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

[jimmyjazz 45882]

17 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

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. 

Great except when you're the first person to arrive, you pull into the circle, and some jackass blows through their yield sign because they think they have the right of way.  After all, THEY aren't turning, they're going straight.

[Bozo_Casanova 26434]

1 minute ago, jimmyjazz said:

Great except when you're the first person to arrive, you pull into the circle, and some jackass blows through their yield sign because they think they have the right of way.  After all, THEY aren't turning, they're going straight.

and nobody got hurt, because you were paying attention

[jimmyjazz 45882]

Just now, Bozo_Casanova said:

and nobody got hurt, because you were paying attention

Well, I wasn't dressed like I wanted it.

[C-Man 27184]

8 hours ago, Deej said:

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

My wife and I started walking a daily 2+ mile route in our neighborhood shortly after the COVID shutdowns. We live by Love Field. There are a couple spots on our route where cars go flying by. I make it a point to have my head on a swivel if the sun is the driver's faces and/or if it's winter and it gets darker a lot earlier. We also walk facing into oncoming traffic.

Derka, sorry for your loss. 

[Homesickhorn 2202]

I remember The Domain pre-Nordstrom.

Probably because that’s when your mom became all ‘uppity’?

[smwhorn 482]

Terrible, tragic accident.  I read a few of the articles, and it does not appear there were any witnesses.  I'm curious if there were criminal charges filed in Travis County against the driver.

With that said, Texas law says that pedestrians must walk on the sidewalk and not in the street if there is one.

Sec. 552.006. USE OF SIDEWALK. (a) A pedestrian may not walk along and on a roadway if an adjacent sidewalk is provided and is accessible to the pedestrian.

(b) If a sidewalk is not provided, a pedestrian walking along and on a highway shall walk on the left side of the roadway or the shoulder of the highway facing oncoming traffic, unless the left side of the roadway or the shoulder of the highway facing oncoming traffic is obstructed or unsafe.

(c) The operator of a vehicle emerging from or entering an alley, building, or private road or driveway shall stop and yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian approaching on a sidewalk extending across the alley, building entrance or exit, road, or driveway.

 

I did not know this until a client of mine was sued for hitting a pedestrian while he was driving and on the way to take his daughter to school.  My client says (and no, I wasn't there so hell I don't know) the pedestrian was not on the sidewalk, was walking near the curb with his back to my client, then sort of stepped out in front of my client's car.  He hit the pedestrian with his side view mirror.  Pedestrian had a fractured wrist.

I am NOT commenting or in any way suggesting this couple did anything wrong.  I obviously have no idea what they saw, were doing, if the sidewalk was blocked, or what the truck driver guy was watching or doing.  Merely commenting that I was surprised to learn that Texas law says a pedestrian may not walk on the roadway if a sidewalk is provided and accessible.  I also did not know that if a sidewalk is not available, that Texas law says a pedestrian shall walk on the left side of the roadway facing the oncoming traffic.

Regardless, I cannot imagine the pain of the family in dealing with a situation like this incident.

[South Austin 52448]

30 minutes ago, Homesickhorn said:

Probably because that’s when your mom became all ‘uppity’?

Don’t try to hard. You might pull a hamstring.

[Gucci_Suit 2642]

Not the corner where you think you’ll die. 

Edited August 12 by Gucci_Suit

[Bevo 13562]

29 minutes ago, Gucci_Suit said:

Not the corner where you think you’ll die. 

 

Might be a corner where a surl would be caught ogling minors, though.

[Gucci_Suit 2642]

4 minutes ago, Bevo said:

Might be a corner where a surl would be caught ogling minors, though.

All corners are open to ogling 

[Homesickhorn 2202]

Not the corner where you think you’ll die. 

Damn.

[jkates 316]

Austin Police identified the pedestrian hit and killed by a vehicle Thursday in a Tarrytown intersection.

Allison Baker, 65, died after the crash at Hillview Road and Greenlee Drive, APD said.

[4th_and_18 687]

Austin Police identified the pedestrian hit and killed by a vehicle Thursday in a Tarrytown intersection.

Allison Baker, 65, died after the crash at Hillview Road and Greenlee Drive, APD said.

From what I can tell this is the same person:
http://recognizegood.org/legend/allison-baker/

[MrBig 5373]

On 8/12/2024 at 6:08 PM, Gucci_Suit said:

Not the corner where you think you’ll die. 

This is really sad. My condolences go out to the family and friends of the victims in this terrible accident. Everyone has gone full fucktard by not paying attention to the road while driving!

There’s a 4-way stop in my neighborhood where the school bus picks up kids and one rainy morning I saw a pickup truck peel out and lose control and head straight for the curb where the parents and kids were standing. They all scattered and luckily nobody was hurt, but me and some of the parents waiting in their cars went into vigilante mode and boxed the guy in so he couldn’t leave while we called the cops.

The guy would have rammed us to get away if one of the parents didn’t hold him up at gunpoint to make sure he stayed. I don’t even have kids and I was so fucking pissed off so I can’t imagine the intense rage these parents were feeling watching their children scatter to avoid getting run over just blocks away from their home. People can’t even walk around outside or wait for a school bus without the possibility of getting killed by careless drivers. 

[Sawbonz 27534]

On 8/12/2024 at 4:17 PM, jimmyjazz said:

Great except when you're the first person to arrive, you pull into the circle, and some jackass blows through their yield sign because they think they have the right of way.  After all, THEY aren't turning, they're going straight.

How do you go straight through a traffic circle?

[jimmyjazz 45882]

14 minutes ago, Sawbonz said:

How do you go straight through a traffic circle?

It used to be a T intersection.  I think you can figure it out.  Two of the three legs are essentially colinear, the third is orthogonal.  All three have yield signs, so the first to arrive should be the first to go.  Far too many drivers on the colinear legs think they have carte blanche to just blast through with an ever so slight swerve around the center.  Something like this (pulled it out of my ass, not particularly precise):

Edited August 14 by jimmyjazz

[Sawbonz 27534]

27 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

It used to be a T intersection.  I think you can figure it out.  Two of the three legs are essentially colinear, the third is orthogonal.  All three have yield signs, so the first to arrive should be the first to go.  Far too many drivers on the colinear legs think they have carte blanche to just blast through with an ever so slight swerve around the center.  Something like this (pulled it out of my ass, not particularly precise):

There’s no barrier in the middle to keep people from barreling through? 

[Bevo 13562]

43 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

It used to be a T intersection.  I think you can figure it out.  Two of the three legs are essentially colinear, the third is orthogonal.  All three have yield signs, so the first to arrive should be the first to go.  Far too many drivers on the colinear legs think they have carte blanche to just blast through with an ever so slight swerve around the center.  Something like this (pulled it out of my ass, not particularly precise):

 

I was interested in this current event until this post. I thought there would be no math.

 

[jimmyjazz 45882]

59 minutes ago, Sawbonz said:

There’s no barrier in the middle to keep people from barreling through? 

Not much.  There's a protected park and creek just on the other side of the straight legs.  They had to cram a very small traffic circle in there.

Street names blurred out, as if plenty of y'all don't know exactly where it is:

Edited August 14 by jimmyjazz

[MAUFRAIS 6618]

Not much.  There's a protected park and creek just on the other side of the straight legs.  They had to cram a very small traffic circle in there.

I’m glad you’re not so worried anymore.

[futureman 22443]

On 8/9/2024 at 2:08 PM, Derka said:

this family does not deserve this.

deserve’s got nothing to do with it. 

[MrBig 5373]

1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

Not much.  There's a protected park and creek just on the other side of the straight legs.  They had to cram a very small traffic circle in there.

Street names blurred out, as if plenty of y'all don't know exactly where it is:

That is a snugger fit version of a traffic circle. 

[52-80 19147]

On 8/12/2024 at 9:33 AM, 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.

Uh, if cops not enforcing traffic laws is the cause for increased in traffic fatalities, isn't the solution to start re-enforcing them (against whatever 'various reasons' they stopped doing it)?

Primary source the actual traffic incident statistics from NHTSA and DOT, here's what it shows:

-Speeding as a cause of fatal crashes has not meaningfully increased. (More people speeding causing same incidence of death should lift fraction of speeding-caused death)

-"Operating vehicle in careless manner" is only category with steady and steep increase across years

-Oddly, overall crash and injury rates are down, while fatalities went up

 

 

 

 

[hornbri 1395]

11 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

Not much.  There's a protected park and creek just on the other side of the straight legs.  They had to cram a very small traffic circle in there.

Street names blurred out, as if plenty of y'all don't know exactly where it is:

This particular traffic circle is so fucking stupid. I have to use it multiple times a week. 

[Samson's Wig 3190]

I'm a fan of traffic circles in general, but that's up there with the one at Lakewood Dr and Driftwood Dr.   It's too small to work effectively and absolutely makes the bad drivers (which are the majority) think that if they're going "straight" through they have the right of way.  Some of the latest moves to make our roads safer have done nothing but create larger, dumber problems.  What they're doing to Far West by Doss and Murchison should be criminal after they already fucked up North Hills.  All for some goofy ass political dream.

As for the accident at hand, it sucks.   People haul ass through our neighborhood all the time as well, despite there always being tons of kids and adults out walking and cycling. We have a wide main thoroughfare with a speed limit of 30 mph.  I don't get through a single day without someone tailgating the shit out of me because they're mad I'm driving the speed limit.

It's anecdotal, but it definitely seems like full-size pickups and Teslas are the worst driven vehicles on the road these days.   Trucks have just grown too large for most folks to handle them, especially the type of bros who most commonly drive them as commuter vehicles so they can take them fishing or hunting once a year and confirm their manliness.  Who knows, though?  They may need to buy plywood someday.  Maybe.  As a lifelong truck driver myself I shake my head at the typical jackass in a truck who has no concept of how much longer it takes to stop one of those beasts compared to say a sedan or a small SUV.  There should really be different (slower) speed limits for larger vehicles, even on neighborhood surface streets.  Teslas have become the number one killer of people on two wheels, particularly motorcyclists.  I don't know why that is, other than perhaps morons thinking the "autodrive" crap is any different than the lane sensor and cruise control on any other vehicle these days.  Those Tesla cameras do a really poor job of recognizing pedestrians, but an even worse job of recognizing bicycles and motorcycles.  It leads to tons of rear end accidents while enlightened assholes jerk off or whatever they do in those tin cans of death.   They've also become extremely popular cars for parents to buy teenagers, which is dangerous but still better than the classic full size truck for teenage boys I guess.

[jimmyjazz 45882]

17 minutes ago, Samson's Wig said:

It's anecdotal, but it definitely seems like full-size pickups and Teslas are the worst driven vehicles on the road these days.

There is a guy in NW Hills who is notorious for tailgating in his big truck on Far West and screaming past drivers in the oncoming lane.  I am quite sure I've seen him hit ~ 80 mph going down the big hill towards Ladera Norte.  He's a total menace.

[jkates 316]

1 hour ago, Samson's Wig said:

It's anecdotal, but it definitely seems like full-size pickups and Teslas are the worst driven vehicles on the road these days. 

Certainly anecdotal. In my neighborhood in Houston (West Spring Branch), the crazy drivers favor the little cars. I live on a busy through street with speed bumps in front of my house. We get some jerky big pickup guys, but we get a ton of small and mid-size cars flying down the street. 

Essentially, people gonna people. 

[Samson's Wig 3190]

1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

There is a guy in NW Hills who is notorious for tailgating in his big truck on Far West and screaming past drivers in the oncoming lane.  I am quite sure I've seen him hit ~ 80 mph going down the big hill towards Ladera Norte.  He's a total menace.

I know who you're talking about.  That guy is a fucking menace indeed.   The cops have talked to him multiple times, but nothing happens because, apparently, a middle-aged white guy can do whatever the fuck he wants.  I wish I knew how to take better advantage of that reality myself, but other than talking shit on this site I'm generally working hard to stay within the bounds of civil society.

[NeverMarryAStripper 21872]

If he woke up every morning with no air in his oversized tires maybe he would get the hint

[atomheartbevo 89625]

1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

There is a guy in NW Hills who is notorious for tailgating in his big truck on Far West and screaming past drivers in the oncoming lane.  I am quite sure I've seen him hit ~ 80 mph going down the big hill towards Ladera Norte.  He's a total menace.

15 minutes ago, Samson's Wig said:

I know who you're talking about.  That guy is a fucking menace indeed.   The cops have talked to him multiple times, but nothing happens because, apparently, a middle-aged white guy can do whatever the fuck he wants.  I wish I knew how to take better advantage of that reality myself, but other than talking shit on this site I'm generally working hard to stay within the bounds of civil society.

12 minutes ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

If he woke up every morning with no air in his oversized tires maybe he would get the hint

Or if somebody filmed him doing his shit, and mentioned that he does this regardless of kids being around, and threw it up on social media, it might get entertaining.  Sic the Karens on him.

[Samson's Wig 3190]

1 hour ago, atomheartbevo said:

Or if somebody filmed him doing his shit, and mentioned that he does this regardless of kids being around, and threw it up on social media, it might get entertaining.  Sic the Karens on him.

That has been done numerous times.  He's been confronted by neighbors, confronted by cops, yelled at, spoken to calmly, you name it.  Pics and video of him and his truck driving like a madman are posted up on social media at least once a week or so.  He's impervious to Karens or anything else.  Part of me would respect the obstinance if he wasn't such an asshole and endangering people's lives for no reason.

[cmontexas 3270]

Slow down, leave a following distance, let people pass you and cut in front. The anxiety of trying to win the race is as destructive to your own mental health as it is to society at large.

Took me nearly 40 years to figure this out, and I still struggle with it at times

[Deej 76752]

26 minutes ago, Samson's Wig said:

That has been done numerous times.  He's been confronted by neighbors, confronted by cops, yelled at, spoken to calmly, you name it.  Pics and video of him and his truck driving like a madman are posted up on social media at least once a week or so.  He's impervious to Karens or anything else.  Part of me would respect the obstinance if he wasn't such an asshole and endangering people's lives for no reason.

[DaggerHorns 3082]

3 hours ago, Samson's Wig said:

I'm a fan of traffic circles in general

You sick fuck.

[Prepuce of Doom 21052]

52 minutes ago, Samson's Wig said:

That has been done numerous times.  He's been confronted by neighbors, confronted by cops, yelled at, spoken to calmly, you name it.  Pics and video of him and his truck driving like a madman are posted up on social media at least once a week or so.  He's impervious to Karens or anything else.  Part of me would respect the obstinance if he wasn't such an asshole and endangering people's lives for no reason.

Why hasn't the neighborhood escalated the shit out of things for this guy yet? 

Set his fucking truck on fire or something. Sounds like there's a long list of suspects, so even if they have detectives working in shifts, it will likely never be solved... 

Edited August 14 by Prepuce of Doom

[Samson's Wig 3190]

4 minutes ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

Why hasn't the neighborhood escalated the shit out of things for this guy yet? 

Set his fucking truck on fire or something. Sounds like there's a long list of suspects, so even if they have detectives working in shifts, it will likely never be solved... 

I often wonder the same thing.  It's not my neighborhood, but nearby and I pass through it frequently and see all the complaints online.  I'm shocked he hasn't had his ass kicked by an angry father based on the videos posted, although the dude screams micropenis with a handgun energy, so that may be working to keep people away from him.  He'll end up injuring a kid or yelling at the wrong guy's wife eventually and get what's coming. 

[ballrific 215]

44 minutes ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

Why hasn't the neighborhood escalated the shit out of things for this guy yet? 

Set his fucking truck on fire or something. Sounds like there's a long list of suspects, so even if they have detectives working in shifts, it will likely never be solved... 

They're too busy waving at people to slow down over the goddamn speed bumps...impressive though if this person has survived the Karens from NextDoor.  I've never seen this truck but sounds like a tesla should brake check him to see how it goes. I have seen plenty of teenagers though driving worse in brand new trucks/jeeps/SUVs.

[MAUFRAIS 6618]

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/local/2024/08/14/allison-baker-obituary-austin-texas-dies-philanthropy-volunteering-civic-engagement/74779487007/

[Sawbonz 27534]

19 hours ago, Margin call said:

 

Edited August 15 by Sawbonz

[jimmyjazz 45882]

Well, she sounds like she was a total badass.  Hook'em and RIP, Ms. Baker.

[HenryJames 66035]

21 hours ago, Samson's Wig said:

That has been done numerous times.  He's been confronted by neighbors, confronted by cops, yelled at, spoken to calmly, you name it.  Pics and video of him and his truck driving like a madman are posted up on social media at least once a week or so.  He's impervious to Karens or anything else.  Part of me would respect the obstinance if he wasn't such an asshole and endangering people's lives for no reason.

[Gucci_Suit 2642]

This thread has interestingly gone to a place of mental health that results in dangerous driving. There is so much to that. As I mentioned, I live kinda close to exposition and I see men in big trucks (and women in teslas) trying to swerve around stopped traffic all the time- especially during the school year when traffic is worse. Just because they need to go 45 in a 30 zone and can’t be bothered by the children on bikes or pedestrians. These people are just insane narcissists.

Also- I drove the path of this accident this morning. Was heading up Greenlea at about 9am. 1) the amount of construction on the street is unbelievable. 2) it’s really hard to see thru windshield when headed east that time of morning. Sun is right in your eyes, which is why I was creeping at about 15 mph.  

Edited August 15 by Gucci_Suit