Maine roads....????? (Bangor, New Gloucester: how much, house, find a job)

[flycessna]

I have been living in Maine for 12 years. I have had reservations about starting this post because I wasn't sure how much a problem it really is and if I am trying to fix something that isn't broken. Now I am a few years away from having a teenage driver in my house and it truly has me concerned.

Growing up in Ma we had our occasional fatality usually involving some sort of reckless driving and/or drinking. But I never felt our roads were inherently unsafe. Since Coming to Maine I have been surprised by Maine’s inherently dangerous roadways and I have been witness to some really avoidable serious and/or deadly accidents.

I do not mean because of snow or ice or because of un-kept roads. But what I mean is poorly designed roads. Intersections that do not have the proper control devise or blind corners with traffic entering. No medians where there should be. And something that really bothers me is no gates at railroad crossings. Dunn elementary school in New Gloucester, there is no way to get there with out crossing a rail road track and non of them have gates. I can name so many other places where there is a deadly accident just waiting to happen. And a lot of them could be fixed by some simple sign changes.

Now add snow and ice, young drivers, and growing traffic and I think Maine has to make some leaps and bounds to really make our roadways what they should be. I just do not remember the roads being this bad in the other states I have lived in.

[Elcarim]

We noticed that when we were there. The roads were treacherous in some places. We're so used to wide roads that all have a shoulder, even in our more rural areas. We thought the roads there were very narrow, sloping this way and that and the lack of signs was almost humorous.

I commented to DH during one of our "scenic routes" that took us nearly an hour out of our way that it reminds me of "Funny Farm" when the old guy told the delivery drivers to go down there and look for where the old fence used to be, just past So and So's barn that burned down....

Some of the major road ways didn't even appear to be marked well. We got lost twice trying to make our way back on I95. I think that's the road. Anyway, I have to agree. I also noted that some of the roads MUST be dangerous when covered with snow and ice. I told him he needs to find a job close to home so he doesn't have to drive an hour in the ice during the winter. It will take some getting used to to drive up there safely!

[mollysmiles]

I can see exactly what you're saying! We don't have a huge problem with this way downeast, but there are a couple of places where you just have to wonder if the person that designed the road had any clue at all. I have noticed that in southern Maine it is bad. Many places it's just simple placement of a sign, or as you said, having a median placed.

I have one teen driver, and another just about to get his permit. I don't worry about them driving on ice and snow nearly as much as I worry about them getting in a traffic accident. Someone who's not knowledgeable of the area they're driving in, coupled with poor design of the roadway and inadequate sign placement, needs to rely on skill AND luck.

Good thread flycessna!

[mollysmiles]

oh, and another thing- do you notice that the road paint doesn't last nearly as long as it used to? it's horrible....

[bigchuckie]

Are those crossings active? Maine's RR bz is practically gone.

[mollysmiles]

Originally Posted by Elcarim

We noticed that when we were there. The roads were treacherous in some places. We're so used to wide roads that all have a shoulder, even in our more rural areas. We thought the roads there were very narrow, sloping this way and that and the lack of signs was almost humorous.

I commented to DH during one of our "scenic routes" that took us nearly an hour out of our way that it reminds me of "Funny Farm" when the old guy told the delivery drivers to go down there and look for where the old fence used to be, just past So and So's barn that burned down....

Some of the major road ways didn't even appear to be marked well. We got lost twice trying to make our way back on I95. I think that's the road. Anyway, I have to agree. I also noted that some of the roads MUST be dangerous when covered with snow and ice. I told him he needs to find a job close to home so he doesn't have to drive an hour in the ice during the winter. It will take some getting used to to drive up there safely!

The narrow roads with no paved shoulders are a huge hazard, and depending on where you drift onto that shoulder, the dirt may be too soft to get back up onto the road! You guys will adjust, Elcarim, but you'll definitely feel squished for a while!

[forest beekeeper]

We have been amazed at how teens are taught to drive.

Our son has his permit, during the required driving school, they teach all young drivers to drive straight out into an intersection and not to start turning until they will go off onto the shoulder and then to make corrections to get back into their intended lane of travel. The driving school requires that at the end of their school one parent must ride with the teacher and the student, to that we can see exactly how they were taught to operate a vehicle.

Then they also taught him to ride the center line.

Since moving here, we have heard news reports of head-on collisions, from folks driving on the center line.

I have been caused to veer off onto the shoulder multiple times, by folks coming at me hanging significantly over the center lane and into my lane. This does happen more frequently in curves. The vehicles in the outside lane of a curve will commonly leave their lane to negotiate a curve by driving in the on-coming lane.

We have also seen here locally, a couple deaths from teens in a car goofing with their friends in the car, and pulling out in front of traffic. The law requires that as a young driver, they can not be carrying other teens. But it seems to be not enforced, and parents allow their teens to borrow their cars packed with teens.

We moved here just as two local teens died while pulling out onto a road in front of a cement truck. The next week, I stopped for a vehicle that was having mechanical problems, and this 17 yr old girl had four other teens in the car with her. They get to talking and laughing and screaming and no body is watching the road.

My wife was in an accident in Bangor. She was at an intersection, turning to get onto I-95. She had a green light. Another car operated by a teen with three other teens in it, blew through two red lights and hit her head-on. The teen was driving on a learner's permit. She had to call her mother to come to the scene so there would be a licensed driver present before the police got there. The teen's vehicle had nobody in it with a license.

[Elcarim]

Originally Posted by mollysmiles

The narrow roads with no paved shoulders are a huge hazard, and depending on where you drift onto that shoulder, the dirt may be too soft to get back up onto the road! You guys will adjust, Elcarim, but you'll definitely feel squished for a while!

Thank goodness we have a small car!

[Elcarim]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

Since moving here, we have heard news reports of head-on collisions, from folks driving on the center line.

I have been caused to veer off onto the shoulder multiple times, by folks coming at me hanging significantly over the center lane and into my lane. This does happen more frequently in curves. The vehicles in the outside lane of a curve will commonly leave their lane to negotiate a curve by driving in the on-coming lane.

Oh, that happend to us a couple of times! We were sure we were going to be hit head-on on those narrow roads. It was scary!

[mollysmiles]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

We have been amazed at how teens are taught to drive.

Our son has his permit, during the required driving school, they teach all young drivers to drive straight out into an intersection and not to start turning until they will go off onto the shoulder and then to make corrections to get back into their intended lane of travel. The driving school requires that at the end of their school one parent must ride with the teacher and the student, to that we can see exactly how they were taught to operate a vehicle.

Then they also taught him to ride the center line.

Since moving here, we have heard news reports of head-on collisions, from folks driving on the center line.

I have been caused to veer off onto the shoulder multiple times, by folks coming at me hanging significantly over the center lane and into my lane. This does happen more frequently in curves. The vehicles in the outside lane of a curve will commonly leave their lane to negotiate a curve by driving in the on-coming lane.

We have also seen here locally, a couple deaths from teens in a car goofing with their friends in the car, and pulling out in front of traffic. The law requires that as a young driver, they can not be carrying other teens. But it seems to be not enforced, and parents allow their teens to borrow their cars packed with teens.

We moved here just as two local teens died while pulling out onto a road in front of a cement truck. The next week, I stopped for a vehicle that was having mechanical problems, and this 17 yr old girl had four other teens in the car with her. They get to talking and laughing and screaming and no body is watching the road.

My wife was in an accident in Bangor. She was at an intersection, turning to get onto I-95. She had a green light. Another car operated by a teen with three other teens in it, blew through two red lights and hit her head-on. The teen was driving on a learner's permit. She had to call her mother to come to the scene so there would be a licensed driver present before the police got there. The teen's vehicle had nobody in it with a license.

you're right forest, they aren't supposed to be driving with anyone but immediate family members in the car until they've had their LICENSE for 6 months... and nobody but immediate family members, including a licensed driver over 18, in the car while they have their permit! We're in a small town, and the police know the kids, so here they're more likely to get stopped. But elsewhere, how does a cop know? I don't get that! And the cell phone issue? That drives me nuts! Under 18 NO cell phone while driving, period. It's up to local law enforcement to police this, but geez, there's got to be a way to make it easier for them to know under what conditions that teen is driving.