Good morning MountainReporter.com readers!
Today’s commute has gone soft on us again… very few thrills to anticipate. The rain has stopped, it’s not real cold out there, rocks are nestled firmly in their custom- fit dirt holes, and the one patch of fog that I experienced while driving through Top Town MIGHT have actually been caused by the group of surly teens smoking cigarettes on the corner… I don’t really know. Whatever the case, the drive is entirely too tame for my tastes. Sure, the roadway still has moisture on it, remains of yesterday’s precipitation event, so taking the turns at high speed could still surprise you with a little more lateral kinesis than you might expect, but other than that… easy peasy.
But let’s talk about the UPHILL ride, one particular curve: A few days ago (Saturday), a motorcycle went down on Hwy 18. He was traveling uphill (in spite of the press release from San Bernardino PD, which said the rider was going DOWNHILL, I can assure you, the rider was going UPhill…). This occurred on a curve about two miles uphill from 40th Street… it’s a curve that has a break in the thrie- beam, and a little road on the left (as you travel uphill), with a house… that curve.
Yesterday (Wednesday), somebody else wiped out on that same curve. This was a car, not a bike, but still a wreck. TWO major accidents within a couple of days.
Now, maybe these are entirely unrelated, completely random events. However, it makes me wonder: Is there an oily/ slippery part of the roadway there? Is there a series of potholes that creates a traction hazard? Are homeless people running into the road (there are a number of homeless encampment in that area… that should be fun this summer and fall, during fire season)? Is there something about that curve that is contributing to crashes there?
I recall a few months ago, I came around that curve, doing 55 MPH. I was in the left lane, when all of the sudden, I discovered that the lane I was in was occupied by a parked fire truck. Now, firefighters generally do a pretty good job of providing ample warning to oncoming traffic, but on this day, I think that maybe it was a rookie who was in charge of warning oncoming traffic of the parked vehicle: Flares/ warning triangles were set up in a rectangle surrounding the fire truck. No warning device was farther than five feet from the truck… no lane tapering or warning prior to being RIGHT THERE AT THE TRUCK. It made no sense: the fire truck came into view long before the flares! The flares, or some sort of warning, should have been set up at a location that would give drivers ample time to brake, change lanes, adjust. Instead, it came as a huge, unwelcome surprise to travelers in that left lane.
I was able to change lanes… fortunately, there was nobody in the lane next to me (I make it a point to avoid traveling next to vehicles, especially in turns, for this very reason) and avoid driving into the truck (or the firefighters standing in a group behind the truck). However, I saw in my mirror, as other vehicles came around that turn, they came perilously close to piling into that fire truck.
The point of my personal testimony is that perhaps the accidents over the past couple of days were initiated by vehicles stopped in the left lane at the gap in the thrie- beam, either to head down the lane to the residence, or even to make a U- turn. That’s complete speculation on my part, of course… but, Occam’s razor says that this is very likely to be correct.
Whatever the case, please use caution, especially on this curve. There MIGHT be something that makes this curve a little more dangerous than others. Watch for cars stopped in that left lane, and don’t assume that you can get through that curve at high speed every time. Consider the possibility of oil slicks or potholes… or anything. Don’t be the next driver to kiss the dirt there.