Thursday, November 19, 2009
Detour
Nothing in newspaper today regarding a terrible accident up the block yesterday. So it didn't involve a police chase. I knew something was happening somewhere up that way when a bunch of emergency vehicles raced by during rush hour, but my apt faces a side street & once they get past my corner they're gone, & this street connects with a major street a short ways in that direction. There was more car horn honking than usual. Later, when I got ready to take a walk up to 7-11, I looked out the window & saw the police had blocked off the street at my corner & were detouring traffic. This was maybe 90 minutes after the event.
I passed it walking to & from the store. There were at least a dozen cops, uniforms & detectives, still on the scene, the whole intersection yellow-taped. Had to ask a cop where I could cross. "Follow the tape until it ends, " he said. A funky older taxi, probably owner-driver, had been blasted nearly on to a sidewalk , & around the corner on the cross street were two more cars, one embedded in the side of the other. Couldn't figure out the sequence, but it was the accident everyone on this stretch of road expects everyday, the way the knuckleheads come through here. One of those cars blew through a red light, & that car or one of the others was speeding. I'm sure the police sorted it out, they get these kinds of crashes often enough on U.S. Rt 1. This street is almost as crazy as the one I used to live on near very dangerous intersection; the police in that city at least occasionally parked a contraption that radars cars & flashes the speed to try to slow drivers down, & I think it worked.
I'm not completely incurious when I hear fire engines or see police questioning someone. But while I resided in downtown Rahway, I realized that the vast majority of the time there's nothing to see. So if you ignore what appears to be "action," the odds are very good you've missed nothing worth looking at. Entirely different from noticing something that ought to be reported to 9-1-1. If someone had told me there'd been a big accident up the street, maybe I would've gone to 7-11 a little sooner. Or maybe not.
I passed it walking to & from the store. There were at least a dozen cops, uniforms & detectives, still on the scene, the whole intersection yellow-taped. Had to ask a cop where I could cross. "Follow the tape until it ends, " he said. A funky older taxi, probably owner-driver, had been blasted nearly on to a sidewalk , & around the corner on the cross street were two more cars, one embedded in the side of the other. Couldn't figure out the sequence, but it was the accident everyone on this stretch of road expects everyday, the way the knuckleheads come through here. One of those cars blew through a red light, & that car or one of the others was speeding. I'm sure the police sorted it out, they get these kinds of crashes often enough on U.S. Rt 1. This street is almost as crazy as the one I used to live on near very dangerous intersection; the police in that city at least occasionally parked a contraption that radars cars & flashes the speed to try to slow drivers down, & I think it worked.
I'm not completely incurious when I hear fire engines or see police questioning someone. But while I resided in downtown Rahway, I realized that the vast majority of the time there's nothing to see. So if you ignore what appears to be "action," the odds are very good you've missed nothing worth looking at. Entirely different from noticing something that ought to be reported to 9-1-1. If someone had told me there'd been a big accident up the street, maybe I would've gone to 7-11 a little sooner. Or maybe not.
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"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
As you already know, I live in an area that has two major lights a block apart. I hear the screech and the smash weekly. I have seen so many unbelievele accidents as they happen simply because I am doing dishes and my kitchen window overlooks a very busy intersection.
Last week, I heard the screech and huge smash just as I was pouring my morning coffee, looked out the window just in time to see a smoking, really smashed up limo, end up in the southbound lane of La Brea facing northbound! That was some serious smack, and judging from what I know of this area, and given the time, the limo ran the yellow/red and was hit by the westbound car making the left. Just my opinion.
Last week, I heard the screech and huge smash just as I was pouring my morning coffee, looked out the window just in time to see a smoking, really smashed up limo, end up in the southbound lane of La Brea facing northbound! That was some serious smack, and judging from what I know of this area, and given the time, the limo ran the yellow/red and was hit by the westbound car making the left. Just my opinion.
I could tell from your photos that La Brea is a major street. Didn't know you had a view of the corner. In a former abode, I saw a big tree fall while I was washing dishes. No wind, but it had rained a lot & the roots just gave way I guess. It made a horrendous screeching noise as it fell over into the street. I was astonished.
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