Submitted by wmrusclmbr t3_10w4q7h in rva
Saw it happen on my bike commute to work. Was riding northbound on the bridge almost to the war memorial when a white pick-up lost his trailer going southbound after it bounced going onto the bridge. The trailer hit the guardrail between the bridge and the on-ramp from Oregon Hill at probably 30mph and scattered trash and debris all over that side lane. Scary part is that I ride that exact spot on my way home.
You know, there are worse hills to die on. Those were simpler times, back when Ron was blasting the RTD comment section on every article every day.
It was hilarious how random the comments would be, too.
Dude would post the most bizarre, depressing hot takes about trailers and referring to people he’s never met (sometimes making it sound like it was his own children) in accidents on things like announcing the birth of someone’s child or a community event.
Respect for being passionate about a public safety issue, but cringe on just plastering the comment section on completely unrelated stories.
Article on Obamacare: "Nancy Pelosi still unwilling to stand up to the towing lobby! [story about someone being decapitated by a trailer without red and white reflective tape on the back] www.dangeroustrailers.org"
Incredibly, his website is still active!
I think I met him once; he was working at Macy’s I think in menswear. His family actually had been killed by a trailer from what he told me if I recall correctly.
Checks out, I’ve read stories here from people who talked to him at JOS A Bank (or something like that).
Can confirm he fitted me for a suit at Jos a bank. And then years later was my Uber driver one rainy night !
Hope the guy has some peace about life by now. I can’t imagine how tough his life may’ve been.
I thought someone looked into it and no such thing happened? There were a lot of posts on him years back.
Maybe, dunno. Thought I remembered him saying it happened on Hull Street road.
Don’t invoke him in this sub! Do you know what that will do to our moderation queue?!
I never gave them much thought but last fall my trailer jumped off the ball (pin was in place so all I can figure is I didn't have it on all the way) pulling out the Lowes on Winterpock. Chains did their job and luckily there's a nice shoulder there
Ron Melancon has entered the chat
The bike lanes need protected on that bridge. Nothing like getting buzzed by some asshole doing 70 mph or getting steamrolled by a loose trailer. It's a huge liabilty and one that could be remedied I feel like. The bridge doesn't need three full lanes, just make a protected lane so cyclists and peds can feel at lease some degree of safety.
That bridge is terrifying to bike on.
Just in case you were wondering, it wasn't me.
Did the truck stop and collect their things?
I didn't stick around too much to find out, as I was leaving, the pickup was still backing up to it.
The fuck would someone downvote this comment? Y’all are weird.
Comments start at -1 and go up in /r/rva
I was actually driving northbound I guess shortly after this happened. Saw the trailer with all of the shit everywhere on the side of the road, and then further up I drove past a white pickup that was doing a uturn so I would assume they were going back for it.
There's some debris down on the pedestrian bridge too--was wondering how it got there.
This sucks. I hope no one got hit by the debris. This is why I can't get myself to ride that bridge, it'd be such an easy hop over to downtown, but the unprotected bike lane is too freaky.
Good lord I think I’m dyslexic, I read a fully loaded beverage truck.
lunar_unit t1_j7l1i72 wrote
Paging Ron Melancon!
That's literally the purpose of trailer safety chains that I see a lot of people not using. Now the street will be filled with nails and screws for every poor bastard who drives over that area to get a flat tire.