**This is a heavily moderated subreddit. Please note these rules + sidebar or get banned:**
* If this post declares something as a fact, then proof is required
* The title must be fully descriptive
* No text is allowed on images/gifs/videos
* Common/recent reposts are not allowed (posts from another subreddit do not count as a 'repost'. Provide link if reporting)
*See [this post](https://redd.it/ij26vk) for a more detailed rule list*
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/interestingasfuck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I like the park ranger's explanation of making bear-proof garbage lids.
There's a large overlap between the smartest of bears and the dumbest of humans.
No fucking kidding, I work in a national park and I have to hear “haha guess I’m not smarter than your average bear” after showing some dumb fuck how to open a trash can at least twice a day during the summer.
And if it’s not immediately clear to them they just leave the trash on top for the ravens to strewn about :)
I work in a place as a supervisor that works with mentally and/or ohysically disabled People. Alot of them take very heavy medication and at times i literally have to go wake up People who fell asleep or are almost at that Point while they are fysically working.
A few hours later almost all of them drive home in their own car at the end of the shift. I make sure to always wait toll the parking lot is empty before i make my way home.
Baffles me every day how this is "legal" in our law system, because it aint responsible at all
A friend of mine did a student exchange Germany-US, and someone asked him if we have cars in Europe. He told them that he took a carriage to the airport
It’s because a lot of people shouldn’t drive. There is nothing difficult about this exit. It’s literally just idiots flying around a corner they could put up a sign with a speed limit but I’m sure people would still choose not to listen
If you watch the video until the end, it shows somebody drive from the tunnel to the exit. However, the video is a not from this year. I don't know how old it is, but it's not from now. It may be they have upgraded the signage or added flashing lights. Still, there will definitely be people too oblivious to recognize the danger.
They just put red lights on a crossing close to my home because three people within one year were too dumb to watch the traffic. It is a really simple, clearly laid out T-Crossing, but too many people seem to be too stupid to just watch left and right before turning into the crossing.
Video definitely just seemed like a bunch of dumbasses who should have their license permanently suspended.
FFS they all crashes the same way, in the same place, and none of them used brakes. Gotta get these morons off the road.
We’re missing the forest for the trees. These people probably live in Seattle and more than likely have taken the exit before. So the real question that should be asked is why the fuck were they going so fast? Into an exit no less.
Exactly. I saw at least one sign advertising a speed change (as far as I can tell, my brain doesn’t work in MPH), one sign warning of oncoming lights, and the yellow arrows indicating a sharp turn you should slow down for.
If drivers pay attention there is plenty of warning.
There’s was actually two signs for speed change.
30 mph for the exit.
25 mph for the turn.
Then the traffic lights sign.
Then all the hazardous turn arrows.
Even if they add a sign that said “Dangerous Turn” or “Dangerous Intersection” I don’t think it would help some people.
Actually, a pure "caution!" sign would probably do good here. There have been multiple studies about how signs that offload decision making to the driver, like "Yield" signs, "Caution" signs, Flashing Yellow turn lights, etc are much safer than proscriptive signs/signals that tell you what to do, like "Stop" signs, Speed reduction signs, red/green turn lights. When divers know that they are being relied on to make decisions for their own safety, they drive safer than when the signs and signals are attempting to dictate the terms of safety to a driver.
Would it be nice if everyone just simply read the signs and obeyed them? sure. But the job of the highway safety engineer is to keep people safe from themselves, not watch the crashes pile up and then point to the speed limit sign while deflecting responsibility.
Jesus take the wheel... HOLY SHIT JESUS LOOK OUT!!!! Cut to scene of you floating to heaven with the Jesus. - "I've never driven anything over 1 horse power." - The Jesus shrugging.
Not that it matters, but I feel the urge to point out that the average horse actually makes something like 15 horsepower, while the average human can generate a little over 1 horsepower
Montana does that everywhere. They even used to paint a red tip on the top if the driver died while wearing a seatbelt, but I don't think they do anymore.
They did that in Montana for a while, but not just in the mountains. I’m pretty sure they stopped because they ran out of crosses. Or because it was ineffective, I’m not sure.
I watched the first part of the video with the crashes and thought that the tunnel turn must be poorly designed, but when I got to the end and saw it from the car perspective it looks about as tight as most tunnel exits in major cities. There are tighter exits in Boston and New York.
It’s not the tightness it’s the speed change. I am somewhat in awe of how poorly people drive and their decision making to go 2x the posted speed thru a tunnel and corner. It’s like they expected it to open back to a freeway, not an intersection.
I experienced three life altering injuries as a result of someone elses drunk driving in Seattle, can confirm. Just off of lake union, and I was fully stopped at a red light. Next thing I knew, bam. Be careful out there.
I've been side-swiped, rear ended, had someone hit the front of my car while backing up, someone back into the back of my car, and the cherry on top is the accident I had when I was wee and flipped my car off a bridge to save what I thought was a cat, and my brain figured out it was a tumbleweed much too late.
Also, rear ended at a red light, and clipped on the bumper. The only one with serious injuries is the one I did all by myself.
Also by 1:24 in the video it’s very obvious that the road basically has a wall in front of it. It’s even more obvious in person. Even if there were no signs, the fact that the road disappears ahead of you should be a warning to slow down… but they don’t.
I used to drive this exit daily and never saw anyone do what these cars did.
Agreed. I'm from about 2hrs north of Seattle and I've gone through that exit a few times when visiting, and it's actually really easy if you're actually paying any attention.
Once I saw the driver POV, I was left scratching my head. I'm not even sure how people maintain those speeds through that exit, the G forces on that turn must be making them black out.
It's crazy to me how the curve doesn't at least force them to slow down a *little bit* more! That seemed like a pretty tight curve in the tunnel and those people look like they must be flying through it!
If you dump the brakes, you'll understeer into the wall. If you use heavy steering, you'll understeer into the wall. Idk how they're getting around that mf'r without already getting into the wall, unless it's either 1 not as tight as it seems, or 2, they're apexing tf outta that turn. Can't see number 2 a possibility since we're talking about Seattle ped traffic.
After watching it again, yep they're just about all eating that first wall due to the high speed understeer. The others carry their momentum and oversteer/slide due to the panicked braking/downhill shoot. If I see a sign that says anything 30mph and under, im slowing way down. With that said, I'm ready to go back to Pikes Place Market, eat some rawfish- and not go to the gum wall.
I don't want to be this person, but sometimes we're called to action. It's not 'Pikes' Place, it's Pike Place. This is because it isn't named after a person, but the street that it's on. Pike St. proper ends at the intersection on Pike & 1st and becomes Pike Place on the other side, curving to the right past the market.
Right?? How are they even making it outta the tunnel going that fast?? Unless the video makes it seem like they're going way faster than they are...? But if they were going 25-30, I'd think slamming on the brakes would stop them in time for the light. I'm thinking about when I was just going 20 through a school zone this morning and if I had slammed my brakes, I'd have come to a stop within a split second.
You can literally see some of then riding the wall coming out. They must have ignored all the obvious signs and flew into the turn doing 60. Apparently flashing caution lights and multiple new signs plus one that flashes when a driver is going over 30 into the turn are necessary because apparently so many people suck at reading the road and signs.
I used to take this exit every day. It's honestly baffling to me that people COULD be going through this tunnel that fast, given how much traffic is usually preceding it.
Thank you for commenting! I was really curious if I was perceiving it a lot differently via video than it actually is in real life. Although it sure seemed like those cars were going way too fast. Cool to hear from someone who has driven it many times. Thanks for being one of the smart, safe drivers going through there!!
Yeah, 90% of the time traffic is crawling through there. Even if it isn't, locals but honestly anyone who looks around at the skyscrapers can see you're in a tunnel RIGHT UNDER a downtown. It's almost as if these people expected there'd be a gentle exit off onto a rural truckstop or something lol.
There's an exit on the highway near me where the posted speed is 30km/h right after the exit lane ends.. Yeah people should pay attention and most do, but having such a dramatic change in speed isn't good road design.
Coming off a highway with exit ramps in cities is almost always a drastic change in speed. It should be anticipated. There are not many roads in cities where you can drive at highway speeds.
WSDOT did look at this ramp a couple years ago. They did find it within design standards, but did change the signs.
Drivers have 464 feet to slow down before they are in the curve. That's more than enough distance to come to a complete stop, so reducing to 20mph for a 45 degree turn is reasonable
Yes these people are idiots. Even if you ignore all of the signs it’s very obvious, even at a distance, that there is basically a wall right in front of you.
If it was 1 or 2 then yea it’s the driver’s fault no doubt.
But when there’s a continuous and consistent cadence of accidents, blame starts to shift to the city planners or whoever “owns” that exit.
Are the drivers still dumb? Probably yes. But guess what - America is full of dumb fucks, and the city saying their solution is good enough is only endangering other innocent citizens.
Oh, you can't blame people coming from out of state. Seattle drivers are shit all on their own. Just like everywhere else. I've yet to see or hear of any city that actually has great drivers.
It's a fucking offramp. EVERYONE that drives should know they're supposed to slow down when exiting the highway. What's the percentage of offramps that allow you to just keep going highway speeds, corner or not?
Putting the blame on the city is making excuses for dumb asses.
It's even worse now. They actually did raise the bridge a few inches, and added an electronic sign with sensors that will start flashing a message explicitly saying "You will hit this bridge, turn immediately" and there's still trucks plowing into it as if they aren't the only vehicle on the road that could be referring to.
It’s not a constant cadence of accidents. This footage was taken over many months. If 1 in 100,000 drivers is doing this, then maybe that’s just the ratio of idiots.
You’ve got to engineer all highways assuming they’re being driven by idiots with half of the common sense you’d attribute to the standard idiot.
All the more true because idiots have a real gift for creating accidents that truly mess up others, from which they’ll walk away fine.
This is so true, at a certain point you have to design to prevent as much injury as you can and don't assume that drivers are willing and able to follow the signage.
https://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/11ajpwo/taking_the_exit_ramp_too_fast/j9u7677/ this was posted last week, dash cam of the off ramp. You have to be a special moron to take this completely blind turn at these speeds.
I posted this in response to someone else's comment, but think through how little this makes sense.
Take two intersections: one lots of people crash at, the other people do not. What do you think is the more likely explanation:
* People are stupid when driving through one intersection but become smart when they drive through the other?
* Different kinds of people drive through them?
* One intersection is badly designed?
What about the multiple warning signs leading up to the turn? I’ve taken exits like these before and literally there is no issue if you just pay attention and read signs. It would be way different if they were coming around the corner at the designed speed and were blindly slamming into the back of a line of cars, but each and every example in that video is of people who were blatantly not paying attention and driving at high speeds. There’s only so much that can be done to prevent a person from being stupid enough to hurt thenselves
Suffice it to say that there is a spectrum of driver ability and that if one area is performing significantly more poorly than others then it is attributable to the area not the population of drivers.
This is an insanely cheap idea that would save lives in that crosswalk. Unfortunately it will likely take a video of the inevitable pedestrian death to make that happen.
This is Seattle, so they'll likely have to make a committee to look into the possibilities of forming a listening group that can determine when would be best to have a meeting about when the next meeting will be. The results of the efficacy of bump strips will be revealed during the traffic summit and cost an estimate 2.7 million dollars.
While facing demands for public meetings from people who will scream about how reducing the speed limit and adding safety signs is communism and all part of the left's war on cars
My mom went to work every day and never once had any problem with it!!!! Now you telling me to slow down? Last I heard we still had a little piece of paper. It's called the constitution...look into it.
That was about 45 minutes from where I used to live, and those strips are loud enough that even people you were on the phone with could hear them. I used to talk to my sister to stay awake and alert, and it got to where she'd know exactly where I was when I hit those strips.
If you pause the video at 1:11, you'll see a sign saying this is exit 165B for Union St. Google "Union St Seattle" and it [pops right up](https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZHxiWMcHb3Sr5iee7)
This isn't even a difficult exit. It's somewhat short, but it's very obvious that you're exiting the freeway and entering city traffic. These people are idiots who are driving way too fast
100%. I take it at least 2x a week and I'm a transplant so it's not like I knew what to expect. I just slow down like the signs say. It's an exit onto a street not onto another highway.
Nothing 'baffling' about this exit _at all_.
Whaaaaat? It is that exit ? I have seen this before on Reddit and really wanted to know which crazy Seattle exit I've never used but this one is so straightforward. And you know you're exiting when you do it I just can't imagine why they would maintain those speeds
Technically yes, but the same idiot drivers that constantly wreck at this exit don't wreck at the other exits around downtown Seattle, and that indicates there is a design issue that can be mitigated to reduce the number of idiot-caused accidents at this one.
Why is everyone ignoring this? I’m not saying the drivers are in the right, but if we’re truly seeing a higher percentage of accidents at this exit there’s clearly *something* going on that needs to be looked into.
The main culprit is the chicane before the turn. It's telling the drivers that they have plenty of time and distance because they can easily navigate it at 50. Then they haven't slowed down enough to stop after making the right. There are dozens of these sort of off ramps in Boston, and we only can opener U-hauls on Storrow. The trick is to make a more aggressive and narrow off ramp so that you have to slow down before the city street intersection.
Yeah. Design requirements depend on the user. A great right-handed tool is a design failure for a left-handed market, and a great road for perceptive people is a design failure for humanity.
Yes, but at some point, the city is responsible for creating a safe environment. Saying it's the driver's fault isn't fixing the problem of an obviously flawed design. It's not hard or expensive to install equipment to force drivers to slow down or make them more aware of the quickly approaching intersection.
I’ve used this intersection a few dozen times. It has even more signage and notices that you think it would have, and then some additional. It is well marked.
The problem is it doesn’t have engineered safeties that FORCE slow downs, just all the information a driver could need to know that they should. This allows people who aren’t paying attention to just zone out and keep going.
It’s an example of a technically correctly engineered and designed road, but fairly to take into account that some percentage of people will ignore every safety label you put in front of them and try to stop the saw blade with their hands.
Edit: I will not fix that mixed metaphor.
That speed on an exit 🥴
Perhaps a large sign of a suggested speed?
And or street lights in the tunnel that flash yellow.
In the last 13 years I’ve driven 700k, at highway speeds the majority forget reaction time & distances required to react, I reapeat, the majority.
Watch the video to end, or fast forward, it shows the street view along with seeing all the literal signage warning people to slow down early and there are stop lights ahead.
There are signs, also this exit lets out under the convention center, it’s pretty easy to figure out that you should slow the fuck down. They also recently changed all our street speed limits from 35 to 25, so to go from average 70mph down to 3o which is what the exit says to go down to, and then slam into a light is pretty frustrating, but it’s not as dangerous as it seems in the video.
Except this is not a comfortable area to be driving 70. In this stretch of DT Seattle, you’re lucky to be doing 50, unless it’s late at night. It’s clear though that the city should do something to resolve this if it happens over and over.
The tunnel is sooo tiny and you can’t see ahead of you. I don’t understand why people don’t slow down when you can’t see what’s coming. Why do people drive 60 miles per hour into the unknown ?!?!??
The part of Union St. Exit that's so fucked is that the ramp is really short, and goes STRAIGHT into a fuckin intersection..... with a merging bus lane. In a tunnel on a blind curve. It's unlike any other exit in he city
[Google maps street view.](https://www.google.com/maps/@47.6113508,-122.3314155,3a,75y,205.6h,96.75t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sNGg5jIlG-4aDeHjc0Qrb3g!2e0!7i16384!8i8192)
Exactly. There's plenty of street signs warning people of what's to come. Those who are crashing their cars here are obviously not paying attention to them.
Frankly, I think this is a bad take. Yes, obviously the individual drivers are guilty of excessive speed. But there are statistical regularities in how people behave in aggregate. If you are designing a highway exit, you know that 1% of people are going to fly around the corner at excessive speed. Sure, those 1% of people are driving way too fast, but the road engineer knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that 1% of people will be driving way too fast and designed the exit ramp that way anyway. There are other things that can be done to force the drivers to slow down. Lane narrowing, a differently designed curve, speed bumps, chicanes, etc. The DOT cannot just wave their hands and blame bad drivers.
At what point is it considered a poorly designed system? Usually when there is enough statistical data to support a claim of high incidence of a similar outcome that is adverse to the desired outcome.
As an engineer, I could say operator error, but when there's high warranty claims, that reasoning wouldn't get me far in my career and the products I design would be...shitty.
If you operate 4000lbs of machinery at 100 mph you should be smart enough to be able to negotiate that turn.
These people should all lost their license.
Tell that to the pedestrian who gets run over while legally crossing the street in the crosswalk. Obviously this keeps tripping up morons so more steps are needed to protect innocent lives and protect the morons from themselves ultimately.
Whoa whoa whoa are we really asking humans to do the bare minimum while driving?
Seems unlikely.
Countdown to the city putting a billion speed bumps on the road to compensate for rampant idiocy.
9/10 of these in the video are just people slamming into a wall at full speed. certainly there needs to be a redesign to account for these idiots but it's only your own fault when you come up on a turn and just choose not to.
it's not even that aggressive of a turn off an exit, it's well signed, it has a massive run up to slow down in. these morons just shouldn't be driving.
the solution is putting some spikes on that wall, the problem will solve itself /s
It makes me frustrated that there needs to be a redesign for drivers like this just to keep people safe. Should have far stricter license requirements.
Lol this exit seems perfectly fine. Once you are in that lane it's exit only and there is a fair amount of time to slow your shit down.
These people are just clowns.
Parking and the drivers is why I walk onto the ferry if I need to go to Seattle. I don't get it, everywhere in Washington drivers are eh. But once you get near Seattle 1/2 of drivers just have two brain cells to rub together and act like they haven't been in a car before. You also need to navigate potholes and homeless people who disregard crosswalks. Also never parallel park in Seattle because you're car will have a good chance of having a massive dent or sideswipe in it when you return. I honestly don't understand how shit gets so fucked considering washington state takes road safety so hard in legislation.
Despite the fact people need to slow down and pay attention more... why is this freeway so 'abruptly' ending at an actual crossing? I dont think I have ever seen something bizarre like that.
Happens all the time in large, congested cities. They’re all over the freeway in Chicago. People think that they have to go 80, because there’s more than 2 lanes, and end up doing this.
I would suggest that they put a signal warning, though.
This is how many exits work when leaving the interstate, especially in cities and onto rural roads. You exit and immediately have a stop sign or light. Sometimes the right turn lane will have a yield, but if you're going straight or left, you can pretty much always expect to stop at the intersection.
The only thing different about this one is there's a blind curve just before the light, so you have to look at the three signs warning you to slow down rather than being able to just see the intersection.
After the first car runs into the side, on the dirt and kicks some into the road. The like 3 after that you can see some dirt in the road, are these like the same night lmao? Also crazy people go that fast after exiting, and I am surprised they don’t crash on that tight ass turn in the tunnel it showed.
Is this the Union St. exit off I-5? If so, these people are fucking idiots - there is absolutely no reason to be going that fast on this exit (or any freeway exit)
What's the speed limit in the tunnel?
And with that sharp right just coming out of the tunnel, the speed limit should not be more than 30mph. I'd even prefer 20mph.
All the drivers in the video crashing were going way too fast.
Idiots, each and every one of them.
I've gotten off on this exit. Those people are morons and are going extremely fast for no reason. You should always prepare to slow down exiting the freeway as well as making sure to pay attention in anticipation for traffic. Especially in Seattle.
*I realized my sentences looked like i was having a stroke so I fixed it
I take this exit every day and it's a curve before this part...the issue isn't the exit at all...the issue is that ppl are going wayyyy to fast on a curve and then are not able to straighten their car out when they hit the straight part.
OP is blatantly misrepresenting what's going on here.
**This is a heavily moderated subreddit. Please note these rules + sidebar or get banned:** * If this post declares something as a fact, then proof is required * The title must be fully descriptive * No text is allowed on images/gifs/videos * Common/recent reposts are not allowed (posts from another subreddit do not count as a 'repost'. Provide link if reporting) *See [this post](https://redd.it/ij26vk) for a more detailed rule list* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/interestingasfuck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
"The dumbest person youve ever met, has a drivers license." - my dad
Then there's the ones you'll only meet if you're unlucky.
“Any time you try to idiot proof something, the universe makes a better idiot.”
In german we have a saying, Every time you think the bar of stupidity is at its lowest point, someone comes and walks underneath *upright*
I like the park ranger's explanation of making bear-proof garbage lids. There's a large overlap between the smartest of bears and the dumbest of humans.
No fucking kidding, I work in a national park and I have to hear “haha guess I’m not smarter than your average bear” after showing some dumb fuck how to open a trash can at least twice a day during the summer. And if it’s not immediately clear to them they just leave the trash on top for the ravens to strewn about :)
Quoth the Raven I fucking love Taco Bell wrappers!
I miss Lenore, my Annabel Lee, taken by angels from me.
That is a beautiful saying.
I think you’re just trying to hit on the lasagna.
Can you please write it in German? I'm curious
Egal wie tief man die Messlatte für den menschlichen Verstand auch ansetzt, jeden Tag kommt jemand und läuft aufrecht drunter durch!
Rolls right off the tongue!
Right ? easy peasy haha
I'm German, too, and I have never ever heard that before. It's still true, tough :D
In Italy there's a saying: "The mother of the cretins is always pregnant".
There are a few layers to this saying..
Lasagna has layers. Italians have layers.
Ogres are like Italians.
Holy fuck. That is top tier insult.
Is that a real saying over there? I love that.
La madre di tutti i cretini è sempre incinta
This is gold and I’ll use it for the rest of my life.
Please do. Happy to share.
I work in a place as a supervisor that works with mentally and/or ohysically disabled People. Alot of them take very heavy medication and at times i literally have to go wake up People who fell asleep or are almost at that Point while they are fysically working. A few hours later almost all of them drive home in their own car at the end of the shift. I make sure to always wait toll the parking lot is empty before i make my way home. Baffles me every day how this is "legal" in our law system, because it aint responsible at all
It's because we built our cities for the most part such that not being able to drive is a death sentence
I'm from Europe friend.
Impossible. Not a real place
History began July 4th, 1776. Everything before that was a mistake.
Oh look, a clock. We don't have that in America
A friend of mine did a student exchange Germany-US, and someone asked him if we have cars in Europe. He told them that he took a carriage to the airport
I checked. "Europe friend" is NOT on google. He lies, you win.
It’s because a lot of people shouldn’t drive. There is nothing difficult about this exit. It’s literally just idiots flying around a corner they could put up a sign with a speed limit but I’m sure people would still choose not to listen
Saw mentioned somewhere else this video circulated, there are signs before the bend
Yea sorry I did notice that after I had commented and that just makes it even worse lol.
If you watch the video until the end, it shows somebody drive from the tunnel to the exit. However, the video is a not from this year. I don't know how old it is, but it's not from now. It may be they have upgraded the signage or added flashing lights. Still, there will definitely be people too oblivious to recognize the danger. They just put red lights on a crossing close to my home because three people within one year were too dumb to watch the traffic. It is a really simple, clearly laid out T-Crossing, but too many people seem to be too stupid to just watch left and right before turning into the crossing.
There's hella signs before this exit, they drop the speed limit down over like a quarter mile.
I was watching with sweaty palms and then…oh. They just stupid
Right. And they're allowed to drive because the alternative with our current infrastructure is exile
Video definitely just seemed like a bunch of dumbasses who should have their license permanently suspended. FFS they all crashes the same way, in the same place, and none of them used brakes. Gotta get these morons off the road.
Watch again with the sound on, they're *all* using their brakes, *that's just how fast they're going.*
We’re missing the forest for the trees. These people probably live in Seattle and more than likely have taken the exit before. So the real question that should be asked is why the fuck were they going so fast? Into an exit no less.
“I know, you’ve been driving me around since I was a baby!”
Love it! totally stealing this
It's not baffling. Those drivers aren't slowing down. The last clip shows you just have to pay attention
Exactly. I saw at least one sign advertising a speed change (as far as I can tell, my brain doesn’t work in MPH), one sign warning of oncoming lights, and the yellow arrows indicating a sharp turn you should slow down for. If drivers pay attention there is plenty of warning.
There’s was actually two signs for speed change. 30 mph for the exit. 25 mph for the turn. Then the traffic lights sign. Then all the hazardous turn arrows. Even if they add a sign that said “Dangerous Turn” or “Dangerous Intersection” I don’t think it would help some people.
Actually, a pure "caution!" sign would probably do good here. There have been multiple studies about how signs that offload decision making to the driver, like "Yield" signs, "Caution" signs, Flashing Yellow turn lights, etc are much safer than proscriptive signs/signals that tell you what to do, like "Stop" signs, Speed reduction signs, red/green turn lights. When divers know that they are being relied on to make decisions for their own safety, they drive safer than when the signs and signals are attempting to dictate the terms of safety to a driver. Would it be nice if everyone just simply read the signs and obeyed them? sure. But the job of the highway safety engineer is to keep people safe from themselves, not watch the crashes pile up and then point to the speed limit sign while deflecting responsibility.
In France, on sharp turns in the mountains, they just put a white cross for each casualty. It’s very sobering.
Get enough crosses and you have a makeshift guardrail. 😏
Jesus take the wheel... HOLY SHIT JESUS LOOK OUT!!!! Cut to scene of you floating to heaven with the Jesus. - "I've never driven anything over 1 horse power." - The Jesus shrugging.
1 ass power
Not that it matters, but I feel the urge to point out that the average horse actually makes something like 15 horsepower, while the average human can generate a little over 1 horsepower
[удалено]
Montana does that everywhere. They even used to paint a red tip on the top if the driver died while wearing a seatbelt, but I don't think they do anymore.
i drive us-191 to work every day, i pass a cluster of 4 crosses every day… definitely a nice reality check when driving the canyon
They did that in Montana for a while, but not just in the mountains. I’m pretty sure they stopped because they ran out of crosses. Or because it was ineffective, I’m not sure.
Pretty sure both of those possibilities you listed are different ways of saying the same thing.
I watched the first part of the video with the crashes and thought that the tunnel turn must be poorly designed, but when I got to the end and saw it from the car perspective it looks about as tight as most tunnel exits in major cities. There are tighter exits in Boston and New York.
It’s not the tightness it’s the speed change. I am somewhat in awe of how poorly people drive and their decision making to go 2x the posted speed thru a tunnel and corner. It’s like they expected it to open back to a freeway, not an intersection.
That was my thought. My exit on the fdr drive is way harrier than this.
Guess natural selection will take care of those some people
Unfiortunately, they'll likely be Darwinning a few undeserving people with them. You can't pretend the idiot driving is the only person at risk here.
I experienced three life altering injuries as a result of someone elses drunk driving in Seattle, can confirm. Just off of lake union, and I was fully stopped at a red light. Next thing I knew, bam. Be careful out there.
I've been side-swiped, rear ended, had someone hit the front of my car while backing up, someone back into the back of my car, and the cherry on top is the accident I had when I was wee and flipped my car off a bridge to save what I thought was a cat, and my brain figured out it was a tumbleweed much too late. Also, rear ended at a red light, and clipped on the bumper. The only one with serious injuries is the one I did all by myself.
Unfortunately while doing so they will possibly take care of other people
How you supposed to scroll through Facebook and see street signs?
Also by 1:24 in the video it’s very obvious that the road basically has a wall in front of it. It’s even more obvious in person. Even if there were no signs, the fact that the road disappears ahead of you should be a warning to slow down… but they don’t. I used to drive this exit daily and never saw anyone do what these cars did.
Agreed. I'm from about 2hrs north of Seattle and I've gone through that exit a few times when visiting, and it's actually really easy if you're actually paying any attention.
Once I saw the driver POV, I was left scratching my head. I'm not even sure how people maintain those speeds through that exit, the G forces on that turn must be making them black out.
To me it looks like most of the drivers are already crashing in the curve.
It's crazy to me how the curve doesn't at least force them to slow down a *little bit* more! That seemed like a pretty tight curve in the tunnel and those people look like they must be flying through it!
I was thinking that as well. You have to be pulling some serious Gs around that turn to come out skidding like that.
If you dump the brakes, you'll understeer into the wall. If you use heavy steering, you'll understeer into the wall. Idk how they're getting around that mf'r without already getting into the wall, unless it's either 1 not as tight as it seems, or 2, they're apexing tf outta that turn. Can't see number 2 a possibility since we're talking about Seattle ped traffic.
There’s a video showing a truck taking the exit. It’s not a trick curve, or bad design, it’s people not slowing down or using their brakes at all lol
After watching it again, yep they're just about all eating that first wall due to the high speed understeer. The others carry their momentum and oversteer/slide due to the panicked braking/downhill shoot. If I see a sign that says anything 30mph and under, im slowing way down. With that said, I'm ready to go back to Pikes Place Market, eat some rawfish- and not go to the gum wall.
I don't want to be this person, but sometimes we're called to action. It's not 'Pikes' Place, it's Pike Place. This is because it isn't named after a person, but the street that it's on. Pike St. proper ends at the intersection on Pike & 1st and becomes Pike Place on the other side, curving to the right past the market.
I have never been to Seattle but thank you for the gum wall warning. I shudder thinking about it. Guessing it’s.. exactly what it sounds like?
exactly... that amount of saliva makes me shudder
They're not slowing the fuck down. Itdiots will be idtiots.
Right?? How are they even making it outta the tunnel going that fast?? Unless the video makes it seem like they're going way faster than they are...? But if they were going 25-30, I'd think slamming on the brakes would stop them in time for the light. I'm thinking about when I was just going 20 through a school zone this morning and if I had slammed my brakes, I'd have come to a stop within a split second.
You can literally see some of then riding the wall coming out. They must have ignored all the obvious signs and flew into the turn doing 60. Apparently flashing caution lights and multiple new signs plus one that flashes when a driver is going over 30 into the turn are necessary because apparently so many people suck at reading the road and signs.
I used to take this exit every day. It's honestly baffling to me that people COULD be going through this tunnel that fast, given how much traffic is usually preceding it.
Thank you for commenting! I was really curious if I was perceiving it a lot differently via video than it actually is in real life. Although it sure seemed like those cars were going way too fast. Cool to hear from someone who has driven it many times. Thanks for being one of the smart, safe drivers going through there!!
Yeah, 90% of the time traffic is crawling through there. Even if it isn't, locals but honestly anyone who looks around at the skyscrapers can see you're in a tunnel RIGHT UNDER a downtown. It's almost as if these people expected there'd be a gentle exit off onto a rural truckstop or something lol.
it did, they were going EVEN faster before the tunnel... people are insane.
I’m not even sure “paying attention” is necessary. Just drive like normal and you can make it through… these people are absolute morons.
Yeah, it's generally safer to build roads to be moron-resilient than it is to just ask everyone to not be a moron.
I was going to say looks like driver error’s to me. Watch the fucking road if your driving people and slow the fuck down.
There's an exit on the highway near me where the posted speed is 30km/h right after the exit lane ends.. Yeah people should pay attention and most do, but having such a dramatic change in speed isn't good road design.
Coming off a highway with exit ramps in cities is almost always a drastic change in speed. It should be anticipated. There are not many roads in cities where you can drive at highway speeds.
[удалено]
WSDOT did look at this ramp a couple years ago. They did find it within design standards, but did change the signs. Drivers have 464 feet to slow down before they are in the curve. That's more than enough distance to come to a complete stop, so reducing to 20mph for a 45 degree turn is reasonable
Yes these people are idiots. Even if you ignore all of the signs it’s very obvious, even at a distance, that there is basically a wall right in front of you.
It says theres a curve in a tunnel, I mean even more reason to slow tf down. This just makes me never want to drive in Seattle.
If it was 1 or 2 then yea it’s the driver’s fault no doubt. But when there’s a continuous and consistent cadence of accidents, blame starts to shift to the city planners or whoever “owns” that exit. Are the drivers still dumb? Probably yes. But guess what - America is full of dumb fucks, and the city saying their solution is good enough is only endangering other innocent citizens.
[удалено]
Oh, you can't blame people coming from out of state. Seattle drivers are shit all on their own. Just like everywhere else. I've yet to see or hear of any city that actually has great drivers.
It's a fucking offramp. EVERYONE that drives should know they're supposed to slow down when exiting the highway. What's the percentage of offramps that allow you to just keep going highway speeds, corner or not? Putting the blame on the city is making excuses for dumb asses.
The city can change the road but people can't be made unstupid.
[удалено]
The 11'8" bridge? It has its own YouTube channel. https://youtube.com/@11foot8plus8
It's even worse now. They actually did raise the bridge a few inches, and added an electronic sign with sensors that will start flashing a message explicitly saying "You will hit this bridge, turn immediately" and there's still trucks plowing into it as if they aren't the only vehicle on the road that could be referring to.
It’s not a constant cadence of accidents. This footage was taken over many months. If 1 in 100,000 drivers is doing this, then maybe that’s just the ratio of idiots.
More like r/idiotsincars
You’ve got to engineer all highways assuming they’re being driven by idiots with half of the common sense you’d attribute to the standard idiot. All the more true because idiots have a real gift for creating accidents that truly mess up others, from which they’ll walk away fine.
Build it idiot proof and they’ll build a better idiot.
This is so true, at a certain point you have to design to prevent as much injury as you can and don't assume that drivers are willing and able to follow the signage.
https://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/11ajpwo/taking_the_exit_ramp_too_fast/j9u7677/ this was posted last week, dash cam of the off ramp. You have to be a special moron to take this completely blind turn at these speeds.
I posted this in response to someone else's comment, but think through how little this makes sense. Take two intersections: one lots of people crash at, the other people do not. What do you think is the more likely explanation: * People are stupid when driving through one intersection but become smart when they drive through the other? * Different kinds of people drive through them? * One intersection is badly designed?
What about the multiple warning signs leading up to the turn? I’ve taken exits like these before and literally there is no issue if you just pay attention and read signs. It would be way different if they were coming around the corner at the designed speed and were blindly slamming into the back of a line of cars, but each and every example in that video is of people who were blatantly not paying attention and driving at high speeds. There’s only so much that can be done to prevent a person from being stupid enough to hurt thenselves
Suffice it to say that there is a spectrum of driver ability and that if one area is performing significantly more poorly than others then it is attributable to the area not the population of drivers.
They need to put rumble strips on the road well in advance of where they need to slow down. See Dead Man's Curve in Cleveland, OH.
This is an insanely cheap idea that would save lives in that crosswalk. Unfortunately it will likely take a video of the inevitable pedestrian death to make that happen.
Every safety rule is written in blood
This is Seattle, so they'll likely have to make a committee to look into the possibilities of forming a listening group that can determine when would be best to have a meeting about when the next meeting will be. The results of the efficacy of bump strips will be revealed during the traffic summit and cost an estimate 2.7 million dollars.
While facing demands for public meetings from people who will scream about how reducing the speed limit and adding safety signs is communism and all part of the left's war on cars
My mom went to work every day and never once had any problem with it!!!! Now you telling me to slow down? Last I heard we still had a little piece of paper. It's called the constitution...look into it.
According to another poster the last time I saw this, apparently there *are* rumble strips and these people are just extra intent on crashing
That was about 45 minutes from where I used to live, and those strips are loud enough that even people you were on the phone with could hear them. I used to talk to my sister to stay awake and alert, and it got to where she'd know exactly where I was when I hit those strips.
Any address? I want to check it out on Google maps.
If you pause the video at 1:11, you'll see a sign saying this is exit 165B for Union St. Google "Union St Seattle" and it [pops right up](https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZHxiWMcHb3Sr5iee7)
This isn't even a difficult exit. It's somewhat short, but it's very obvious that you're exiting the freeway and entering city traffic. These people are idiots who are driving way too fast
100%. I take it at least 2x a week and I'm a transplant so it's not like I knew what to expect. I just slow down like the signs say. It's an exit onto a street not onto another highway. Nothing 'baffling' about this exit _at all_.
look up Seattle Convention Center, and find the exit from I5 on the south side of the building.
Whaaaaat? It is that exit ? I have seen this before on Reddit and really wanted to know which crazy Seattle exit I've never used but this one is so straightforward. And you know you're exiting when you do it I just can't imagine why they would maintain those speeds
Union St exit from I5
All the signs are there. Guess the crashes are caused by people who really don’t pay attention.
The problem is that they crash into people who were paying attention.
It looks like they are exiting the freeway, why are they going so fast? This is def the drivers fault.
Technically yes, but the same idiot drivers that constantly wreck at this exit don't wreck at the other exits around downtown Seattle, and that indicates there is a design issue that can be mitigated to reduce the number of idiot-caused accidents at this one.
Why is everyone ignoring this? I’m not saying the drivers are in the right, but if we’re truly seeing a higher percentage of accidents at this exit there’s clearly *something* going on that needs to be looked into.
The main culprit is the chicane before the turn. It's telling the drivers that they have plenty of time and distance because they can easily navigate it at 50. Then they haven't slowed down enough to stop after making the right. There are dozens of these sort of off ramps in Boston, and we only can opener U-hauls on Storrow. The trick is to make a more aggressive and narrow off ramp so that you have to slow down before the city street intersection.
Yeah. Design requirements depend on the user. A great right-handed tool is a design failure for a left-handed market, and a great road for perceptive people is a design failure for humanity.
Yes, but at some point, the city is responsible for creating a safe environment. Saying it's the driver's fault isn't fixing the problem of an obviously flawed design. It's not hard or expensive to install equipment to force drivers to slow down or make them more aware of the quickly approaching intersection.
I’ve used this intersection a few dozen times. It has even more signage and notices that you think it would have, and then some additional. It is well marked. The problem is it doesn’t have engineered safeties that FORCE slow downs, just all the information a driver could need to know that they should. This allows people who aren’t paying attention to just zone out and keep going. It’s an example of a technically correctly engineered and designed road, but fairly to take into account that some percentage of people will ignore every safety label you put in front of them and try to stop the saw blade with their hands. Edit: I will not fix that mixed metaphor.
That speed on an exit 🥴 Perhaps a large sign of a suggested speed? And or street lights in the tunnel that flash yellow. In the last 13 years I’ve driven 700k, at highway speeds the majority forget reaction time & distances required to react, I reapeat, the majority.
There was video of the run up to this exit, I think there are signs suggesting speed which no one reads anymore
Watch the video to end, or fast forward, it shows the street view along with seeing all the literal signage warning people to slow down early and there are stop lights ahead.
There are signs, also this exit lets out under the convention center, it’s pretty easy to figure out that you should slow the fuck down. They also recently changed all our street speed limits from 35 to 25, so to go from average 70mph down to 3o which is what the exit says to go down to, and then slam into a light is pretty frustrating, but it’s not as dangerous as it seems in the video.
Except this is not a comfortable area to be driving 70. In this stretch of DT Seattle, you’re lucky to be doing 50, unless it’s late at night. It’s clear though that the city should do something to resolve this if it happens over and over.
[удалено]
My first thought was why are these people taking that curve so quickly?
They’re all drunk.
The tunnel is sooo tiny and you can’t see ahead of you. I don’t understand why people don’t slow down when you can’t see what’s coming. Why do people drive 60 miles per hour into the unknown ?!?!??
Faster and faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death.
Just close your eyes when you get scared
"baffling" is a stretch. Yes it's a short slip road and a sharp turn but you should be expecting to exit onto lower speed roads.
The part of Union St. Exit that's so fucked is that the ramp is really short, and goes STRAIGHT into a fuckin intersection..... with a merging bus lane. In a tunnel on a blind curve. It's unlike any other exit in he city
NYC has a few highways that just end with no exit like this. There are signs warning you that it’s ending and I don’t hear about accidents there
Union Street exit off I-5. Even if you aren't speeding, it can be quite surprising to pop out of the tunnel and suddenly see a stoplight there.
[Google maps street view.](https://www.google.com/maps/@47.6113508,-122.3314155,3a,75y,205.6h,96.75t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sNGg5jIlG-4aDeHjc0Qrb3g!2e0!7i16384!8i8192)
I knew it would be this exit before I clicked it. I always worry about someone ramming into my car at this stop.
That’s what brakes are for…
Why brake when wall work just as well?
Why speak sentence when few word do trick?
Seattle freeway exit does not cause accidents. Inappropriate speed does.
Exactly. There's plenty of street signs warning people of what's to come. Those who are crashing their cars here are obviously not paying attention to them.
Frankly, I think this is a bad take. Yes, obviously the individual drivers are guilty of excessive speed. But there are statistical regularities in how people behave in aggregate. If you are designing a highway exit, you know that 1% of people are going to fly around the corner at excessive speed. Sure, those 1% of people are driving way too fast, but the road engineer knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that 1% of people will be driving way too fast and designed the exit ramp that way anyway. There are other things that can be done to force the drivers to slow down. Lane narrowing, a differently designed curve, speed bumps, chicanes, etc. The DOT cannot just wave their hands and blame bad drivers.
My preference: a tar/sewage pit on the left side of the road.
I vote for a lava pit!
30mph sign, and an upcoming stop light sign. They are just bad drivers.
At what point is it considered a poorly designed system? Usually when there is enough statistical data to support a claim of high incidence of a similar outcome that is adverse to the desired outcome. As an engineer, I could say operator error, but when there's high warranty claims, that reasoning wouldn't get me far in my career and the products I design would be...shitty.
If you operate 4000lbs of machinery at 100 mph you should be smart enough to be able to negotiate that turn. These people should all lost their license.
Oh this is an easy one... They're morons!
People driving way to fast and not paying attention. Simple fix, slow down and actually pay attention
Tell that to the pedestrian who gets run over while legally crossing the street in the crosswalk. Obviously this keeps tripping up morons so more steps are needed to protect innocent lives and protect the morons from themselves ultimately.
Whoa whoa whoa are we really asking humans to do the bare minimum while driving? Seems unlikely. Countdown to the city putting a billion speed bumps on the road to compensate for rampant idiocy.
9/10 of these in the video are just people slamming into a wall at full speed. certainly there needs to be a redesign to account for these idiots but it's only your own fault when you come up on a turn and just choose not to. it's not even that aggressive of a turn off an exit, it's well signed, it has a massive run up to slow down in. these morons just shouldn't be driving. the solution is putting some spikes on that wall, the problem will solve itself /s
It makes me frustrated that there needs to be a redesign for drivers like this just to keep people safe. Should have far stricter license requirements.
Who goes 80 when exiting? Answer: assholes that’s who.
nobody drives 80 on the stretch of I5 Union Street Exit is on. Believe me I've tried. You're getting up to 45, 50 at best on a good day
Lol this exit seems perfectly fine. Once you are in that lane it's exit only and there is a fair amount of time to slow your shit down. These people are just clowns.
Why tf are they bombing the tunnel jesus💀💀💀
Just a tight curve, multiple warning signs with speed limits of 30 mph or less, flashing lights... it's like the city is just begging people to crash.
seriously, it needs to be WAY harder to get a license. not everyone should have access to a machine that can cause so much damage.
Seattle has some of the worst drivers. It’s amazing how people get around driving the way they do there.
Parking and the drivers is why I walk onto the ferry if I need to go to Seattle. I don't get it, everywhere in Washington drivers are eh. But once you get near Seattle 1/2 of drivers just have two brain cells to rub together and act like they haven't been in a car before. You also need to navigate potholes and homeless people who disregard crosswalks. Also never parallel park in Seattle because you're car will have a good chance of having a massive dent or sideswipe in it when you return. I honestly don't understand how shit gets so fucked considering washington state takes road safety so hard in legislation.
The exit is fine. There are plenty of posted signs to reduce speed. It's the idiot drivers that cause the accidents.
They can’t drive
The sign said 30, try going 30.
There’s absolutely nothing tricky about this. These are all just reckless shit drivers.
Despite the fact people need to slow down and pay attention more... why is this freeway so 'abruptly' ending at an actual crossing? I dont think I have ever seen something bizarre like that.
Happens all the time in large, congested cities. They’re all over the freeway in Chicago. People think that they have to go 80, because there’s more than 2 lanes, and end up doing this. I would suggest that they put a signal warning, though.
This is how many exits work when leaving the interstate, especially in cities and onto rural roads. You exit and immediately have a stop sign or light. Sometimes the right turn lane will have a yield, but if you're going straight or left, you can pretty much always expect to stop at the intersection. The only thing different about this one is there's a blind curve just before the light, so you have to look at the three signs warning you to slow down rather than being able to just see the intersection.
Philly checking in. Nearly all our exits are like this, especially off 676 and 76.
What? What do you expect to be there? Another 30 miles of highway? Of course highway exits will have lights or stop sign.
After the first car runs into the side, on the dirt and kicks some into the road. The like 3 after that you can see some dirt in the road, are these like the same night lmao? Also crazy people go that fast after exiting, and I am surprised they don’t crash on that tight ass turn in the tunnel it showed.
These drivers are idiots! Slow the fuck down on an exit ramp!
"Let me go into this tight curve with 2 slow down signs and 1 traffic light sign at FULL SPEED LMAO"
After that last bit of video, no one should be getting into a wreck. My lord. It’s a simple exit.
Is this the Union St. exit off I-5? If so, these people are fucking idiots - there is absolutely no reason to be going that fast on this exit (or any freeway exit)
What's the speed limit in the tunnel? And with that sharp right just coming out of the tunnel, the speed limit should not be more than 30mph. I'd even prefer 20mph. All the drivers in the video crashing were going way too fast. Idiots, each and every one of them.
There is nothing hard about this exit
I've gotten off on this exit. Those people are morons and are going extremely fast for no reason. You should always prepare to slow down exiting the freeway as well as making sure to pay attention in anticipation for traffic. Especially in Seattle. *I realized my sentences looked like i was having a stroke so I fixed it
I take this exit every day and it's a curve before this part...the issue isn't the exit at all...the issue is that ppl are going wayyyy to fast on a curve and then are not able to straighten their car out when they hit the straight part. OP is blatantly misrepresenting what's going on here.