Vehicles crashing into buildings

[RM42]

I found it!  This thread reminded me of a crazy story from Raleigh a number of years ago about a homeowner that continued to be plagued with cars crashing into the same house:
https://www.wral.com/homeowner-city-seek-solutions-after-6-cars-crash-into-raleigh-home/16169152/

If you look at the area now, they had to extend a guardrail past the residential road, and block it off with grass at the end.

[Rothman]

An unfortunate gentleman in San Jose, California has had this experience at his home 23 times since the 1960s. Once every 2-3 years.
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/san-jose-property-hit-by-cars/2979159/

I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to find this man's home on Google Street View (it's a rather elementary task). If you go to the June 2016 Street View you can see the carnage of an incursion into his home. Though catastrophic brake failure and idiotic recklessness really are the only excuses for why you'd crash into his home because it is nearly 1000 feet from where the interstate and exit diverge and 1700 feet from the start of the exit lane. Though we all know that drivers are stupid and need tons of hand holding from traffic engineers.

Big rocks help.

[LilianaUwU]

An unfortunate gentleman in San Jose, California has had this experience at his home 23 times since the 1960s. Once every 2-3 years.
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/san-jose-property-hit-by-cars/2979159/

I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to find this man's home on Google Street View (it's a rather elementary task). If you go to the June 2016 Street View you can see the carnage of an incursion into his home. Though catastrophic brake failure and idiotic recklessness really are the only excuses for why you'd crash into his home because it is nearly 1000 feet from where the interstate and exit diverge and 1700 feet from the start of the exit lane. Though we all know that drivers are stupid and need tons of hand holding from traffic engineers.

How did he not sell the house to someone stupider than those drivers? 23 crashes doesn't seem like an argument for bollards, it's an argument in favor of moving the fuck out.

[algorerhythms]

An unfortunate gentleman in San Jose, California has had this experience at his home 23 times since the 1960s. Once every 2-3 years.
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/san-jose-property-hit-by-cars/2979159/

I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to find this man's home on Google Street View (it's a rather elementary task). If you go to the June 2016 Street View you can see the carnage of an incursion into his home. Though catastrophic brake failure and idiotic recklessness really are the only excuses for why you'd crash into his home because it is nearly 1000 feet from where the interstate and exit diverge and 1700 feet from the start of the exit lane. Though we all know that drivers are stupid and need tons of hand holding from traffic engineers.

Looking at the satellite image, the highway curves while the ramp is straight. Nothing is making the drivers coming down the ramp slow down at all, so it's no surprise that they end up crashing into the house, since they're still going highway speed when they get to the traffic light. It doesn't help that the ramp is offset from Bambi Ln (only the left turn lane is pointed toward Bambi Ln; the other two lanes are pointed at the house). It's not a safe design.

How did he not sell the house to someone stupider than those drivers? 23 crashes doesn't seem like an argument for bollards, it's an argument in favor of moving the fuck out.

But sure, rather than fix the design, we can just force people to move out of their home.

[RM42]

An unfortunate gentleman in San Jose, California has had this experience at his home 23 times since the 1960s. Once every 2-3 years.
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/san-jose-property-hit-by-cars/2979159/

I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to find this man's home on Google Street View (it's a rather elementary task). If you go to the June 2016 Street View you can see the carnage of an incursion into his home. Though catastrophic brake failure and idiotic recklessness really are the only excuses for why you'd crash into his home because it is nearly 1000 feet from where the interstate and exit diverge and 1700 feet from the start of the exit lane. Though we all know that drivers are stupid and need tons of hand holding from traffic engineers.

Looking at the satellite image, the highway curves while the ramp is straight. Nothing is making the drivers coming down the ramp slow down at all, so it's no surprise that they end up crashing into the house, since they're still going highway speed when they get to the traffic light. It doesn't help that the ramp is offset from Bambi Ln (only the left turn lane is pointed toward Bambi Ln; the other two lanes are pointed at the house). It's not a safe design.

How did he not sell the house to someone stupider than those drivers? 23 crashes doesn't seem like an argument for bollards, it's an argument in favor of moving the fuck out.

But sure, rather than fix the design, we can just force people to move out of their home.

Well, in my book, if you crash into something after spending 1400 ft on a ramp, you need an inordinate amount of handholding. This isn't a short ramp with a sudden curve or something like that.

[Road Hog]

My city requires 3-foot metal bollards in its zoning ordinances if the parking is 6 feet or less from the building. Examples of those have been shown to stop even a big rig closing in at speed.

[algorerhythms]

An unfortunate gentleman in San Jose, California has had this experience at his home 23 times since the 1960s. Once every 2-3 years.
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/san-jose-property-hit-by-cars/2979159/

I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to find this man's home on Google Street View (it's a rather elementary task). If you go to the June 2016 Street View you can see the carnage of an incursion into his home. Though catastrophic brake failure and idiotic recklessness really are the only excuses for why you'd crash into his home because it is nearly 1000 feet from where the interstate and exit diverge and 1700 feet from the start of the exit lane. Though we all know that drivers are stupid and need tons of hand holding from traffic engineers.

Looking at the satellite image, the highway curves while the ramp is straight. Nothing is making the drivers coming down the ramp slow down at all, so it's no surprise that they end up crashing into the house, since they're still going highway speed when they get to the traffic light. It doesn't help that the ramp is offset from Bambi Ln (only the left turn lane is pointed toward Bambi Ln; the other two lanes are pointed at the house). It's not a safe design.

How did he not sell the house to someone stupider than those drivers? 23 crashes doesn't seem like an argument for bollards, it's an argument in favor of moving the fuck out.

But sure, rather than fix the design, we can just force people to move out of their home.

Well, in my book, if you crash into something after spending 1400 ft on a ramp, you need an inordinate amount of handholding. This isn't a short ramp with a sudden curve or something like that.

I'm sure as hell not defending the idiots crashing into that house. But... how many cars pass by that exit every day? I don't want to bother looking up the AADT there, but it's probably a safe guess to say it's on the order of 100,000. If only 0.1% of those drivers are drunk, on drugs, distracted by their cell phone, or just stupid, that's still 100 potential crashes every day. The numbers game alone suggests there will be idiots. So, you design a highway to minimize the damage that idiots can do. Ideally, nobody gets hurt. Failing that, then only the idiot gets hurt. If there were a curve in the ramp before it gets to that intersection, then the idiots would hit a Jersey barrier before they hit someone's house. When you have that large a number of people on a highway, you will have idiots, and you have to plan for them, or else this stuff happens.

[ozarkman417]

www.ky3.com/2023/04/27/2-injured-after-car-crashes-into-panera-restaurant-near-missouri-state-university

A Mercedes G-Wagon crashed into my local Panera. Police say it's not the first time something like this has happened to this building. During one of my visits to the café, I saw a car hit of the traffic lights controlling that intersection.

[brad2971]

An unfortunate gentleman in San Jose, California has had this experience at his home 23 times since the 1960s. Once every 2-3 years.
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/san-jose-property-hit-by-cars/2979159/

I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to find this man's home on Google Street View (it's a rather elementary task). If you go to the June 2016 Street View you can see the carnage of an incursion into his home. Though catastrophic brake failure and idiotic recklessness really are the only excuses for why you'd crash into his home because it is nearly 1000 feet from where the interstate and exit diverge and 1700 feet from the start of the exit lane. Though we all know that drivers are stupid and need tons of hand holding from traffic engineers.

Looking at the satellite image, the highway curves while the ramp is straight. Nothing is making the drivers coming down the ramp slow down at all, so it's no surprise that they end up crashing into the house, since they're still going highway speed when they get to the traffic light. It doesn't help that the ramp is offset from Bambi Ln (only the left turn lane is pointed toward Bambi Ln; the other two lanes are pointed at the house). It's not a safe design.

How did he not sell the house to someone stupider than those drivers? 23 crashes doesn't seem like an argument for bollards, it's an argument in favor of moving the fuck out.

But sure, rather than fix the design, we can just force people to move out of their home.

Well, in my book, if you crash into something after spending 1400 ft on a ramp, you need an inordinate amount of handholding. This isn't a short ramp with a sudden curve or something like that.

I'm sure as hell not defending the idiots crashing into that house. But... how many cars pass by that exit every day? I don't want to bother looking up the AADT there, but it's probably a safe guess to say it's on the order of 100,000. If only 0.1% of those drivers are drunk, on drugs, distracted by their cell phone, or just stupid, that's still 100 potential crashes every day. The numbers game alone suggests there will be idiots. So, you design a highway to minimize the damage that idiots can do. Ideally, nobody gets hurt. Failing that, then only the idiot gets hurt. If there were a curve in the ramp before it gets to that intersection, then the idiots would hit a Jersey barrier before they hit someone's house. When you have that large a number of people on a highway, you will have idiots, and you have to plan for them, or else this stuff happens.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/S+Jackson+Ave+%26+Bambi+Ln,+San+Jose,+CA+95116/@37.3545187,-121.8387894,16z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x808fcd3ed7ced067:0x5680187fa809a082!8m2!3d37.3509556!4d-121.8363536!16s%2Fg%2F11h9y1n_4y

I just looked at the exit and where Mr. Minter's house is. Why on Earth are there so many exits between US 101 and Alum Rock?! That's barely more than one mile, and there are two exits and the partial one to Jackson Ave. Surely, at some point when Caltrans was widening I-680, they could have considered consolidating exits.

[NoGoodNamesAvailable]

I would love for an engineer with some actual experience/knowledge to back this up, but my impression is that roadside/guardrail design in the US is totally focused on protecting occupants of errant vehicles, minimizing the number of roadside objects ("hazards"), and maximizing clear zones. For a rural area or freeway this makes sense but in an urban area it does not. It doesn't address installing guardrail to protect buildings or pedestrian areas. Which seems like a pretty major oversight to me. IMO, on an urban street if somebody is driving recklessly fast or loses control, the goal should not be to minimize the damage to the car/occupants, but rather to minimize its ability to hit a pedestrian or somebody's property. With modern car safety technology, if you are driving at a reasonable speed (like 30 mph), hitting a guardrail or bollard is probably not going to seriously injure you.

For example, for all these houses on the side of T-intersections that keep getting hit, I think it's totally appropriate to install heavy duty bollards or a guardrail right behind the curb to stop the vehicles. If somebody comes flying past the stop sign I would think you want to stop the car as fast as possible rather then let them go as far as possible and do more damage. It's a relatively simple and inexpensive solution so I wonder if roadside design guidelines are the reason engineers are hesitant to do it.

[GaryV]

The only reason for the guard rails here is to protect the sidewalks: https://goo.gl/maps/LS2VWr89LmBAQCvN6

[Scott5114]

For example, for all these houses on the side of T-intersections that keep getting hit, I think it's totally appropriate to install heavy duty bollards or a guardrail right behind the curb to stop the vehicles. If somebody comes flying past the stop sign I would think you want to stop the car as fast as possible rather then let them go as far as possible and do more damage. It's a relatively simple and inexpensive solution so I wonder if roadside design guidelines are the reason engineers are hesitant to do it.

Once state property stops and private property starts, the property owner is in charge, not the engineers. If they want to put a concrete wall there, I would imagine they would have every right to.

[kalvado]

For example, for all these houses on the side of T-intersections that keep getting hit, I think it's totally appropriate to install heavy duty bollards or a guardrail right behind the curb to stop the vehicles. If somebody comes flying past the stop sign I would think you want to stop the car as fast as possible rather then let them go as far as possible and do more damage. It's a relatively simple and inexpensive solution so I wonder if roadside design guidelines are the reason engineers are hesitant to do it.

Once state property stops and private property starts, the property owner is in charge, not the engineers. If they want to put a concrete wall there, I would imagine they would have every right to.

There may be plenty of issues with that, from HOA bylaws to easements and offset property lines and zoning regulations on buffer to construction or what not

[wanderer2575]

There is a small house opposite the northern terminus of Greenfield Road at 14 Mile Road in Beverly Hills, Michigan.  The rock in the front yard has been there for decades, before which supposedly there was a number of crashes.

[SEWIGuy]

For example, for all these houses on the side of T-intersections that keep getting hit, I think it's totally appropriate to install heavy duty bollards or a guardrail right behind the curb to stop the vehicles. If somebody comes flying past the stop sign I would think you want to stop the car as fast as possible rather then let them go as far as possible and do more damage. It's a relatively simple and inexpensive solution so I wonder if roadside design guidelines are the reason engineers are hesitant to do it.

https://www.google.com/maps/@44.5145227,-87.9898718,3a,75y,24.2h,80.96t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1scAhHzOZFM5r0pybu1hqFvg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[GaryV]

Here's one near where I grew up: https://goo.gl/maps/LxdhVcCsgcZf3DaW9

The rocks were added in my childhood. The guard rail came later.

In this view without snow, you can perhaps see how the rocks were simply a tasteful landscape design element, not a barrier: https://goo.gl/maps/f7XxEhueGLZEZc517

[tigerwings]

Here's one for roundabout haters.

https://www.wtol.com/article/news/local/crashes-at-south-toledo-roundabout-residents-concerned/512-2069fb7c-afd3-4e43-b808-3531a57574d0

[Road Hog]

Pretty bad one in Ohio along I-75 the other day. The girl is lucky to be alive. Her fricking engine wound up in the lawn.

https://www.wtol.com/article/news/local/car-crashes-into-sound-barrier-wall-i-75-sending-debris-into-familys-yard/512-cf5e39a4-35bb-48b7-86c0-2f5c1f5b33fc