urbanSTL

^Typical cop sh*t. They know they'll never be held accountable by anyone. Internal affairs will slow-walk the investigation until the media loses interest, the CAO will drop the charges against the owner, and the whole thing will be officially forgotten.

Owner of the bar is going to walk away with a big bundle of taxpayer money. Bar P.M. might end up with a shiny new patio when this is all said and done

Mercedes Gets Approval For Turquoise Automated Driving Lights So Cops Won't Pull You Over For Watching A Movie
What could go wrong?
https://jalopnik.com/mercedes-turquoise-automated-driving-lights-level-3-1851110043

Made the international news. Way to go SLMPD

The Guardian - Police crash SUV into St Louis gay bar and arrest owner for assault

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... ested-lgbt

It’s time to ban ‘right-on-red’
Right turns on red lights are dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists, and yet they’re still widely allowed across the U.S.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90908929/its-time-for-a-nationwide-ban-of-right-on-red

^When I was first learning to drive, in about 1990, the city had just legalized right on red. When I was a kid there was a citywide ban. Maybe the state required us to comply with the state average. I'm much inclined to think it's time to ban it again.

the best of 2023
https://youtu.be/tKZvmlnnkHk?feature=shared

The original motivation for legalizing right on red was to reduce fuel consumption during the energy crisis of the late 1970s. I don't know if there have been any studies since then measuring the actual impact on fuel consumption of waiting for a green light vs. turning right after a brief stop, but I can't imagine it would be a significant amount of fuel, particularly considering how much the average fuel economy has increased in 45 years.

If drivers can negotiate a roundabout turning right without any lights, I just can't see why right turn on red should be banned (unless visibility is an issue for a particular intersection).  Some people just can't drive.  Seems like an overreaction to do away with right turn on red due to a small minority of crap drivers.

It’s not just “some bad drivers”. There isn’t a motorist on the road who hasn’t given less than the appropriate level of attention to the cross walk when making rights on red. It encourages dangerous behavior and should therefore be prohibited. Seems straight forward

Why Are American Drivers So Deadly?
After decades of declining fatality rates, dangerous driving has surged again.
https://archive.ph/1EuCD

Not a good start to the supposedly safer newly widened I270

StlToday - Man, 91, killed in crash after driving the wrong way on I-270 in Hazelwood


https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/cri ... 5a737.html

To be fair, This doesn’t really have anything to do with the width of the lanes.

MoDOT officials said the rebuild including additional lanes would make it safer.
It has a lot to do with the state's policy to encourage as much driving as possible. 

I hear you on the state encouraging more driving as being problematic. I’m just saying this crash isn’t an indication that the work done on that stretch of 270 won’t make it safer.

It was an elderly individual who shouldn’t be driving anyway.

quincunx wrote: ↑

Jan 26, 2024

MoDOT officials said the rebuild including additional lanes would make it safer.
It has a lot to do with the state's policy to encourage as much driving as possible. 

"Safer" ≠ impervious to old men getting confused and driving the wrong way in an interstate.

You're correct that MODoT often says more lanes will solve traffic problems, and pointing out the fallacies in that approach is entirely fair. But this accident has nothing to do with that, and respectfully, insinuating that it does only serves to weaken your otherwise very valid position.

IMO the most immediate point of attention is why a 90+ year old person can keep his license and car without any formal reassessment of his fitness to drive. A decrease in cognitive ability is largely inevitable for all of us as we age, and IMO states need to start introducing retesting for licence renewals and shorter licence periods after a certain age. If that's done though, transportation options for these new non-drivers needs to be funded and made a priority.

None of that is politically-feasible, however, so I suspect this will be far from the last fatal accident caused by someone who should no longer be driving - regardless of the number or widths of the lanes on which they occur.

-RBB

Of course there's more than one factor at play. I wrote a whole article about that.

"We are confident that the improvements we've made here will result in a lower crash rate and lower fatality rate."
Time will tell

quincunx wrote: ↑

Jan 26, 2024

MoDOT officials said the rebuild including additional lanes would make it safer.
It has a lot to do with the state's policy to encourage as much driving as possible. 

and speaks to how our culture of drive everywhere is not compatible with quality of life/survival for those who are unable to drive or unable to do so competently.

Ok but back to the original post. It doesn’t make sense to use that example as a criticism for the 270 project as you tried to do.

Based on my experience driving the new segment of 270, it probably will be safer to drive due to the improved interchanges and wider lanes. Though I do take objection to the spend on the project and interstates in general, which encourages more driving.

^ that's kinda pedantic though. he was clearly just using the incident as a prompt to make a broader statement. despite endless highway widening, our fatality rate (MO is 16th highest according to CDC) has surpassed every other wealthy nation's and keeps climbing. it's almost as if encouraging more driving at higher speeds (which—let's be real—is all that widening accomplishes) is actually making us less safe.

StlToday - Father of victim consoles driver who crashed into St. Louis-area nail salon. ‘Get rid of guilt.’

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/cri ... -top-story

St. Louis Police Hit a Church Sign —- And Then Covered Their Tracks

https://www.riverfronttimes.com/news/st ... s-41866122

Mo Highway Patrol Troop C (metro stl MO side) fatalities in 2023- 266 vs 336 in 2022 

addxb2 wrote: ↑

Feb 13, 2024

St. Louis Police Hit a Church Sign —- And Then Covered Their Tracks

https://www.riverfronttimes.com/news/st ... s-41866122

You'd think doing the right thing would have been so much easier. With cameras everywhere, why do they think the truth won't come to light?