Silliness has Started again in front of Brisas Boqueteñas

[Keith Woolford]

There is currently an upside down van in the southbound passing lane of the Via Boquete in front of Brisas Boqueteñas which came to rest there after losing control and smacking the concrete embankment which divides the highway.

 

Edited September 18, 2017 by Keith Woolford

[Joyful]

We drove past this accident yesterday.  There was a "river" of water crossing the road just before the entrance to Brisas which was almost certainly the cause of this vehicle aquaplaning.  There is obviously something wrong with the drainage on the right side of the road that needs to be fixed, or more accidents will occur.  The water was flowing right to left across the road.

The water was probably close to 1" deep and any speed in excess of 60 km would likely be problematic, depending on the condition of tires.

[Keith Woolford]

For some reason there is no drainage ditch there.

[JohnF13]

I think the big problem is that the roads are not "crowned" sufficiently, in the sense that the centre if the roadway should be higher than the edges, forcing water off the road quickly instead of having it run down the road in sheets until it can find somewhere else to go.  Add to this sometimes dubious construction practises where not enough substrate is used to support the tarmac, that results in indentations in the road surface wher the majority of vehicle wheels travel.  Water always finds the lowest point so will head for these depressons, setting up a perfect scenario for "water skiing with your car".  The govrnment is not going to fix this, we just need to be aware and drive accordingly.  That includes not travelling at high speeds in rain events.

Edited May 7, 2017 by JohnF13

[Marcelyn]

I think another problem is that roadway curves are flat and not "banked". This makes it more difficult for a car to maintain contact with the pavement while traveling on a curve at higher speeds.

An engineering design condition that the government is not going to fix....... IMHO.

[Keith Woolford]

A pole vault attempt in the same location this afternoon, Bomberos are reporting 5 injured.

 

Edited May 10, 2017 by Keith Woolford

[Joyful]

As predicted.  The authorities need to fix the drainage in that area, or aquaplaning will continue.

[Keith Woolford]

Sent the Mayor a message this morning, hopefully he can press the correct entities for a solution.

[TwoSailors]

Maybe they can installed some of these flashing lights!

http://www.lumastrobe.com/

[Uncle Doug]

The road could certainly have been designed better, but drivers need to use their heads when driving in the rain.  Hydroplaning is the combination of too much speed and too much water on the road.  Worn tires can significantly increase hydroplaning.  

The speed limit there is 80 kph, but that doesn't mean that  80 kph is safe under all weather conditions.  Hydroplaning on a curve in a road is a recipe for disaster. 

I'll put my speed demon credentials up against any other local NASCAR drivers here, but these wrecks didn't have to happen.

[Brundageba]

That curve can come suddenly for someone here without knowledge of the situation.  Cars are moving pretty fast by the time they get to the Brisas entry..  My hunch is there will be more accidents in the future. .  For those of us who live in Brisas we have to be extra careful when pulling out.....or in for that matter.  The Brisas entry was not made user friendly .  It's more than a 90 degree turn in I believe. You could get banged in the tail easily by a car coming too fast from behind as you have to take that turn so slowly to get in....especially if a car inside Brisas is waiting to get out.   There is a side turn in lane but it's pretty short.

Edited May 10, 2017 by Brundageba

[Brandy]

Maybe a series of speed bumps would do the trick and slow people down?  It would certainly tick them off!

[Siempre Soluciones]

12 hours ago, Brandy said:

Maybe a series of speed bumps would do the trick and slow people down?  It would certainly tick them off!

Or a series of rumble strips.

 

[Keith Woolford]

Roll over and over and over in El Frances

[TwoSailors]

1 hour ago, Siempre Soluciones said:

Or a series of rumble strips.

 

That would be a big help!

 

[TwoSailors]

2 minutes ago, Keith Woolford said:

Roll over and over and over in El Frances

Man they must of been going super fast! Looks like a Nissan?

[Brundageba]

...I wonder how many times it rolled.  Ir's waaaay out in the field.

[Bud]

The silliness apparently continues. This afternoon (Saturday, May 13th), Marcelyn and I were returning from errands in David. We took the following pictures about 4:10PM today. The area is near Emerald Drive (just south of Los Molinos). We presumed from the lack of urgency on anyone's part that there were no injuries, although the pictures would suggest otherwise. One police vehicle had just arrived and two officers were walking around the accident scene. The roads were not crowded, there was no standing rainwater on the roadway, and nothing that we could see other than clear, straight roadway, etc.

[Keith Woolford]

unreal

1 out of 3 wrecks are due to excessive speed

Use of cellular phones is another major cause

 

 

 

[Keith Woolford]

On 5/10/2017 at 7:00 AM, Keith Woolford said:

Sent the Mayor a message this morning, hopefully he can press the correct entities for a solution

Didn't receive a written response, but the Municipality's backhoe crew is out there this morning digging a ditch that will drain the property in question and hopefully mitigate some of the problem with too much water on the road.

Edited May 18, 2017 by Keith Woolford

[Joyful]

Good job Keith!

[Brundageba]

We noticed down south towards Dolega and Algarrobos in the deep ditch area that the grass has grown high and thick in areas.  If you did not know that ditch was there, you could easily drive off into it just pulling off to the side of the road.  In areas that deep ditch is totally covered by weeds and tall grass.  That would be a huge shocking surprise for some innocent who pulls off to the side to make a phone call !

Edited May 19, 2017 by Brundageba

[Keith Woolford]

According to complaints on Facebook, a Transito is ticketing speeders out there today.

Edited May 25, 2017 by Keith Woolford

[TwoSailors]

Motorcycle cop was out there just before Brisas with a radar gun at 11:30 am!

[Keith Woolford]

On 5/25/2017 at 3:56 PM, TwoSailors said:

Motorcycle cop was out there just before Brisas with a radar gun at 11:30 am!

This officer is continuing to catch speeders along the highway between Boquete and the Caldera turnoff.

Last evening there was a car that most have flown through the checkpoint before losing control and crashing into the embankment about 300 metres south of it.

 

Edited June 8, 2017 by Keith Woolford