oops delafox- i didnt see your tunnel thing yet i thought i was being funny

BUILD A TUNNEL!!

Janesvillecomments - I hope you dont drive like you type...lol. j/k ...i think you posted in the wrong article.

Truth1 - when your in busy traffic and there are a ton of cars behind you, and you slam on the breaks and come to an almost stop to let a car merge on...YES you can cause accidents (Ive seen many close calls) ...as most people are not expecting traffic on the bridge to stop. Happens every time a train comes and a bunch of cars accumulate. I guess we'll wait till someone dies before we address it.
I think a tunnel is in order also.
....And about the billboard...that should make people drive slower...to read it all. You can blame anything you want...there is no excuse for inattentive driving and no one to blame but yourself.

Maybe we could somehow build a tunnel for the merging traffic....

Emergency vehicles have those gadgets which send radio signals to trigger stop lights to change in their favor. The same gadget could be used to override the spike strips. I've never seen an ambulance or fire engine speeding when they didn't have their lights on, just squad cars. Wire them into police vehicles so that they won't keep the spikes down unless the lights and/or sirens are turned on and you have an instant training aid to remind officers not to speed without signalling.

Slowing down on the bridge will NOT "cause an accident"

people coming up the on-ramps dont know what Yeild means. I drive this route every day. Quite a few times people on the ramps are expecting me to yeild to them, they lock up their brakes at the last minute and get mad at me. Then I see people on the bridge slowing down and almost causing accidents to let people on. Its polite yes...but can cause a major accident. People need to observe traffic signs and learn what they mean. I also turn right at the light and stay in the right lane, a lot of times switching lanes at rush hour to let traffic on isnt an option. Ive had people yelling at me at the stoplights because THEY had to yeild to me...lol. Should put stop signs there. For sure!!!

mymaro: he/she WAS the idiot coming up the ramp. Reread the article.

Is it that difficult to merge?
All we have to do is cooperate with one another and pay attention.
Is that too much to expect?

I see a lot of people jumping to conclusions here. No one was drunk. I doubt even that anyone was on a cell phone. The car did not start out in the west bound lanes. She came up the ramp, tried to pass the traffic that "was yielding", went through the oncoming westbound traffic, jumped the median, and hit eastbound traffic. I am sure speed was a factor, not to mention that she was a youthful driver. Keep in mind the people she hit could have been someone close to you, and it is a miracle no one was injured.

I agree mymaro, to some yield means step on it and force your way in, especially at the five points.

stap8598, that is the purpose of a yield sign on the ramp. the yield sign isnt for telling people on memorial drive to get over its to tell you to slow down or stop if there is a person coming on memorial. I try to get over if possible but half the time its not possible, even if there is no traffic next to me there may be traffic in front or behind which means I couldnt get back over immediately and i turn right at the light. So rather than complain about people not getting over you should complain about people not knowing what yield means. those on memorial dont have to get over if they dont want to. Hence the YIELD sign on the ramp

And these are currently in place where?..What about emergency vehicles(police, fire, medical)?
For the amount of traffic that uses Memorial Bridge there are really few accidents. I've also noticed people driving slower with the higher gas prices....jmo It is a steep bridge and without pressing on the gas I coast down it at 35...of course I give it a little gas and usually do about 45mph. peace

You don't need radar to do speed enforcement at the bridge. Install a row of electric eyes and some spike strips. You go through too many beams in too short a time and the spikes pop up. A signal gets sent to dispatch a squad car to write a ticket and a city street department worker to replace the spikes.

It's kinda hard to do speed enforcemnt on a bridge, radar wise.

I had an accident at the yield sign and I feel that there should be sometime of light because some one is gonna get seriously injured. I hope everyone was ok. The city needs to take care of this issue half of the time when someone wants to get on no one ever gets over so we the people at the yield sign do not have to come to a complete stop but no one has the respect to get over..

I live near washington school. People drive like idiots on that bridge. maybe agressive speed limit enforcement would help

Pooroldman: Thanks for the laugh; I most definitely needed it.

possible, but people have been blowing through that yield sign long before that electronic billboard came along.

Lots of you mentioning drinking and driving....maybe I'm reading a different article. If alcohol is involved then I'm P@$#!ed about it! We've had enough incidents with that.
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Maybe the driver wouldn't have had to swerve if he/she wasn't speeding. People need to slow the heck down. 5 mph over any speed limit is plenty, and below ticket range.
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I drove down that bridge just as they had cleared traffic (apparently), I didn't know why it was backed up.
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One of you metioned the electronic billboard. It had nothing to do with him speeding or swerving, but I often wonder if people merging from the on ramp, aren't looking for cars in that lane because they are watching the board.

He might have looking at that big giant TV with the pictures of the wanted criminals.

theres times im doing 35 or 40 and get passed like im standing still. even people coming up the on ramp sometimes are haulin ***. dont know what is so hard for some folks about a yield sign. or to stay even reasonably close to the speed limtit.

I think because it has ramps people treat this like a segment of the Interstate and assume that highway speed is OK. The ramps are designed for street traffic, though, and if somebody is zipping across and somebody else is treating the yield as "look but slow down only if you feel like it", there will be a risk of collision.
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My memory is the bridge's speed limit is 35 MPH. I wonder what the average speed is, though.

the article says the vehicle that jumped the median was originally in the westbound lanes. I would bet 10 to 1 that he/she had to swerve because some idiot coming up the on ramp from parker drive didnt yield. This happens ALL the time. Some people dont know what that little red and white triangle means apparently. i drive this road every day and I'd say at least half the time some fool doesnt yield and nearly causes an accident. I try to get over to avoid this but its not always possible. Maybe they should put those flashing red lights around the yield sign like they have around some stop signs.

Marymac once said.....
BART SIMPSON is the perfect name for him Im gald noone was injured! hey bart say hello to homer

That was a good one next time lets try and grow up and talk about the story. Play time will start for you next tuesday with the rest of the kids in Janesville.

LOL!!! Gazettefan, you are on a roll today, buddy!
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A recent study shows that talking on a cell phone while driving has the same effect on the driver as being drunk.

There is a study in progress to determine if talking on a cell phone AND being drunk while driving cancels each other out.

BART SIMPSON is the perfect name for him Im gald noone was injured! hey bart say hello to homer

I agree with red58... the article says nothing about drinking being a factor in this one.... 20:1, it was people on their cell phones at that time of day, speeding, and not paying attention to the road...

crazy drunk posters

What am I missing here...where does it say anything about drinking? BartSimpson, were you there? Why do we always jump to conclusions on these comments. It's annoying.

drinking and driving is no good.

crazy drunk drivers

Sounds like they should of had some 'Benny Hill' music playing while watching that happen.

Yep, Speed can kill! I totally agree!

SLOW DOWN!