If you are in Wallingford you are probably aware of the gruesome accident where a Ducks vehicle slammed into a charter bus on the Aurora Bridge, killing 4 and wounding many more at lunch time today. Initial reports are of a vehicle malfunction, although the scene will remain under investigation for some time.
This “accident” is not really an accident, as an accident implies something unavoidable. Accidents just happen, but this sort of incident is the inevitable outcome of loop holes in our transportation infrastructure that are resulting in outdated, unsafe designs continuing on forever.
The first problem is that Ducks amphibious assault vehicles are only street legal because they date back to World War 2. They could not have been built and sold for street use in the last several decades. There have been incidents in this city previously with Ducks hitting people, and victims of Ducks in other cities have been pushing for them to be banned, with recent success in New Orleans. Additionally, your boat capsizes but remains afloat what should you do? Click the link to learn more. Contact boating accident lawyers for expert legal assistance.
The problem with Duck vehicles are evident to everyone in Wallingford as the things come barreling through our neighborhood. Their visibility is terrible and their shape is like a cross between a battering ram and a steam roller. The ancient equipment lacks any safety features or redundant fail-safe mechanisms. Everyone around the things is one swerve or mechanical malfunction away from being flattened.
The second is the outdated Aurora Bridge, with its narrow lanes and no protective center divider. It’s another example of badly outdated transportation infrastructure that’s been allowed to continue on for lack of political will to change it. Like the Ducks vehicles, the Aurora Bridge could never be brought into service today and has a long history of “accidents” as a result.
One fix would be to have a protected directional center lane for buses instead of two bus lanes on either side. That would prevent the rampant cheating we see today in the bus lanes, widen the other lanes, and provide protective barriers between the oncoming lanes of traffic.
Regardless, this incident should not be dismissed as an “accident”. Hopefully our political leaders will show the will to really fix this situation.
You are absolutely correct. They speed down Northlake past Gasworks like a bat out of hell, pedal to the metal, ignoring the many pedestrians who routinely cross the road to and from the park. They are plain reckless and dangerous and do not conform to the laws of our city in regards to noise.
So, are we going to ban the Garbage Trucks as well who use the Aurora Bridge and our Narrow side streets?
I’ll bet more people are killed by Garbage Trucks each year in Seattle than by this single Duck Accident.
I’m not saying I’m a Ducks Fan, but just that accidents DO happen, and we need some perspective.
If the garbage truck drivers are singing and dancing and doing puppet shows and playing dj while speeding down narrow streets performing no useful function, then yes, they should be banned, too.
absolutely agree! hate these anachronistic “duck” trucks, which anyone can see are a menace to traffic and completely unsafe for riders. I am so sorry for the deaths of the young, internationals, who had no idea what they were getting into! I hope their parents sue the city of Seattle and the state! disgusting lack of regard for human life here in Seattle and the state!
absolutely agree! both an eye-sore and accident waiting to happen (as it did!!)- inexcusable negligence on the part of the city in allowing these monstrosities to exist. does the city of Seattle value human life, or will it simply do anything for money…?
This isn’t really a Duck issue…it’s an issue of the city trying to fit too many lanes on that bridge! They need to reduce it to four lanes with a median in the middle. None of the metro buses fit in a single lane, let alone other wider vehicles. I hold my breath every time I have to use the bridge and hope nobody scraps me (or worse)!
Exactly!
How is the Aurora bridge to blame for this accident? There was a mechanical failure on the duck. This duck could have just as easily swerved into oncoming traffic on any street.
Other than the recent two accidents, what other traffic fatalities have occurred there in the last 20 years? There was a Metro driver shot in 1998. Other than that, how many?
It really is a leap of faith one makes when crossing Aurora that the other side will stay on the other side.
You know what else is an accident waiting to happen? The Cycle Saloon. Some day someone won’t be paying attention and they’ll get slammed.
My thoughts exactly!
Where is the Cycle Saloon?
The Cycle Saloon is a vehicle, powered by multiple persons pedaling to make it go. It is a brewery tour type vehicle, and very very slow.
I also hold my breath every day when I cross the bridge. Too narrow. They absolutely need to fix it. Another thing that worries me are the pedal brewery tours that go down Leary. They are too slow and exposed to be riding along that stretch.
Removing a lane will cripple an already congested bridge, where off-ramps to Queen Anne (Southbound) and Bridge Way (Northbound) routinely back up more than half way across the span with the 3 lanes available today. Back when the suicide fence was being proposed, I suggested taking out the sidewalks instead. Maybe time to remove one or both to allow for a center median and a bit of shoulder.
That makes sens, Umlaut.
Most likely, the city will debate if for a decade before doing anything, then it will take forever due to equipment failures.
Okay this is how we get into these situations. We refuse to make the tough decision to eliminate a traffic lane. Safety should not be compromised because of bad traffic. Examples are Sher Kung. The city chose convenience (Metro didn’t want the bike lane to be on the right side) over safety and thus put Sher on a left sided bicycle lane. Let me ask how many people check for bicycles when making a left turn? None because it’s no where in the driving instruction handbook.
And how about the streetcar. We have lanes that are meant for the streetcar *and* cars *and* bicycles *and* parking spaces. There are instructions posted on how to park because it’s so dang confusing. Why did no one make the difficult decision to eliminate one or more of those? Safety must be the most important consideration.
+1 to this. Pedestrian and bike traffic is more easily handled on the Fremont Bridge. May inconvenience a few people, but the bridge should serve its primary purpose of handling highway capacity traffic safely.
The obvious solution is a divider. If you remove the sidewalks, how are people going to walk over the bridge?
I totally agree with taking out the sidewalks. I was commuting home via Northbound 99 when they actually made them wider and provided protection for the pedestrians and thus made the lanes more narrow than they were in the past. I have to say it surprised me at the time. They were worried about people jumping and added barricades when the could have just eliminated pedestrians on the sidewalks. I also commuted on this bridge in the late 70’s and the lanes were wider and felt safer. Although I am a walker, I think it would be better to get rid of the sidewalks and devote more room for cars. More cars seem to use this bridge than pedestrians.
They never widened. the pedestrian walkway-Its been the same piece of raised concrete since the bridge was built. They placed the fence\barrier on top of the exsisting concrete and narrowed the pedestrian walkway. PLEASE get your facts straight before spouting lies!
It is definlitely a Ducks issue. Those things are as wide or wider than a lane on 99. How about refusing their use of 99? It is neighborhood Ducks issue because they ride too close to peoples’ bumpers and fly down Northlake Way N. where there are so many pedestrians and bike riders.
What about the buses that are too wide for the lane? Ban them, too? I’m not defending the Ducks….just stating that this is a much bigger issue than their bad habits.
Anita, Maybe you could write a blog or letter to the editor with all your relevant arguments and points.
Makes sense to not allow the Ducks on this portion of Highway 99.
Completely disagree. The Ducks are generally safe, driven by capable drivers, and the “incident” you posted about striking a pedestrian is because the pedestrian literally darted out in front of the Duck when the pedestrian had a red light. This was confirmed in the very article you posted, which claims two police officers witnessed the entire thing.
It’s a great tourist attraction that lets people get a unique view of our city. I’ve ridden them with visiting friends and family and will do so again.
This is a problem of street design no different from what Metro buses need to deal with too. Aurora Bridge is terrible, and something like this was just eagerly waiting to happen.
Don’t make irrational emotional statements like this when you can’t even get the basic facts right about “pedestrian incidents”. At least wait for the current investigation to finish and actually determine whether the driver of the Duck was at fault, for heavens’ sake!
Applauding
I love the Ducks, rode them a couple of years ago and often smile when I see them in the neighborhood. However, I go over the bridge every day and I give them a WIDE berth when I see them! They always seem a bit unstable to me, bouncing a lot and quite wide for the lane.
I love the ducks and feel they are not the problem and have ridden them in many cities and send all my out of town guests to ride them. Everyone comes back raving about how fun the ride is and what a great way it is to see the city.
I also agree that the problem is the lack of center divider on the Aurora bridge most of all and the narrowness of the lanes also. I for one, never drive in fast lane on that bridge. Freaks me out how close the on-coming traffic is.
Jordan,
I don’t think you would think the duck drivers are that competent if you had been struck by one as I have been. According to a representative of the company who came to the accident site, they have very poor visibility in the right side rear view mirror. The duck was changing lanes on its regular route on Third Avenue going north and simply could not see me. Since it is built like a tank it took out my door and left a huge gouge on the side of the car. Fortunately, they claimed responsibility and had a good insurance company. But I’d hardly call them safe vehicles. And this was on Third Ave where the lanes are normal width.
Well said, Eric. I’ve had several close calls with these vehicles downtown and in Wallingford while riding my bike. The nature of these drivers’ jobs mean they are constantly distracted. “Entertainment First, Safety Second” might as well be their motto.
Last month I took a photo of a Duck blocking 3rd Avenue during rush hour and sent it to the company along with a very civil email. They never responded.
I frankly don’t think they care much about the safety of the people of Seattle. Just their bottom line. I hope they’ve taken their last ride here.
Ride the Ducks is an important piece of Seattle and very cool IMHO. It is kneejerk to try to shut them down over this. Maybe make sure the vehicles have proper safety measures and limit their use in location like Aurora Bridge where lanes are really tight. I feel like the call to shut them down is an emotional response to a tragedy rather than a rational one.
“important piece of Seattle”
It’s a tourist attraction that started in the late 90s. I think the City will survive if they go away.
It isn’t just this one incident. Does anyone claim that these are safe vehicles/vessels, designed with public safety in mind, including the safety of the business patrons, pedestrians, drivers, bicyclists, bus riders, and on and on? They’re unsafe and should be banned. Compel the owner of this business to get vehicles that conform to current safety requirements or else shut it down. “Grandfathering” something so obviously unsafe is grossly irresponsible.
Removing them eliminates an important piece of Seattle? This isn’t a carnival, it’s a place we live, in hopes of peace and harmony. Let’s not jeopardize public safety so tourists can enjoy an unsafe circus ride!!!
It should also be pointed out that Ride the Ducks left San Francisco earlier this month because that city passed a law that forbade tour drivers to act as narrators, thereby requiring a second person to fill that role. Rather than comply, the Ducks left town.
And why did San Francisco pass that law? Because several people have been killed by these vehicles. And now we have four more. It’s time for this menace to leave Seattle too.
I’d be happy to see the Ducks go away. A the very least it’s time to reevaluate if they should be allowed on Aurora.
WOW! I’m ashamed to say I live near most of you. As for Eric, starting this thread at this time is really low class and tacky. Are you by chance an ambulance chaser by trade? Come on, this entire thread needs to be deleted at least until the dead bodies are scraped off the pavement. Shame on you!
Steve
This was definitely an accident, how can you say it wasn’t? And what bus lanes are you talking about, exactly? There are no bus lanes on the Aurora Bridge. I agree that the lanes on the bridge are too narrow, especially for bus and larger vehicle traffic. Anyway, here’s hoping you respond.
Gawd I love Seattle and the freaking knee-jerk overreactions that come nearly instantly after any significant event around here.
Every bus company, every taxi company, nearly every crane company have had some sort of awful accident.
Look what happened with the road construction in Bonney Lake flattening the family in their car. For the love of all things living let’s ban road construction.
Clearly this is “we hate the ducks in our neighborhood and tired of the kids and the yellow plastic duck calls making noise” so let’s use this tragedy to get the freaking things out of our neighborhood.
If anyone, anyone who goes around wanting to ban things for the public good, really had the public good in mind instead of their own agenda, they’d start with cars. Cars kill more per year than anything else save for medical mistakes. But no personal agenda neigh do-gooder really wants to save lives, they just want to push their agenda with any means necessary that elicits emotion.
A prudent response would be to wait and see what the investigation brings out and then based on FACTS look at new safety measures or other responses. But why wait for facts and real solutions when you can go off half-cocked for your own personal benefit.
And people wonder why this gawdamned city is so fragmented and congested. More tequila and less espresso might be in order.
AMEN!
I agree, why don’t we take the same “Hang em high” attitude some of these posters have about the Ducks and outlaw marijuana and all the people who have been killed while under the influence while driving!
Wait for the report. And maybe consider a conversation as to seat belts buses.
I’m not sure how you can consider Eric’s reaction to be “knee-jerk” considering the track record of these vehicles, both documented and observed.
It’s the only stretch of road in Seattle that makes me nervous. The combination of merge lanes, buses, the apparent and real narrowness of the lanes and the sketchy low wall that always seems to be millimeters from your car, and my general awareness that about fifty percent of drivers are busy texting just fills me with dread. I am usually only going from Canlis (who historically closed tonight to feed first responders) to Wallingford, but I absolutely hate that stretch. As the article notes, that piece of road would effectively be illegal if it were built today.
We can bemoan the Ducks all day long but the sketchiness of that stretch of road is a bigger and more present menace. They need to cut it down to two lanes, or as others have said, remove the pedestrian walkways. It gets very little use by actual pedestrians (although I admit it would suck to walk down into Fremont and back up again) – and cyclists could benefit from expanded lane widths.
The Ducks are not a Seattle company. They started in 1977 in Branson, Missouri and are currently headquartered in are in Atlanta, Georgia. Ducks are owned by HFE which also owns Dollywood and several other interesting entertainment properties.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herschend_Family_Entertainment
That company does not own Seattle’s ducks. Keep Clicking the wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ride_the_Ducks
The oldest Ducks company is most likely the Wisconsin Dells, operating since just after WWII.
Not terribly important, unless you like accuracy. The Seattle Ducks seem to be independent, operating only here.
I have a thought here.
Perhaps we should wait until an investigation is concluded that determines the cause of this terrible accident. These “ducks” are not WW2 vintage, but updated versions of the originals and considerably more road/seaworthy than the DKW’s designed for essentially one time use. It could have been a mechanical failure, medical issue, or simply human error that caused this tragedy, but none of us know the cause at this point and asking to have something banned is simply a knee jerk reaction from an uninformed writer. I could do the same sort of thing and make assumptions about this article and its author that obviously he isn’t from Seattle and had no idea ducks would be going down his street making quacking noises all the time when he bought his million dollar house , but as I can’t prove it as fact i’ll choose to avoid saying it is. Point is, could we please mourn the loss before we point fingers when clearly we have not enough information to do so? Anything less is just being an a**hole, like the guy who wrote this “article.”
The cause is irrelevant. These massive “parties on wheels” (their tagline) have no place on city roads.
No investigative report will change the dimensions of the Duck Bus. No investigative report will remove or reduce the scary actions of the Duck Buses. What may change is that through dialogue, comments and concerns provided to City Concil, Mayor and the DUCK Bus folks maybe we can get restrictions os street or avenue use, maybe another staff on the bus or maybe get rid of them.
Again, do we outlaw Garbage Trucks too?
Garbage trucks do not seem to have so many complaints. However my sense is that you chose to add this little nudgy snip at me because I didnt like your monoolizing the SSD/SEA contract talks thread with your Catholic school we do better and pay less theme.
I Merely replied to a clearly misguided rant against the Ducks. Guess I should have recognized the lack of reason and put two and two together 🙂
The Duck Boats are not WWII vehicles. They are new vehicles based on a WWII amphibious vehicle.
It’s hard enough being a pedestrian in much of Seattle. Taking away more sidewalks is not a good idea, in my opinion.
I knew your anti-car bias would come out, attempting to capitalize on a tragedy to push your agenda. Ducks are super annoying — they’re filled with tourists, they pollute, they’re loud — but the guys who drive them are hella safe. This was a freak accident. Stop using as an excuse to grandstand politically.
Totally agree: Ban The Ducks. They are way too obnoxious and dangerous for city streets. The noise they make downtown is obscene. Instead, the company can run guided tours from Westlake that ride the SLUT to MOHAI and hop on the Ice Cream Cruise (http://www.seattleferryservice.com/sunday-ice-cream-cruise/). After all, “Ride the SLUT” is a *way* better slogan than “Ride the Ducks”. And just think of the opportunities to merchandise to the tittering conservatives from Kansas!
BTW:
1. These are WW2 vehicles (per the website which states “Tour Seattle by land and water on a WWII amphibious landing craft!”)
2. In 2011 a Seattle Duck hit a motorcyclist and drug him until pedestrians got the attention of the driver. “Porter’s lawyer turned up two other recent cases in which duck boats had rear-ended vehicles at stoplights – and in both cases, the drivers told police they couldn’t see the other vehicle because of the height of their own”
Yes technically they are WW2 vintage, but they have also gone through heavy refurbishment and upgrades and meet current Coast Guard standards as well as relevant roadworthiness requirements. But your simplistic assertion that because they originally date back to the 1940’s simply because of their age means you must think that all classic vehicles from that era should be off the road?
Yes they had an accident with a motorcyclist in 2011. Do you know how many drivers have had accidents in the last 4 years as well? Do you know how many delivery trucks rear-end cars for the same reason you stated?
Shit happens. Accidents happen. If we banned every god forsaken item that was involved in an accident in the last hundred years because of idiotic do-gooders, we’d all be walking barefoot wearing loinclothes. Shit happens, it was a sad, tragic accident. Accidents happen every day. Any idiot wanting to ban them because of this is doing so because they are annoyed by them and exploiting this for their benefit. What’s sad is that those wanting to ban them to satisfy their personal agendas are actually stupid enough to believe the rest of us can’t see through their pile of stinking manure they are pushing.
It’s unfortunate that stupidity isn’t painful.
Woah, Bob! Try having whiskey with your mid-day meal. You might lighten up a bit!
I am not opposed to individuals periodically driving classic cars on the road. I would be opposed to Alaska operating commercial flights with Boeing Model 307 Stratoliners, no matter how recently they underwent maintenance.
And yes, I’m all for fewer cars of any make, model, and year, and behind a massive increase in public transportation. Thus my suggestion that the “Ride the Ducks” folk rebrand as “Ride the SLUT”. Think of the boundless co-marketing opportunities with indigenous companies like Babeland!
Yesterday was a bad, very upsetting day.
Regardless if you are for banning the Duck and/or reducing the lanes to make things safer, this city needs a new bridge to handle increasing traffic of all modes. How about a functional, no frills 3rd Ave. bridge by SPU? I don’t understand why city planners avoid this topic.
City planners avoid this subject because of (a) lack of money and (b) the screaming that would ensue from so many people who lived within a half-mile or so of the proposed project (The traffic! The noise! The riff-raff! The loss of parking!)
I believe WA State controls the bridge not the City.
Aurora used to be 4 lanes, right? And was then re-lined to six. I remember because that’s when the bridge got really scary. I can see why the Feds are coming because their guidelines decreed these lane sizes adequate for the size and speed of vehicles.
Old photos of the bridge, with 6 lanes: https://sherrlock.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/pcpix-aurora-bridge-top-web1.jpg
https://sherrlock.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/x-aurora-bridge-deck-night-1932-web1.jpg
I don’t disagree with Eric but I really don’t believe this article has any place on Wallyhood. It is: 1. Very one-sided, 2. Not specific to Wallingford, 3. Written in a very provocative way (e.g. “Honor the dead” – seriously?)
This used to be a great blog for finding out about local events, stores and restaurants that I would never have heard of otherwise. Since Jordan took his vacation it is becoming more and more a soapbox for one person’s opinion. Can we reverse the slide into tabloid journalism and get back to reporting on community events?
I think Eric is one-sided and often off-kilter too… But hey, I’d rather someone start these conversations in the neighborhood rather than everyone live in a Polite Seattle Freeze. So, I’m all for the slide into tabloid journalism!
There is an abundance of sites where I can read opinions of strangers I have no reason to trust. There are relatively fewer sites where I can get genuinely useful information. Also, in case you hadn’t noticed, this story was already national news. There was no need start a conversation about it.
Wallyhood is a precious and unique resource. We shouldn’t let it descend into a useless troll-fest.
I don’t really care about if I know the person or not, but I really want to know what’s happening in the neighborhood vs. this blog’s vegetarian / anti-car / Wallingford-hating agenda.
Keep Seattle quirky and save the ducks!
Everyone keeps saying take transit instead but you just have to look at how many accidents the South Lake Union Trolley has been involved in, as well as dealing with those large articulated buses that maneuver our neighborhood streets. How about that bus driver that ran over a woman in Fremont years ago….They often go too fast and are scary to drive next to on the Aurora bridge, but no one is asking to get rid of trolleys and buses.
Let’s not take all the fun away. That’s how we end up with those boring playgrounds with no swings, or slides, merry go rounds or see saws. Bring back the sees saws!
Save the ducks.
Here’s the stats on the Aurora narrow lane widths of 9, 9.5 to 10 ft when the Feds recommend min. 10 to 12 ft wide lanes: http://www.kirotv.com/photo/news/should-aurora-bridge-have-fewer-lanes-and-traffic-/pCq7GD/
However, eyewitness TV news interviews of the “accident” witnesses state it appears the left front wheel of the Duck just fell off causing that vehicle to veer off hard in that direction & cross lanes at speed (40 to 50 MPH typically on that Bridge). I think numerous vehicles designed over 70 years ago have no place being used every day all day long in a traffic clogged urban City. Not only do they lack seat belts, air bags, energy absorbing crumple zones, etc., etc. they don’t make good boats either with drownings in NYC & 11 people in one incident in AR & elsewhere: They should be banned everywhere except maybe in slow speed display in parades as they weren’t designed for hwy speeds but as a deadly war invasion weapon for soldiers, not civilians! http://www.rbbi.com/folders/acc/arktour/arktour.htm#seals
I’ll leave the rest of you to rant and rave about the Ducks. I personally could care less about them most of the time, except when I have to share the same side of the road with them. It’s a little daunting. It’s sort of funny how the rest of us can get a ticket for distracted driving (texting, breast feeding your kid while you drive, putting on your makeup, etc.), but the guys that drive these Ducks are SUPER distracted on a regular basis! They aren’t just driving, they are tour guiding and entertaining and quacking and leading songfests and any number of other activities. How in the heck can you concentrate on driving those big monsters AND entertain your passengers? Most tour companies have a driver AND a tour guide. Seems much safer, although, if this wreck was caused by a mechanical malfunction, there would have been no way to avoid it.
Really good info here from a Ride the Ducks Captain
AMA on reddit
https://www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/comments/3mcjfq/youve_got_questions_i_have_answers_i_was_a/
San Francisco, CA just got rid of its Ducks by mandating a separate tour speaker in addition to the driver. Seattle should insist upon the same to hopefully permanently drown all our deadly Ducks.
Out of curiosity…
There’s been a fatality related to the Link Light Rail hitting someone.
Should we honor him by scuttling that too? Or are your prejudices regarding the DUKW’s travelling through your neighborhood coloring your vision?
This is an opportunistic and kind of nasty post. There are no facts here yet.
I know Wallyhood is your personal blog and you can do what you like with it, but I suppose it’s good to be reminded of that sometimes.
Let’s say that this particular accident was caused by the left front axle failing. Does that mean that we should increase left front axle inspections, and return everything to the way it was before?
The post was an angry post because what happened on that bridge was the result of bad government policy. It doesn’t take a detailed investigation to know that the bridge and these vehicles are unsafe, and that if the bridge had a center divider and the vehicle was of modern design then the accident wouldn’t have happened.
Oh, Eric, you party pooper. If the ducks don’t come back, we need to find another way to get some WW2 vehicles back on the streets. I’m thinking tanks. Ride the Tanks! They can speed down narrow neighborhood streets, blasting loud music and occasional firing off guns (blanks, of course). Nevermind if they’re too wide to fit in a lane and can obliterate anything that might happen to get in their way. They’ll be inspected regularly and drivers will be well trained to drive them while singing and entertaining the passengers (wink wink). OH, and they’ll be totally safe for all the passengers (on the tanks, anyway). Within a few years, they’ll be a fixture of Seattle, and everyone will be saying how much fun they had on Ride the Tanks and how dare you criticize the tanks or try to take away their fun.
YES!! We totally need a Ride The Tanks tour company!
Really. No kidding! I am amazed at some of the commenters. they must never have encountered one of those DuckBuses on 99 trying to not be passed by them or deliberately staying behind as you easily observe that they take up more than one lane and swerve around.
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Ride-the-Ducks-vehicles-to-be-kept-off-streets-pending-investigation-329730161.html
New news and decisions made from our leaders.
I am one who heard helicopters and sirens for hours as I was in our neighborhood that afternoon. I understand the relevance to our area for thsi article. we use 99 often. We are affected.
The buses should be banned first, all fatalities were riders on the tour bus.
I read this site mainly for entertainment, it’s good for watching people wring their hands and bicker back and forth while I picture in my head – furious keyboard pounding. I use SR99 every day, twice a day all year. I’d like to point out, that this accident would have happened regardless of lane width or barrier. The axle was bound to break and serious injury and death would have occurred. I am surprised by a couple things in all the comments. When the poster hit ‘publish’ he did so without one ounce of driver blame out of the gate, which is the usual for most Seattleblogs. We usually go right after the driver(s) off the bat. I am happy to say both drivers have been kept fairly away from any media or blog trolling. I am impressed (this time). I’d also like to note in all of the back and forth that not one person has mentioned the sanctimonious cyclists that ride their bikes across this bridge (IN six lanes of TRAFFIC), not on the side walk, because they think they are entitled to. Each time I encounter this I think in my head, that the person is trying to earn their own special ghost bike… I digress. Accidents (and this WAS an accident, not a deliberate act (mr poster)), are still going to happen no matter what the width of the lane of the bridge. Reference the Golden Gate at six lanes if you have spare time. Start with safe vehicles, start with safety belts in those vehicles and go from there, not panicking and reducing even more of our dwindling thru ways. Signed a fan of 6 lanes and no sidewalks.
I’m confused as to why cyclists feel “entitled” to ride on a road but drivers don’t. By virtue of your comment aren’t you expressing quite a bit of “entitlement” as a driver?
If you are looking to argue, I got all day impliedobserver. What would you call it? Exercising a basic human right? A sound decision? Sticking to the man (er um, cars)? I stick with entitled and will even add idiotic, however you want to debate it. Now – go! It’s your turn!
Excellent, let’s argue about bicyclists, nothing’s better!
A Seattle bicyclist is typically used to doing some stuff that might feel kind of crazy, in the natural course of events. That said, riding on a limited access stretch of Aurora with 9 foot lanes and heavy 45-50mph traffic? When there’s a sidewalk? That’s the other side of “kind of crazy”, where you have to wonder what’s wrong with them. I’ve never seen it, seen bicycles only on the sidewalk.
I’ve seen it many times, cars (BAD CARS), honking, yelling and the cyclist pleasure riding their way home.
I’ve never seen it either.
The City will debate anything as long as Gretchen’s of Course or some other purveyor of $20.00 box lunches allows them to eat off the Seattle taxpayers’ back.
It’s a DEADLY tourist attraction. Why isn’t anybody picketing their base near the Space Needle?