Having driven vehicles that are over 10 feet tall for work, one of the most important rules is to be aware of areas of low clearance. We've had some close calls, along with a couple of accidents in that regard, one involving the parking structure at Salem City Hall and one, involving yours truly, with the drive thru at the Taco Time in Sweet Home. For the record, the facts in my accident are that I had enough clearance at the top to drive through, with inches to spare; what I failed to take into consideration was how wide the span at the place was, the result being that I knocked down several tiles on either side of the arches. Nothing ever came of that incident, as there really wasn't much damage.
The incident in Salem peeled back a few inches of the box, before the driver realized what was going on and backed out. This accident required some major restoration work on the truck, whereas the result from mine was a couple of minor indentations at the top of the box unit on both sides.
Anyway, I've always kinda wondered what would happen if a too-tall truck went through a low clearance area.........completely? . No need to wonder anymore, as the story in today's New York Times tells the tale of a Texas trucker and the Lincoln Tunnel. The NYT photo by Oscar Hidalgo shows the "after" result from the clash alluded to in the title of this post.
STORY
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