Young wife, mother of 2 killed by a simple pothole

[discocrisco01]

Source: Associated PRess

HEFLIN, Ala. -- His wife riding beside him with their two children in safety seats in the back, John Fisher drove home toward South Carolina along a stretch of Interstate 20 covered with ruts, bumps and crumbling concrete.

Just ahead of the family, Crystal Marie Dick was heading to the other side of the Georgia line to give a friend a ride.

The pothole in front of her 1995 Toyota Camry had been fixed at least once already, and now the repair was breaking down, too. A pocket of jagged, brittle bits of concrete covered nearly half of the right lane, the slow lane.

Her Camry hit the hole, kicking a chunk into the air as the Fishers' green Ford pickup hurtled forward at 70 mph


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/19/AR2010121901824.html

[titaniumsalute]

1. Very sad indeed

I would say however that there are freak accidents that sometimes just cannot be avoided. This reminds of that man driving past a tractor mowing grass. The tractor blades struck a large metal object and struck the driver in his car. He never knew what hit him.

[trud]

8. not quite the same

If the farmer had known there was significant debris and hadn't cleared it before using the tractor, then it would be the same.

[titaniumsalute]

12. I'm from Ohio

The king of states for potholes. Yes we need a major overhall of infrastructure. But I've also seen a pothole form on a road that was newley opened within six months. I'm more concerned over the birdges falling down killing dozens versus fixing every pothole in Ohio. (or anywhere else.)

[Mika]

11. Only as freaky as friggin tax cuts to the rich.

They are robbing us of infrastructure and our commons to give billionaires & corporations huge tax cuts.

This is from 2007 (not an expose of the tax cuts robbing us, but a look at the critical infrastructure legacy of the New Deal that is now crumbling due to lack of funding)....

State of Repair
Thursday, August 02, 2007
An NBR Series - PREMIERED June 18, 2007

A 4 part series examining America's crumbling infrastructure.

Every time you hop on the highway, cross a bridge, or cruise
through a tunnel, you use an aspect of the nation's infrastructure.
Though it is used every day, critics say America's infrastructure has
been neglected. In "State of Repair," NBR Senior Correspondent Jeff
Yastine explains how aging highways, locks, pipes, and dams could
hinder the nation's growth.

http://www.pbs.org/nbr/site/features/special/070615_state_of_repair/

---

[Tyrs WolfDaemon]

2. How awful.

I will think good thoughts for both families.

Our infrastructure sucks and it really should be overhauled. I wish the GOP would pull their heads from their asses and understand the importance of this stuff. I also wish that our politicians would have the backbone required to fight for overhauling our system.

:argh:

[Beaverhausen]

3. Infrastructure!!!

We need to fix this country's crumbling infrastructure now!

[obxhead]

10. There's more money in professional killing. nt

[demigoddess]

26. we are bleeding our country dry for overseas adventures,

it is not that killing pays more, it is that hubris costs more, and stupidity costs more and the rich have a lot of both so we have to pay them for it. IMHO

[Lorien]

18. and get a high speed Mag Lev monorail system going to take some pressure

off of it, along with getting people back to work and weaning ourselves from oil!

[Iris]

32. But we need to keep those Bush tax cuts in place more.

:sarcasm:

Sadly, I'm afraid these stories could become more and more common.

[Angry Dragon]

4. A sad story

[juajen]

5. Another reason why 55 mph should be the speed limit in this country. NT

[Tikki]

6. I agree with you...

Tikki

[trud]

7. yes, but I doubt 55 mph would have made any difference in this case. n/t

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LittleGirl]

17. I can't drive 55.

Listen, the speed limit is not the problem here.

[Hawkowl]

27. p=mv(2) .nt

[Tumbulu]

23. I agree, 55 mph is fast enough

and don't tell me the speed had nothing to do with it.

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. Public Works Project, anyone?

[chill_wind]

13. +1 No joke!

[Lorien]

19. Really. It's well past time! nt

[onehandle]

14. A small price to pay for tax cuts for the rich.

:sarcasm:

[MadMaddie]

16. May she RIP!

Yes, it was a freak accident because of the conditions. However; the conditions could have been prevented. This is the legacy of the Republicans make no mistake about this fact. The bridge that fell in MN another Republican decision.

<snip>
United States could save 145 lives over a decade for every $100 million spent on a variety of road safety improvements and maintenance.
<snip>

Many more people are going to die or be maimed because the Republicans are playing politics while ordinary Americans try to live their lives.

One other thing about the article, it noted that there was a brand new road that already has potholes....doesn't anyone else see the issue? They are building these roads with inferior products. Where are they buying the products form (China maybe)?

Funding cuts...cheap products = disaster to Americans

[southerncrone]

20. Results of having an almost entirely red state for decades.

Sadly, TN & other Southern states are following suite. :(
Don't invest in education.....ignorant can be easily led by the nose & BSing politicians who only think of $ they can funnel into their own pockets or those of cronies.
Cutting budgets for necessary public safety items = tragedies. :cry:
How many more tragedies will follow because of not using OUR tax dollars to support our NEEDS.
I feel for this family. How does one cope w/such a senseless, bizarre loss.

[wilt the stilt]

21. I live in georgia and when I have gone into Alabama

I am always amazed at how bad the roads are. This is an indictment on how we build and maintain roads. Everything in America is built for the short run. In Germany roads are built to last 30 years before repair. The same can be said about our cars. Always built for the short term.

My good friend runs TRIP.

[MadMaddie]

28. Bingo! I believe they are using inferior products

thus the lifespan according to the article is not even a year.

[BumRushDaShow]

22. Alabama received over half a billion $ in stimulus for highway infrastructure

http://www.dot.state.al.us/stimulus2009/Files/ARRA%20funds%20web%20Highway.pdf}">http://www.dot.state.al.us/stimulus2009/Files/ARRA%20funds%20web%20Highway.pdf (PDF)

The state chooses what/where.

This has nothing to do with last week's Shrub tax cuts extension. :eyes:

[Turbineguy]

24. Terrible

and another day in the life in a republican paradise.

I write the State hwy dept once about a stretch of road festooned with crosses. No answer.

[Uncle Joe]

25. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, discocrisco.

[Anakin Skywalker]

29. The sad reality of living in a Red State! Will private corporations step up and fix public roads?

Oh wait! Let's PRIVATIZE the roadways! Yeah, that's it!

[sweetapogee]

30. It's fun...

I know to blame our elected representatives and especially pukes for problems with the roads. Much of the money to finance road construction and maintenance comes from state/local bond sales and the tax on gasoline, not only federal income taxes. So lets be accurate please.

Here in rural NE PA, the roads are a mess and we have our very own Governor Rendell to thank for it, he is more interested in keeping mass transit in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh afloat than keeping PENDOT funded with enough to operate. Here is a link which makes my point, in 2005 the governor took money set aside for road work and gave it to mass transit and considered it again this year. Meanwhile, there has been very little in the way of road maintenance in this region of the state. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/regional/s_691479.html

A couple of years ago, I-78 was closed in Lehigh and Berks counties because the state didn't have money available to clear the road and this was in good financial times. This made national news and no one, dems, pukes whatever were blaming washington for the lack of funding, it was a state thing.

Federal gasoline tax is 18.4 cents per gallon, state taxes vary, see this table for your states tax http://www.gaspricewatch.com/usgastaxes.asp

A general wiki article on fuel taxes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_tax

Again, blame the re-pigs for most of our troubles, rightly so but on this one it's the states that decide where the state tax goes and has a lot of input on the federal money as well.

ON EDIT: in response to Anakin Skywalker, 2 or 3 years ago, Gov Rendell and the dem caucus in Harrisburg tried very hard to sell the PA turnpike to a private company to run. The PA turnpike is not a motorist bargain by any stretch of the imagination and yet the state throws all kinds of money at it. I'm glad the governor didn't get his way as I have friends that work for the TPK but even they admit that it isn't run well. The Governor lost, sorry to say no little amount of dem support over this failed move. I know it may seem like I'm bashing the dems, I'm not, only trying to be accurate.

Have a fine day DU and Happy Motoring! (please, just don't tailgate....)

[Nikia]

31. My cousin died from a pothole too

In his case, it was less of a freak thing. He was driving a moped and hit it badly, losing control of his vehicle. That sent him into the path of an oncoming truck.
Unfortunately some roads are bad and should have been repaired long ago. For drivers of any vehicle, the most important thing is to be aware of road conditions and drive accordingly. In the case in the article, driving 70 mph on such a road probably wasn't a good idea.
Regardless of whether any driver is at fault, I feel bad for all involved.