<p><a href=“http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/At-least-9-dead-in-I-5-crash-near-Orland-5394038.php”>http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/At-least-9-dead-in-I-5-crash-near-Orland-5394038.php</a></p>
<p>Oh sad.
I wonder if speed was involved for both drivers to be killed.
And the Fed Ex truck crossed the centerline ( was there a median?)
Rural roads scare me.</p>
<p>Based on a satellite view from a mapping web site, the road in question near Orland, CA is a freeway (probably 65mph speed limit, 55mph for trucks) that is two lanes each direction, with a wide median (about the equivalent of four lanes) with trees and bushes in the middle. A freeway lane is usually about 12’ wide, so the median is about 48’ wide. See <a href=“Google Maps”>Google Maps;
<p>The CalTrans design standards for whether median barriers are to be installed are at <a href=“Traffic Operations | Caltrans”>http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/traffops/engineering/safety-devices/docs/Median-Barrier.pdf</a></p>
<p>How absolutely tragic!</p>
<p>And, for those of us with kids graduating from high school this year, and doing college revisits this month . . . well, it could, heaven forbid, have been any of us.</p>
<p>And, as noted above, I-5 is not a “rural road” - it’s a major interstate, and the primary route from Los Angeles (where the bus originated) up to Northern California (where it was headed).</p>
<p>What gives me a sick feeling is the knowledge that this is just the beginning of the car accidents that often happen around graduations/ beginningof summer.</p>
<p>These things send chills down my spine. Prayers and hugs to the families and friends involved. The “type” of road sure doesn’t matter to me.</p>
<p>Absolutely horrific. I hate it when my DD gets on those buses. Sounds silly, but I am always on pins & needles u til she returns. The drivers are not as safe as they ought to be. </p>
<p>There were also adult chaperones who died in this head-on crash as well. Apparently a Fed Ex truck traveling southbound crossed over the grassy median strip and struck the chartered bus. This section of I 5 actually does have a more rural feel to it, especially since there is no medium barrier protecting vehicles from oncoming traffic.</p>
<p>We have done road trips all the way from Seattle to San Diego, and some sections of I-5 do have a rural feel. Long, straight stretches of road and monotonous driving at bigh speed are more dangerous than one can think. Such a horrible tragedy! The kids who survived this accident will have PTSD…</p>
<p>I have not read too many details of this horrible tragedy, but it is possible that the Fed Ex driver of the big rig may have fallen asleep at the wheel.</p>
<p>Horrible and heartbreaking.</p>
<p>The news has stated the driver of the truck may have been cut off by another car and then lost control. I don’t know but I just can’t imagine the horror of it all. </p>
<p>I can’t imagine a heavily used stretch of freeway without an obstacle to deter this sort of accident.</p>
<p>However it does usually take several accidents before changes are made.
A woman I know recieved severe head injuries & one of her teenage twin daughters was killed on this stretch of freeway before they added the cables.
<a href=“http://www.marysvilleglobe.com/opinion/27603309.html?mobile=true”>Barriers only part of the solution to I-5 tragedies | Marysville Globe;
<p>I’m going to a preview day tomorrow with my sons, from Los Angeles. My first stupid thought was, “Thank God they weren’t interested in Humboldt…” as if the destination had anything to do with it. We drive the 5 most weeks, and rural parts at least a couple of times a year. This is sick making. Not comforting to those about to send their fledgelings out of the nest…</p>
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<p>If the median is wide enough, then the chance of a complete cross over is low enough that the lack of a barrier can reduce the overall crash rate, as errant vehicles simple end up stopping on the median instead of crashing into the barrier and possibly bouncing back into the same direction traffic lanes.</p>
<p>I.e. whether to put in a barrier depends on the tradeoff between a few very severe cross over crashes versus more numerous, but less severe, crashes into the barrier.</p>
<p>Of course, there are also cost considerations, since road building must compete for money with other state government priorities like K-12 education and prisons (or perhaps compete with everything else for the budget leftovers after mandated K-12 education spending and forced (due to prison sentences given to convicted criminals) prison spending).</p>
<p>A four foot still does not seem like an adequate width for a guardrail-less median…</p>
<p>On the stretch that I use on I4, where there is no guardrail, there is probably 30+ feet between opposing traffic with shrubs and trees. When opposing traffic is closer, there are guard rails and cement. <a href=“https://www.google.com/maps/place/Interstate+4/@28.2155288,-81.6724743,186m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x88e78e8a3133f61d:0x2e54df2331c11748?hl=en”>Google Maps;
<p>Dangerous road. I would feel uncomfortable driving on it. </p>
<p>Niquii, where did you get the idea that the median was only four feet? </p>
<p>Cables have been put in everywhere in Maine. They’re not too expensive and they’ve reduced the number of serious crashes. I think they should put them in more places.</p>
<p>Whoops! Misunderstanding, ucb. </p>
<p>NNtH, @alwaysamom. </p>
<p>I think someone above said the median was about 48 feet wide, not 4 feet wide. That sounds like it should be wide enough, especially if there are any shrubs or plants in the middle.</p>