04-26-2019, 10:44 AM
I'm hesitant to pin this on speed without further information. Certainly risk of fatalities increase with speed and I think bump outs are one of the best ways to reduce speed on minor streets. I also think non-collector streets should only be wide enough for two cars to pass slowly.
In this particular instance, though, I'm not sure the interventions would help. There's a reasonable chance that hitting the curb caused an sudden acceleration, so even if he was initially going slow, the collision would happen at a much higher speed. If it was a medical emergency that caused him to go off the road, there's not a whole lot we can do without putting up some sort of barrier. If it was distraction from a phone or radio or food or something, narrower roads might make the driver less inclined to divert their attention from the road in that situation. A lot of drivers exhibit very poor judgement when their rushed or frustrated or tired or...
In this particular instance, though, I'm not sure the interventions would help. There's a reasonable chance that hitting the curb caused an sudden acceleration, so even if he was initially going slow, the collision would happen at a much higher speed. If it was a medical emergency that caused him to go off the road, there's not a whole lot we can do without putting up some sort of barrier. If it was distraction from a phone or radio or food or something, narrower roads might make the driver less inclined to divert their attention from the road in that situation. A lot of drivers exhibit very poor judgement when their rushed or frustrated or tired or...