ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[jamincan]

Someone posted on reddit that a lot of people coming out of Tim Hortons do an illegal U-turn here - it would certainly make more sense.

[clasher]

They really ought to have installed "no turn" cameras and they could have been fining people for a couple of years. Signs just aren't enough to stop people from being stupid it seems. Also wouldn't have this problem if we'd have just built a monorail

[danbrotherston]

If you're going north on King but want to access somewhere on the west side of the street, you have to turn around to reach it. You should properly use a designated U-turn or make use of side streets, but not everyone has the patience for that...

If you don't have the patience to follow the rules of the road, then you shouldn't be allowed to drive, having insufficient temperament to drive safely is definitely the biggest physical problem drivers routinely ignore while driving.

[danbrotherston]

I kind of always new people turned without fully looking first, but it's astonishing how bad it really is. I can understand how if you're looking for cars, it's easy to visually miss a cyclist or walker, but a train?!

This!  This is my response every time someone blames a cyclist or ped for not wearing bright enough clothing....UGH.

And yes, looks like an illegal U-Turn.

[danbrotherston]

CBC is reporting WRPS statement that it was indeed an illegal U-Turn:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener...98?cmp=rss

"Waterloo regional police service said they believe the driver of the van was trying to do a U-turn at the intersection and was hit by the ION train."

CBC should mention that U-Turns are explicitly prohibited at that intersection...

[Bob_McBob]

[Bob_McBob]

The damage:

https://www.twitter.com/leahjohansen/sta...8828823557

[KingandWeber]

That looks like more than $20k damage unfortunately. I really hope this doesn't delay opening day. Does anyone know if we can we start service without 508 if need be?

[timc]

That looks like more than $20k damage unfortunately. I really hope this doesn't delay opening day. Does anyone know if we can we start service without 508 if need be?

Yes, this was covered in the CBC article:

"It shouldn't impact our start. We do have spare vehicles. We essentially need 10 functioning vehicles for our summer level of service," said Thomas Schmidt, the commissioner of transportation and environmental services for the Region of Waterloo.

He added damage from the May 31 crash was apparently repaired within a couple of days, and a minor "paint scrape" that happened during a collision on the weekend was repaired the following day.

[KingandWeber]

That looks like more than $20k damage unfortunately. I really hope this doesn't delay opening day. Does anyone know if we can we start service without 508 if need be?

Yes, this was covered in the CBC article:

"It shouldn't impact our start. We do have spare vehicles. We essentially need 10 functioning vehicles for our summer level of service," said Thomas Schmidt, the commissioner of transportation and environmental services for the Region of Waterloo.

He added damage from the May 31 crash was apparently repaired within a couple of days, and a minor "paint scrape" that happened during a collision on the weekend was repaired the following day.

Great to hear, thanks! And the funny thing is I read that article and missed that important piece somehow...whoops!

[KevinL]

At least the repair staff are getting run through their paces...

[embe]

I suppose the 'silver lining' could be that these incidents aren't happening with passengers on board.  But still...

[ijmorlan]

They should keep all the twisted bits of broken LRV and once we have enough join them together to make some form and add another piece of artwork to the line. I’m not sure what the title should be; maybe “Dangerous Driving”.

[embe]

...CBC is reporting WRPS statement that it was indeed an illegal U-Turn...

I've seen more U-turns in the last couple months than I have in the rest of my life.  Did the rules recently change or maybe it's a more common practice in other parts of the world that's starting to catch on here?  Illegal or not they are something you need to watch for at just about any intersection now.

[jeffster]

From the picture on CTV's web site, it looks as though the driver must have been trying to make an illegal U-Turn from north/west-bound King to south/east-bound King. That's not uncommon there, either.

rant

Not uncommon, but certainly illegal (at least westbound (northbound) on King).

I've lived in Hamilton, Troy (Ohio) and Scarborough and I still sense that the people of Tri-Cities are the stupidest drivers anywhere. Where else do you yield at a STOP sign, don't bother to even Yield at a Yield (treating it as a right of way or green light) and FREAKING STOP when you have the right of way! (Case in point, Fischer-Hallman and turning right onto Ottawa towards Sunrise Shopping Center!) Doing U-Turns when not allowed, and being given the finger when you U-Turn at a permissible U-Turn spot (anywhere on Hespeler Road Southbound before the Delta in Cambridge). Not to mention the stunt driving that is done every single day at Victoria and West/Strange Street (that would be turning in front of someone when the light turns green). Not to mention the right on a red when not allowed!

Really, stricter enforcement needs to be done for these types of violations, and less speed traps. In fact, if they were to enforce Victoria at West/Strange you probably could have police services paid for within a couple days.

/rant