April 9, 2007
Did a Hose Cause a 20-Car Pile-Up?
Early Sunday morning, 20 cars were involved in a pile up on the Gowanus Expressway near 40th Street. While the damage to the cars was minor and no one was seriously injured, the suspicion was that a hose that had been left on by construction workers caused icy road conditions during the unseasonably cold night. Water is used to help set concrete.
Today, the Post reveals that state highway officials are investigating the matter. It seems that rules for shutting off hoses change after April 1, but there don't seem to be any further instructions about what to do when the weather is colder than normal for this time of year.
In related Gowanus Expressway news, the State DOT is proposing to "relocate the inbound Sixth Avenue entrance ramp and to widen the Sixth Avenue outbound exit ramp," according to the Bay Ridge Courier. The ramps are considered some of the most "accident-prone" locations in the area.
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While the damage to the cars was minor
Cars today are built in a way that makes "minor damage" a wholly obsolete concept. Repairing anything but the most trivial physical damage is impossible. There are several large commercial scrap yards in the Long Island town were I live and it's common to see flatbed trucks carrying totalled cars to their final resting places. You cannot even begin to imagine how little damage many of these cars have. It's a complete waste and probably speaks volumes about what a wasteful, throwaway society we've become.
Peter, I equate 'minor damage' with fender bender-type damage: dings, broken lights, bent fenders. Aren't you assuming that the "damage" you see on the cars is the only damage on the vehicles? Who knows if the cars you see haven't been submerged in water, have broken axles/frames, etc.
Man-bear-pig left the hose on.
The fragility of newer cars is more a consequence of safety design than a lack of durability. Cars today are meant to absorb and disperse the force of an impact with as little transferrance to passengers as possible. Crumple zones and other features that slow the deceleration of a passenger in a crash are as valuable as seatbelts and airbags for passenger safety. This can make cars seem deceptively flimsy, but it's actually a purposeful goal of protecting passengers over vehicle.
Yeah, this is part of the resurfacing of the Gowanus, which has closed-off segments of it for more than a year. It's actually kind of cool to watch them make progress, and a finished Gowanus now seems like a great reward rather than the crappy PITA is really is.
After they pour the concrete they run a sprinkler system over it - it sprays the whole highway. Leaving it on overnight was a big fuckup.