Vehicle Incident – Ramp from 14th St Bridge to GWMP Northbound

[dbb]

Apparently happened yesterday. Appears that a motorist (likely a black SUV with Maryland 1812 plates) couldn’t make the turn from the bridge to the GWMP and crashed through the barriers on the inside of the turn. That is impressive! Overcoming both centrifugal force and an easy turn to crash on the inside of a turn takes really bad motoring skills.

Please call your DMV and cancel your account.

Topic

[Emm]

When I was recovering from hip surgery this was my route to drive home (although I usually took the SB ramp to GW parkway unless I was running errands north). I was constantly impressed by the absolute craziness of drivers trying to get onto the GW Parkway from the 14th St Bridge. Merging directly into my stopped-in-traffic-car, driving 2 abreast in a lane that can only fit 1 car, weaving through barriers, and other incredibly crazy things.

When people ask me if I’m nervous biking home from work, I always say I found driving home to be significantly scarier–in a large part due to these exit ramps.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@dbb 164678 wrote:

Apparently happened yesterday. Appears that a motorist (likely a black SUV with Maryland 1812 plates) couldn’t make the turn from the bridge to the GWMP and crashed through the barriers on the inside of the turn. That is impressive! Overcoming both centrifugal force and an easy turn to crash on the inside of a turn takes really bad motoring skills.

Please call your DMV and cancel your account.

Wait, wouldn’t the barriers on the inside of turn be the MUP barrier? Did the driver just hit and bounce off? They seemed normal this morning…

[dbb]

@TwoWheelsDC 164690 wrote:

Wait, wouldn’t the barriers on the inside of turn be the MUP barrier? Did the driver just hit and bounce off? They seemed normal this morning…

Some of the “bike rack” fencing alongside the trail up to the bridge got taken out.

[TwoWheelsDC]

dbb;164693 wrote:

some of the “bike rack” fencing alongside the trail up to the bridge got taken out.

omg.

[Starduster]

@TwoWheelsDC 164696 wrote:

omg.

Um, yeah. SO comforting. Right through our path of travel.

As often as I’ve driven that ramp… Yours truly with the motorsports background will say it is easy to miss your braking point, blow the entry into a downhill right hander, overcorrect, break the rear loose, and away you go. A spin to the inside of a turn is actually pretty common. One more *unprotected* part of the MVT to fear.

[bentbike33]

More proof that the GW Parkway is completely unsafe for cars. It is long past time to turn the entire thing into a bikes-only facility and remand the MVT to the peds.

[Author]

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