Rack up another serious head-on crash for Highway 97 – not a fatal one this time, fortunately, but one that easily could have been.
According to news reports, Alejandro Gonzalez-Diaz, 21, of Bend was driving south on the snow-covered highway early Sunday morning when his car crossed over into the northbound traffic lane and crashed into a car driven by Samuel Carter, 23, of Terrebonne.
This crash – like the ones that killed Shalae Rae Mortenson in early January and Daniel and Madge York in early December – could have been prevented if there had been a Jersey Wall on that stretch of highway.
Police said both drivers were intoxicated. Gonzalez-Diaz was unhurt, and was charged with second-degree assault, DUII, reckless driving and reckless endangering. Carter was admitted to St. Charles Hospital in Redmond with serious injuries and charged with DUII, reckless driving and reckless endangering. A passenger in Carter’s vehicle was treated for minor injuries.
Okay, The Eye doesn’t have a lot of sympathy for these guys, both of whom apparently were bombed out of their minds and driving too fast on a snowy highway. But what if the oncoming car that Gonzalez-Diaz plowed into had been driven by a sober driver who just couldn’t get out of the way in time?
We need a Jersey Wall on 97 to protect the responsible drivers from the irresponsible ones – and from the accidents that happen through nobody’s fault.
This article appears in Jan 29 – Feb 4, 2009.
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If the government is trying to create jobs this is a good project to get started on ASAP.
Jed, we agree on something for once. But if ODOT gets more federal money to use as it sees fit it probably will spend it on repaving roads that don’t need repaving and straightening roads that don’t need straightening. I’ve never seen a state that loves digging up asphalt and putting it back down again as much as Oregon does.
So if two drunk drivers crash why do I have to pay for this wall? If two people die (sadly) because they are driving too fast for (1) the conditions (2) for their abilities, or (3) for there vehicle in those conditions why do I have to pay for a wall? Most death is tragic, some is inevitable, This “project” is way bigger than your emotional responses are seeing. There is future ramifications to this wall, there will FIRST need to be frontage roads built to create access to the existing and future businesses that will be on this corridor, how will that be paid for? It is not my governments job to keep me safe from me, nor you from yourself either. Don’t drink and drive, if you are uncomfortable driving in the conditions here DON’T, if your vehicle is under par for the needs of winter, DON’T drive it. This is a way simpler and many millions of dollars cheaper option. Quit trying to throw money around that is not yours.
This whole debate is incredible. For instance in BEND on the bypass the speed limit is 45mph, and yes people are going 65-80+, but the cops are right tickets Bend cops. Same for Redmond, the problem is soon as you get north of COOLEY, everybody is going 80+mph, and the only enforcement I see is blue state-police, and as we all know there is a shortage. County seems to be chasing loose dogs.
I routinely drive north up to Redmond, and do about 60mph, and everyone is passing me at 80mph just north of Cooley. The problem here is that the speed should be dropped to 45mph, just like Government Camp to Sandy Safety cooridoor, and people who go over 45mph get a $400 ticket, then all these accidents will end. City,County,State will make a fortune, and we will not have to spend 100’s of millions for over-passes because of the wall.
The reason for 45 mph, is that is the limit for normal winter conditions even with snow tires. You have to set the speed to the worst case, and then enforce the law.
It’s silly to allow semis to cruise the no man’s land between Bend & Redmond at 70mph. It’s not a a freeway there are driveways on the road and people living on the road, the day of 5-10 autos/hour is over.
It’s time that people put safety first. When I travel to Redmond at 60mph, I get the same traffic lights near the airport at the same time as the people who were going over 80 mph. There is no advantage to allow people to race from one gauntlet to the next.
People being allowed to travel at 60mph an hour and up to 90mph on icy roads is insane. Especially given that most these people don’t have 4wd or snow tires. We need to drop the speed limit down to the lowest common denominator.
Like all problems in this area, this problem is because there are TOO MANY PEOPLE.
Bud is right on target concerning frontage roads. ODOT is trying to address the big picture. Closing access to businesses does not solve the problem. Miller has been on the soap box with this issue without the big picture in mind It is unrealistic to suggest that we should drive 6 to 10 miles find an overpass and drive 6 to 10 miles back. Who has determined that the wall prevents the accident in the first place. Don’t the drunks just hit the wall and bounce back into another vehicle?
Setting the speed limit doesn’t mean people will drive that posted speed, Granny. You made that point in your own post when you talked about the bend parkway. Dropping to 45mph isn’t going to make anyone any safer or happier. Speed limits and controls do not necessarily make safer roads. NOT drinking and driving, and NOT thinking your SUV is a tank do. I will not sit here and pay for the inabilities and stupidity of others.
This is priceless, “So if two drunk drivers crash why do I have to pay for this wall? If two people die (sadly) because they are driving too fast for (1) the conditions (2) for their abilities, or (3) for there vehicle in those conditions why do I have to pay for a wall?”
You pay for the wall because it doesn’t matter that you are a law abiding, non-drinking, speed limit driver – other people aren’t and never will be. And, all the law enforcement and driver education is never going to change that. Just as the Poor will always be with us – so to will drunk drivers, and when that driver crosses the center line – he/she will kill you. This anarchist concept that we do not need infrastructure is simply weird. People are dying – innocent people. People like yourself.
I totally agree. Many times driving back and forth from Redmond to BMC have I had trouble with ice/snow/and wind. Create some jobs and protect our roads and the people that drive on them.
“So if two drunk drivers crash why do I have to pay for this wall?”
You might as well ask, “Why do I have to pay for police? I obey the law.”
I really don’t give a damn if the drunks want to get out there and kill each other. The problem is they kill other people.
“The problem here is that the speed should be dropped to 45mph, just like Government Camp to Sandy Safety cooridoor, and people who go over 45mph get a $400 ticket”
You could post a 20 mph speed limit and that wouldn’t solve the problem. It’s a wide, straight road and people are going to drive fast on it. The prospect of a ticket won’t stop them, and there are not enough cops to catch them.
“Don’t the drunks just hit the wall and bounce back into another vehicle?”
Possibly. But a sideswipe crash is not nearly as likely to be fatal as a head-on crash.
The Jersey Wall works. It’s in use all over the world.
So lets buy the ‘jersey wall’ arg, and let’s look at the estimated Cooley cost right now for an overpass to Juniper-Ridge … $60M. Now lets figure that 15 miles to Redmond, we’ll need a over-pass every 4 miles, so at least $240M just for the over-passes, not counting the wall, and the additional traffic the poor people living on the road having to drive an average of 2 miles in the wrong direction to go anywhere?
Then there is the other thing, build a bypass to Redmond, at about $100M a mile, that would be a dream made in heaven, and whose land do we steal??
The cheapest solution is to reduce the speed, and put up photo-radar units, and they city’s will be like lotto winners.
If they want to speed they’ll pay, and pay big.
Just too many people. HBM can’t you do something about all the cars on I-97??
I drive back and forth to Redmond and everytime I head north on Hiway 97,once past Cooley Road,it turns into a race to Redmond.These people with these big SUV’s,4×4’s think they own the road.I think there should be more patrols set up to catch these drivers.As far as Jersey walls,yes it would be nice but having to go 6 miles one way to turn around is crazy!And if you need to do 80 miles an hour,go to the Madras dragstrip!
“The cheapest solution is to reduce the speed”
It’s cheap, but it’s not a solution.
“let’s look at the estimated Cooley cost right now for an overpass to Juniper-Ridge … $60M. Now lets figure that 15 miles to Redmond, we’ll need a over-pass every 4 miles, so at least $240M just for the over-passes”
Overpasses wouldn’t be necessary; jughandle turns (like the one where the Bend Parkway intersects with Powers Road) would work just as well.
God-Damn the HBM pusher man.
Thanks, Mom. I love you too.
We need more cops to patrol the road and enforce the speed limit. We don’t need to reduce it to 45 or put up a wall. These accidents are caused by human error.