3 ms·
That’s a presumptuous statement. The crash occurred at night in very poor weather. It was likely impossible to see the missing half of the bridge under those co
by 7e 3y ago
That’s a presumptuous statement. The crash occurred at night in very poor weather. It was likely impossible to see the missing half of the bridge under those conditions. Everyone already uses common sense. That’s why it’s called common sense. Negligence is something else, and we can’t blame the victim without hearing all the facts here.
- WalterBright 3y ago> impossible to see the missing half of the bridge If you can't see the road ahead as far as your stopping distance, you are negligent. If you are not watching the road ahead, you are negligent.
- Retric 3y agoHeadlights let you see objects on the road in time to stop, but don’t necessarily allow you to distinguish holes. If that’s the standard then driving at night is reckless behavior.
- WalterBright 3y agoI stand by what I wrote. If you are overdriving your headlights, you are driving negligently. You're the driver, you are responsible for looking where you're going. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
- Retric 3y agoI agree overdriving your headlights is reckless, however remaining stationary isn’t enough to distinguish one black void from another. This is a function of the limits on vision not speed.
- eggy 3y agoWhich is why the municipality should be liable for not properly closing off the road well before the bridge crossing, and putting a big, red and white reflective striped fence several feet before the edge visible from a distance after the road closing as a second barrier/sighted warning.
- Retric 3y agoIn theory absolutely, but that doesn’t mean you can actually sue. “In United States law, state, federal and tribal governments generally enjoy immunity from lawsuits.[48] Local governments typically enjoy immunity from some forms of suit, particularly in tort.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_immunity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_immunity
- WalterBright 3y agoIf you can't see, pull over. This isn't rocket science.
- Retric 3y agoIf you ever drive at night then you’re discarding your own advice here.
- WalterBright 3y agoNot at all. I slow down when I can't be sure of the road ahead.
- Retric 3y agoGoing slow isn’t enough. Unless you stop, get out, and poke the road with a stick, you frequently can’t tell if the road is there. Or at least frequently compared to how far people drive. It’s ignorable because the road is so infrequently missing not because you can always see it.
- WalterBright 3y agoIf you can't see the road, you need to pull over and stop. This is not difficult to understand.
- Retric 3y agoPeople see the edge of the road just fine, we even make a point of adding reflective paint to important bits of it. It’s the occasional black voids in the center which everyone just ignores as irrelevant. Headlights being mounted so low results in long shadows from minor imperfections in the road surface which could hide huge holes. I can only assume you’ve become so used to this it doesn’t even occur to you that it’s an actual risk, thus proving my point. PS: Hood geometry also plays a role here. There’s no point in casting light down at an angle that the driver would be unable to see it but that’s getting into the weeds.