The NEWS24/680 Jungle Drums really started pounding Monday after a tractor-trailer failed to make a the turn at Rheem Boulevard and Moraga Road tonight, high centering on the median in front of Autohaus and clipping a streetlight.
The truck was traveling south on Moraga Road when it tried to make a right-hand turn at Rheem Boulevard and clipped the pole at the intersection’s northwest corner.
It turns out half the town saw it, with Brent sending in pictures, John and Marissa, Frank and Lorice all pinging us with the news in what was an apparently highly visible accident downtown Monday night.
No one hurt but the driver was unhappy.
Moraga PD says the accident damaged the traffic signal at that location, too… sooooo… it’s flashing red lights for a while as motorists grip their steering wheels and bear it. The driver was subsequently cited for failing to obey posted traffic signs, according to police.
I’ve always said “when in doubt, accelerate!”, but then again, I’m not a truck driver.
What’s next? Locusts?
Who pays for the damage?
I saw the whole thing. It was swamp gas! Off-gassing occurs regularly in Rossmoor and Moraga, especially near the…well, let’s just say it occurs regularly on Mexican Fiesta nights and can accumulate in low spots causing confusion and anxiety.
Good advice. Accelerating through any danger zone minimizes the length of your exposure. At extremely high speed, the risk of bad is extremely small. Assuming, of course, that a tractor-trailer has not parked across the entire intersection.
That’ll buff right out.
Traffic a little screwed up down there still
What next??? Sheesh.
Curse of the Morinda Triangle!!!
Thanks for flash alert!
I can see this happening on an icy road in Omaha but hard to imagine it happening here.
@David — you understand the logic, it seems. While not advisable most of the time, it has come in handy many times, mostly on the race track or golf course. The second part of ‘when in doubt, accelerate!’ logic is ‘don’t lift!’, especially in a corner, lest you wish to become a statistic.
From the photos, it looks like the rear wheels were appropriately shifted forward for enhanced maneuverability, which brings me to driver error.
Apparently the patched storm drain is holding even through heavy rain. Cross your fingers.