Big explosion in Melvendale (Detroit, Troy: houses, live in, vs)

[MS313]

I didn't have time to post this yesterday... but the night before last there was a big explosion that could be seen for miles near I-75. It lit the entire sky up orange and it was louder than the pistons stadium in 2004 lol. Alot of people thought it was a bomb at first. But no... just a drunk driver.
Melvindale explosion: Car crashes into gas line

[FlyHighEagle]

There seems to be a lot of extreme cases with car crashes in Metro Detroit. I'm moving back after being gone for 15 years, and the only reason I was gone was because I was a kid. I now have some money in the bank and a reason to move back and I love Detroit. I follow all of the news outlets on social media. But..... Why are there so many extreme crashes in Metro Detroit? Along with road rage instances? I'm always reading a headline saying:

"18 Wheeler on 94 Catches Fire, Closes Highway"
"Lady Commits Assault In Troy Due To Road Rage"
"100 Car Pile Up In Western Michigan Due To Fog"
"Semi Roll Over On 75 Causes Delays"

I really don't think that this happens everywhere else. Maybe a few other major cities but I live in Indy (Only for 60 more days!!!) and I rarely see the news being headlined with a semi catching fire or crashing into a bridge or whatever.

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by FlyHighEagle

There seems to be a lot of extreme cases with car crashes in Metro Detroit. I'm moving back after being gone for 15 years, and the only reason I was gone was because I was a kid. I now have some money in the bank and a reason to move back and I love Detroit. I follow all of the news outlets on social media. But..... Why are there so many extreme crashes in Metro Detroit? Along with road rage instances? I'm always reading a headline saying:

"18 Wheeler on 94 Catches Fire, Closes Highway"
"Lady Commits Assault In Troy Due To Road Rage"
"100 Car Pile Up In Western Michigan Due To Fog"
"Semi Roll Over On 75 Causes Delays"

I really don't think that this happens everywhere else. Maybe a few other major cities but I live in Indy (Only for 60 more days!!!) and I rarely see the news being headlined with a semi catching fire or crashing into a bridge or whatever.

1) Speeding (85% of the time)
2) Drunk driving
3) Distracted driving
4) Not adjusting driving for inclement weather

And possibly in a few cases, the freeways have outdated design standards which causes odd traffic flows leading to more frequent accidents, but most of the time it's one of the above.

Detroit is probably one of the few larger cities where there's not quite so much traffic that there's region-wide gridlock (effectively slowing overall traffic down), but just enough volume and speed to where accidents are quite frequent. Plus I-94 and I-75 (between the Ohio/Indiana border and Ambassador bridge) are major freight routes and both are inadequately built to handle the current traffic volumes.

[FlyHighEagle]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

1) Speeding (85% of the time)
2) Drunk driving
3) Distracted driving
4) Not adjusting driving for inclement weather

And possibly in a few cases, the freeways have outdated design standards which causes odd traffic flows leading to more frequent accidents, but most of the time it's one of the above.

Detroit is probably one of the few larger cities where there's not quite so much traffic that there's region-wide gridlock (effectively slowing overall traffic down), but just enough volume and speed to where accidents are quite frequent. Plus I-94 and I-75 (between the Ohio/Indiana border and Ambassador bridge) are major freight routes and both are inadequately built to handle the current traffic volumes.

Didn't MDot announce that they were going to reconstruct I-94 a year or two ago? Did that project cancel or are they still going to do that?

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by FlyHighEagle

Didn't MDot announce that they were going to reconstruct I-94 a year or two ago? Did that project cancel or are they still going to do that?

A few of the bridges are/have already been reconstructed, but widening/rebuilding the freeway itself doesn't start until 2018/2019. The entire thing will be done by 2033.

[MS313]

One thing I picked up on in Detroit... I feel safer when heavy traffic is stop and go vs heavy traffic trying to beat heavy traffic at 80+ mph.

FlyHighEagle At least once a year something crazy happens on Detroit freeways that makes it to national news. Maybe next time they would use concrete barriers so nobody can crash through it. Oh and congrats and good luck on the move.

[FlyHighEagle]

Originally Posted by MS313

One thing I picked up on in Detroit... I feel safer when heavy traffic is stop and go vs heavy traffic trying to beat heavy traffic at 80+ mph.

FlyHighEagle At least once a year something crazy happens on Detroit freeways that makes it to national news. Maybe next time they would use concrete barriers so nobody can crash through it. Oh and congrats and good luck on the move.

That's too bad, and thanks!

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by FlyHighEagle

There seems to be a lot of extreme cases with car crashes in Metro Detroit. I'm moving back after being gone for 15 years, and the only reason I was gone was because I was a kid. I now have some money in the bank and a reason to move back and I love Detroit. I follow all of the news outlets on social media. But..... Why are there so many extreme crashes in Metro Detroit? Along with road rage instances? I'm always reading a headline saying:

"18 Wheeler on 94 Catches Fire, Closes Highway"
"Lady Commits Assault In Troy Due To Road Rage"
"100 Car Pile Up In Western Michigan Due To Fog"
"Semi Roll Over On 75 Causes Delays"

I really don't think that this happens everywhere else. Maybe a few other major cities but I live in Indy (Only for 60 more days!!!) and I rarely see the news being headlined with a semi catching fire or crashing into a bridge or whatever.

Well, hitting a gas main is certainly extreme & newsworthy, but that's just "luck" more than anything else, it certainly isn't a regional "driving skill" or "road rage" thing. I was visiting my bro's place in a fairly wealthy Phoenix blurb the other day & there was a major multi-vehicle rollover crash by his house. It's a 35mph zone, and it's the third rollover crash I can remember in that area, and I don't visit him much. Not sure how you roll a car at 35mph without the benefit of snow/rain or big ditches, but Phoenicians seem to possess a certain skill-set I've never mastered.

My favorite Phoenix road-incident was the dude who was moving & had a gas-grill in his U-haul that went BOOM!.. The dude was alright, but debris was everywhere & I think he blew out windows in the houses in the area.

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/...plodes-6658257

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cKfCFm1yszA

[Joe33]

Heck in my neck of the woods they throw fully loaded trailers at the gas mains and cant get them to explode.

Crews work to repair Walmart gas main - Black Hills Pioneer: Local News

[Blue Grass Fever]

Originally Posted by MS313

I didn't have time to post this yesterday... but the night before last there was a big explosion that could be seen for miles near I-75. It lit the entire sky up orange and it was louder than the pistons stadium in 2004 lol. Alot of people thought it was a bomb at first. But no... just a drunk driver.
Melvindale explosion: Car crashes into gas line

Good old Smellvindale. Or is it Melvinhole? Can't really remember..

I have visited that DTE facility before and was surprised of the report that the drunk driver actually hit the gas-main. The berms are fairly big around the main.