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Stay off NY Parkways
Several post have said time and time again “Buses are NOT allowed on NY Parkways.”
And this is why … low overpasses.
LAKEVIEW, N.Y. — A charter bus carrying teenagers returning from a spring break trip Sunday night struck a bridge overpass on Long Island, seriously injuring six passengers and mangling the entire length of the top of the bus.
The crash happened shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday on the Southern State Parkway in Lakeview, according to New York State Police.
One of the six injured passengers had very serious injuries, said State Police Maj. David Candelaria. Thirty-seven other passengers suffered minor injuries.
“Everybody was able to walk out except one, which we extricated,” Lakeview Fire Department Chief Patrick McNeill told Newsday. “There was glass everywhere. The roof of the bus is down to the top of the seat covers.”
The 38 students from various Long Island high schools, along with five chaperones, had just returned from John F. Kennedy International Airport and were heading to a shopping mall to meet up with parents, police said.
Police said the driver was being evaluated and did not seem to be familiar with commercial vehicle restrictions on the parkway.
The minimum clearance on the parkway is 7 feet, 10 inches (2.38 meters) and accidents involving vehicles striking overpasses is not uncommon on the parkway. In 2017, there were reports that an electronic alarm system would be installed on the parkway to warn drivers of vehicles too high for the overpass.
Can you just imagine what would be left of a plastic coach?
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9 Replies
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Last year, after leaving D.C., we headed up to Salisbury, CT for a Habitat Build.
Our GPS insisted we jump on the Parkway and, without any prior experience driving up in NY, I said, “Sure, why not”!
It didn’t take too long before I saw the upcoming bridge say ” 10’6″ Clearance”! I managed to weave into the very middle (oncoming traffic) where it was 13’6″. After the second bridge, we finally found an exit off the parkway.
The worst day of driving in our 2 1/2 years on the road … but definitely a great (and definitely a display of stupidity) story in hindsight 🙂
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I do not think anyone that ventures on to a NY Parkway is stupid or even doing anything wrong. We are not driving commercial vehicles which is the only restriction we see. If the sign was to say the height clearance instead of commercial vehicles none of us would have ventured onto the roadway.
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Tim, does your GPS have any setting where you can enter the height of your vehicle and some avoidance setting for clearances below a certain height?
Linda
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It does now! After that incident, I went with “Co-pilot for RV’s”.
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That’s a good choice Tim, I use CoPilot and have been very pleased with it. And you can’t beat the off line maps! I’ve used Garmon for years and really got tired of it recalculating in the middle of a major city.
In keeping with this thread I can tell you one and all that I too got on the wrong road. But Jon and Tom eventually got me going in the right direction. Whoever said drinking is bad for you?
Harry
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On this morning’s news the investigation about the accident cause is centered on a non-commercial quality GPS being used by the driver.
Call me silly, but we seem to have put our brains in storage and have allowed our devices and cars to make driving decisions for us.
The bus was a commercial vehicle and the signs clearly forbid them from using the parkway. The bridges have clearances posted prior to and on the bridges. But if the GPS says the parkway is the road to be on who are we to argue?
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Pete or Re-pete…..there are two NY Parkway threads going.on.
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Surprised no one was de-capitated.
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Greg, the news yesterday stated the reason no one was killed (decapitated) was due to an alert (and awake) student yelling for everyone to “DUCK.” I lived on Long Island for seven years. A Realtor once told me the sound from the Southern State Parkway sounded just like a babbling brook – NOT.
As Jon has stated in previous posts, many commercial operators today are simply steering wheel holder! There is a reason NY calls them Parkways. They are essentially limited to passenger sized vehicles only.
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