-car-in-west-austin

 

my mom, brother, and myself have been close with this family for more than a decade, probably two decades. truly wonderful people. a very close knit family that has been through a lot already. the family has been extremely active in our school community for years. my mom and i had just reached out to them 2-3 days ago with plans of meeting up. i can’t even process this right now. this family does not deserve this. i really don’t know what else to say. just a wonderful family. the best people.

edit: i have to assume that some others here know them as well. please feel free to reach out if you need anything.

Edited August 9 by Derka

[Mittens 8,302]

That's fucked up.  Not sure you could find a quieter, less traveled residential area than that.  How the fuck is someone even going fast enough to run into pedestrians in that area?

[Willfully Horn 8,049]

Folks who travel quiet neighborhood roads to avoid congestion don’t drive the speed limit?

[DaggerHorns 3,085]

Reddit and NextDoor saying he didn’t have a drivers license. 

[bonnieblue 542]

17 hours ago, Derka said:

https://cbsaustin.com/amp/news/local/one-dead-another-injured-after-being-hit-by-car-in-west-austin

 

my mom, brother, and myself have been close with this family for more than a decade, probably two decades. truly wonderful people. a very close knit family that has been through a lot already. the family has been extremely active in our school community for years. my mom and i had just reached out to them 2-3 days ago with plans of meeting up. i can’t even process this right now. this family does not deserve this. i really don’t know what else to say. just a wonderful family. the best people.

edit: i have to assume that some others here know them as well. please feel free to reach out if you need anything.

I’m friends with one of their children,  and this is so devastating. Incredible family, full of truly interesting and vibrant people. What a miserable week.

[cmontexas 3,280]

Speeding in residentials or parking lots is unforgivably stupid

[Deej 76,914]

Nestande'd! Use the deer defense.

[ztejas 43,533]

Sorry - who died? Didn't see it in the story. 

[TwiceHorn 31,535]

Lived in that area last year of law school, was definitely quiet then.  Seems like a very odd thing to happen down there.

[Steel Shank 9,431]

I've seen landscaping guys haul ass around there. In a hurry to get to that next job. 

[jimmyjazz 46,128]

My wife grew up in that neighborhood and worked at the church (The Sanctuary) for decades.  Can you tell us who it was?

[Bevo 13,600]

What are the names of the victims?

[jimmyjazz 46,128]

Apparently the victims' names remain a state secret.  You know, it's not like a billion surlies know a billion people in Tarrytown and are concerned it might be friends or acquaintences.

Edited August 11 by jimmyjazz

[ClubWhatever 12,157]

If you needed to know, you would know

[Fastbreak 3,992]

That’s not really a cut through street. I had tons of friends in that area in middle/high school. We use to skateboard down the “hill”.

I’m not sure if there are any stop signs on that street until Windsor however (haven’t been on it in 20 years).

[jimmyjazz 46,128]

15 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

If you needed to know, you would know

Easy to say, not so true.  My wife probably taught 200 kids from that neighborhood over the years.  She's worried.

[Gucci_Suit 2,656]

I live less than a quarter mile from there and cross that intersection almost every day. I mostly drive a golf cart, so obviously I don’t run over anybody, but the amount of construction in this neighborhood has reached a point that is no longer acceptable. I feel like we’re dodging F250’s driven by people without drivers licenses and there are nails and screws all over the road. It’s basically F250s with trailers running stop signs all over the hood. 

I just got back into town and don’t know who this is, but I’m already furious. I can’t let my fucking kids ride bikes on the street. F250s with trailers. 

Edit: and yes, I know F250s with trailers is the way construction is done and how people make a living. Slow down is my point. 

Edited August 11 by Gucci_Suit

[Blotto 23,574]

1 hour ago, Gucci_Suit said:

I just got back into town and don’t know who this is, but I’m already furious.

Is it different when it happens in the poor neighborhoods?

[Bevo 13,600]

21 minutes ago, Blotto said:

Is it different when it happens in the poor neighborhoods?

 

Do you have some carryover gripe from another board?

[Newdoc 3,453]

25 minutes ago, Blotto said:

Is it different when it happens in the poor neighborhoods?

This is a personal story for a surly member who has tragic loss that affects them directly. Keep your CR crap in the CR and be better.

[HenryJames 66,170]

2 hours ago, Gucci_Suit said:

I live less than a quarter mile from there

Username checks out.

[DalTxHornFan 3,117]

I've lived in Austin since some of those streets were first paved.  Fuck anybody who is being a bitch on this thread.

Sorry if obtuse.  Despite what a Blue Blood area West Austin/Tarrytown may have become, there are lots of "normal" people that grew up there when it was just considered "North Austin"  - I later grew up in Rosedale.  North of 45th street was considered to be out in the sticks.

Edited August 12 by DalTxHornFan

[Willfully Horn 8,049]

6 hours ago, Fastbreak said:

That’s not really a cut through street. I had tons of friends in that area in middle/high school. We use to skateboard down the “hill”.

I’m not sure if there are any stop signs on that street until Windsor however (haven’t been on it in 20 years).

The couple were hit at an intersection with a stop sign.

https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/one-dead-another-injured-after-being-hit-by-car-in-west-austin#

[atomheartbevo 89,791]

3 hours ago, DalTxHornFan said:

North of 45th street was considered to be out in the sticks.

[Fastbreak 3,992]

4 hours ago, DalTxHornFan said:

I've lived in Austin since some of those streets were first paved.  Fuck anybody who is being a bitch on this thread.

Sorry if obtuse.  Despite what a Blue Blood area West Austin/Tarrytown may have become, there are lots of "normal" people that grew up there when it was just considered "North Austin"  - I later grew up in Rosedale.  North of 45th street was considered to be out in the sticks.

Mopac ended at 183 with a stop sign at one point when i was learning to drive.

[High Plains Drifter 11,052]

 

I was just reading a NYT article today about how pedestrian and bike deaths are way way up since pre-covid, pretty much everywhere. According to the article, part of it might be that cops don't enforce traffic laws anymore (for various reasons). Another reason for the increase, according to the article, is that people just drive faster than they used to. 

Roads really need to be engineered to force cars to slow down. 

People speeding in residential areas should be horse whipped while their cars are crushed into cubes. 

I've had words with a Fed Ex driver a few years ago who was going probably 50 in my rural hood on gravel road with a speed limit of 20. 

Peace to the people affected by this tragedy. 

[High Plains Drifter 11,052]

5 hours ago, Willfully Horn said:

The couple were hit at an intersection with a stop sign.

https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/one-dead-another-injured-after-being-hit-by-car-in-west-austin#

 

Also, this doesn't sound like construction workers pulling trailers: 

 

Less than a couple of hours after the crash that left one Tarrytown woman dead and her husband injured Thursday morning, it was traffic as usual---according to neighbors who did not want to speak on camera. CBS Austin watched as multiple cars went through the intersection, either performing a rolling stop or blowing past the four-way stop signs altogether.

 

[BrazilHorn 6,633]

4 hours ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

Also, this doesn't sound like construction workers pulling trailers: 

 

Less than a couple of hours after the crash that left one Tarrytown woman dead and her husband injured Thursday morning, it was traffic as usual---according to neighbors who did not want to speak on camera. CBS Austin watched as multiple cars went through the intersection, either performing a rolling stop or blowing past the four-way stop signs altogether.

 

It was a trailer being pulled by truck. Not saying folks don’t roll through that stop sign as they do. I live on other side of mopac and some of the stop signs in pemberton people take as suggestions. 
 

This is a sad deal all the way around. Fortunately their kids are all grown vs being at casis and losing mom. 
 

End of day there is constant construction/renovation/maintenance work going on and that will always be the case and as someone who walks their dog daily you absolutely have to keep head on swivel/walk against traffic so you can see what is coming. 

[Deej 76,914]

6 hours ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

I was just reading a NYT article today about how pedestrian and bike deaths are way way up since pre-covid, pretty much everywhere. According to the article, part of it might be that cops don't enforce traffic laws anymore (for various reasons). Another reason for the increase, according to the article, is that people just drive faster than they used to. 

Roads really need to be engineered to force cars to slow down. 

People speeding in residential areas should be horse whipped while their cars are crushed into cubes. 

I've had words with a Fed Ex driver a few years ago who was going probably 50 in my rural hood on gravel road with a speed limit of 20. 

Peace to the people affected by this tragedy. 

I notice a lot of pedestrians not exhibiting any type of situational awareness. Ear buds in, looking at their phones.

[South Austin 52,600]

12 hours ago, DalTxHornFan said:

I've lived in Austin since some of those streets were first paved.  Fuck anybody who is being a bitch on this thread.

Sorry if obtuse.  Despite what a Blue Blood area West Austin/Tarrytown may have become, there are lots of "normal" people that grew up there when it was just considered "North Austin"  - I later grew up in Rosedale.  North of 45th street was considered to be out in the sticks.

 

7 hours ago, Fastbreak said:

Mopac ended at 183 with a stop sign at one point when i was learning to drive.

I remember The Domain pre-Nordstrom.

[jimmyjazz 46,128]

12 hours ago, DalTxHornFan said:

Sorry if obtuse.  Despite what a Blue Blood area West Austin/Tarrytown may have become, there are lots of "normal" people that grew up there when it was just considered "North Austin" 

Yep, my wife grew up near the corner of Dormarion and Bowman, just west of Mopac.  They lived in a somewhat run-down ranch house, and I doubt it was 1,400 square feet.  Not everyone in Tarrytown lives in a mansion on Pecos or Hillview.

[utee94 15,862]

7 hours ago, Fastbreak said:

Mopac ended at 183 with a stop sign at one point when i was learning to drive.

They eventually put a lonely stoplight there-- and that light went to flashing yellow at 10 or 11 PM.

Terrible story, I hope the family and any surlys who know them can find peace.

Edited August 12 by utee94

[Armybrat 40,906]

13 hours ago, DalTxHornFan said:

I've lived in Austin since some of those streets were first paved.  Fuck anybody who is being a bitch on this thread.

Sorry if obtuse.  Despite what a Blue Blood area West Austin/Tarrytown may have become, there are lots of "normal" people that grew up there when it was just considered "North Austin"  - I later grew up in Rosedale.  North of 45th street was considered to be out in the sticks.

I thought Crestview was closer to Round Rock than Austin.

[Texas Jeff 1,945]

Some context for those unfamiliar with the area:

From the photos, the crash appeared to be at the intersection of Greenlee and Hillview.  The truck may have been eastbound on Greenlee and turned right on Hillview, but it was hard to tell just from photos.  It looked like the truck was southbound on HIllview just south of the intersection.

There is a sidewalk on Hillview all the way from Exposition (near Casis) to Windsor, but only on one side of the road.  There is a four-way stop at Greenlee and Hillview.  Hillview descends as you drop from Casis down towards Greenlee, then bottoms out around that four-way stop, then goes back up the hill to Windsor.

I think the city recently redid the sidewalk around that intersection and improved the crosswalk and sidewalk where Hillview crosses Greenlee, but there is only one crosswalk at that intersection.

My thoughts:

This area is on my 5k neighborhood walk and I've walked on Hillview sidewalk and turned west onto Greenlee hundreds of times.  The walk down Greenlee between Hillview and Pecos is beautiful.  It's an amazingly quiet and peaceful place.  I walk with traffic on the sidewalk on Hillview and against traffic once I get on Greenlee.  I have always felt safe.

However, zero people stop at the four-way signs at Hillview/Greenlee or Greenlee/Pecos.  All cars slow down a bit and then go, but no one comes to a complete stop.  I have to cross Pecos on my walk and if there is a car I always make sure the driver is looking at me before I cross.

I've lived in the neighborhood 18 years and I've never seen any traffic enforcement.  Not even school zone enforcement.  We have an awesome pre-WWII neighborhood layout that distributes neighborhood traffic through multiple entrances and exits, but we do have pinch points like Winsted near Littlefield's Tacos that are accidents waiting to happen.  Recently, it seems like every middle school boy has scored an electric bike and they are roaming full throttle around the neighborhood in mini-gangs, helmet free.  I'm surprised we haven't had a serious accident.

I am sorry to hear that this couple didn't make it home from their walk ... I promise to slow down and look more and be more careful, but for them it's too late.

[High Plains Drifter 11,052]

2 hours ago, Deej said:

I notice a lot of pedestrians not exhibiting any type of situational awareness. Ear buds in, looking at their phones.

 

no doubt. But they aren't going to kill anyone other than themselves. 

[royiv 9,353]

34 minutes ago, Texas Jeff said:

However, zero people stop at the four-way signs at Hillview/Greenlee or Greenlee/Pecos.  All cars slow down a bit and then go, but no one comes to a complete stop.  I have to cross Pecos on my walk and if there is a car I always make sure the driver is looking at me before I cross.

I grew up off of Greenlee and my best friend grew up directly on Greenlee. The stop sign at Greenlee/Pecos was installed when we were in our teens and we decided that we were grandfathered in and didn’t have to stop at it. Thirty years later, I stop at it, but it seems like a lot of people think like dumbass 16 year old me thought.

[Deej 76,914]

1 hour ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

no doubt. But they aren't going to kill anyone other than themselves. 

Sure, but it definitely contributes to the numbers. 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,523]

10 hours ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

I was just reading a NYT article today about how pedestrian and bike deaths are way way up since pre-covid, pretty much everywhere. According to the article, part of it might be that cops don't enforce traffic laws anymore (for various reasons). Another reason for the increase, according to the article, is that people just drive faster than they used to. 

Roads really need to be engineered to force cars to slow down. 

People speeding in residential areas should be horse whipped while their cars are crushed into cubes. 

I've had words with a Fed Ex driver a few years ago who was going probably 50 in my rural hood on gravel road with a speed limit of 20. 

Peace to the people affected by this tragedy. 

Plenty of reasons why problems occur.

• pedestrians walking (and talking) with earbuds in.  (noise cancelling ear buds!)
• cyclists not following traffic laws, or only following them when it suits them. Also wearing ear buds.
• drivers checking/typing on their phones.
• roads and lights with poor design; not meeting traffic patterns and needs. Think a left hand turn lane constructed for 3 vehicles when 10 need it.
• apps like waze directing drivers to cut through neighborhoods to save 2 minutes, or avoid poorly designed roads. Short of cul-de-sacs or dead-ends, every road is now a cut-through road.
• wider and wider roads creating issues for pedestrians having time to cross.

 

• and all the above make people madder and madder. They may not purposefully run over someone, but anger can lead to unsafe driving.

[DaggerHorns 3,085]

Way too much dialogue and overthinking here.

Just follow fucking traffic signs. That’s it. Deep Eddy Cabaret will still have cold beer whether or not you arrive 30 seconds later.

[Gucci_Suit 2,656]

19 hours ago, Blotto said:

Is it different when it happens in the poor neighborhoods?

No, its the same.

[MAUFRAIS 6,633]

More modest life insurance claims

[Gucci_Suit 2,656]

19 hours ago, HenryJames said:

Username checks out.

lol. My username, which I’ve had since Hornfans, is a nod to the song Still Fly from 2002. I’m just a middle class whitish Mexican guy that worked up through software sales and made really good real estate decisions since 2008. Otherwise, I’m an idiot that likes to have a good time. I do own one single Gucci suit though and you can borrow it. 

Regardless, there is too much commercial traffic through neighborhoods (in all areas) that are not paying attention and are only interested in doing as many jobs as they can in a work day. I get it, you have to make a living…. But we can’t let our kids ride bikes because of this constant flow of speeding construction vehicles. 

[Gucci_Suit 2,656]

6 minutes ago, MAUFRAIS said:

More modest life insurance claims

Yep. And the fact that more kids/people in poorer neighborhoods are walking on the street in general. Would love if my tax dollars went to an Uber for kids that would take them home from anywhere. Or to grandparents. 

ANYWAY, it’s all sad as fuck and frustrating as fuck and I’m in my mid-40s and yelling at everyone to slow the fuck down. I don’t do CR, because I’m not CR, so I’ll just say slow the fuck down.

[cmontexas 3,280]

I'll add that vehicles today, especially electric ones are so quiet you dont hear them until its too late

[High Plains Drifter 11,052]

 

2 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Plenty of reasons why problems occur.

• pedestrians walking (and talking) with earbuds in.  (noise cancelling ear buds!)
• cyclists not following traffic laws, or only following them when it suits them. Also wearing ear buds.
• drivers checking/typing on their phones.
• roads and lights with poor design; not meeting traffic patterns and needs. Think a left hand turn lane constructed for 3 vehicles when 10 need it.
• apps like waze directing drivers to cut through neighborhoods to save 2 minutes, or avoid poorly designed roads. Short of cul-de-sacs or dead-ends, every road is now a cut-through road.
• wider and wider roads creating issues for pedestrians having time to cross.

 

• and all the above make people madder and madder. They may not purposefully run over someone, but anger can lead to unsafe driving.

 

Here's the thing, in all other western industrialized countries, ped and biker death rates have been falling for some time and continue to fall. Only in the US is the death rate climbing (before covid it was also falling).  

This correlates to traffic enforcement going to shit, right about when or just after covid hit. 

I'm just regurgitating what the NYT article said. 

[Bozo_Casanova 26,549]

2 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Plenty of reasons why problems occur.

• pedestrians walking (and talking) with earbuds in.  (noise cancelling ear buds!)
• cyclists not following traffic laws, or only following them when it suits them. Also wearing ear buds.
• drivers checking/typing on their phones.
• roads and lights with poor design; not meeting traffic patterns and needs. Think a left hand turn lane constructed for 3 vehicles when 10 need it.
• apps like waze directing drivers to cut through neighborhoods to save 2 minutes, or avoid poorly designed roads. Short of cul-de-sacs or dead-ends, every road is now a cut-through road.
• wider and wider roads creating issues for pedestrians having time to cross.

 

the bolded above is key - people drive the speeds they do based on the design or percieved width of the road and the posted speed limit is distinctly secondary. If a street feels wide, it's tough to keep cars under 35 or so, and that's an extremely dangerous speed with pedestrians present. 
The best way for neighborhoods to improve pedestrian safety is to park cars on the street and thus narrow the percieved width. When they do this, cars slow down, and that makes the street safer for pedestrians. Unfortunately, however, Tarrytown is not a conducive environment for street parking and the streets themselves are very wide for a residential neighborhood. 

Edited August 12 by Bozo_Casanova

[jimmyjazz 46,128]

@hornian and I live in the same neighborhood -- we were recently gifted with a traffic circle similar to (but smaller than) that shown in the photo below.  It replaced a T intersection with a single stop sign which was perfectly safe.  Guess which two yield signs are routinely ignored by drivers, even when a car has already cleared the 3rd yield sign?

People are bad drivers.  "Head on a swivel", indeed.

Edited August 12 by jimmyjazz

[MAUFRAIS 6,633]

Roundabouts have something to do with trying to make us like soccer.

[Bozo_Casanova 26,549]

30 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

@hornian and I live in the same neighborhood -- we were recently gifted with a traffic circle similar to (but smaller than) that shown in the photo below.  It replaced a T intersection with a single stop sign which was perfectly safe.  Guess which two yield signs are routinely ignored by drivers, even when a car has already cleared the 3rd yield sign?

People are bad drivers.  "Head on a swivel", indeed.

Traffic circles are great. Very difficult to find an example of a traffic circle that didn't make the signals or stop signs it replaced better, both in terms of safety and throughput, in addition to reducing noise and wear and tear on vehicles. 

[Armybrat 40,906]

4 hours ago, royiv said:

I grew up off of Greenlee and my best friend grew up directly on Greenlee. The stop sign at Greenlee/Pecos was installed when we were in our teens and we decided that we were grandfathered in and didn’t have to stop at it. Thirty years later, I stop at it, but it seems like a lot of people think like dumbass 16 year old me thought.

I worked at the Howson Branch Library on Exposition 1962-66. 
Haven’t been back to that neck of the woods since, so I guess it has changed somewhat..