Bartender killed, Simeon's destroyed in runaway truck accident

Bartender killed, Simeon's destroyed in runaway truck accident.

The more I learn about this accident, the angrier I get.

If I were a betting man, I'd wager the driver did not make the turn toward Seneca because he was going too fast at the bottom of the hill and feared a rollover. It's not clear how many pedestrians were on the east end of the Commons at the time, but under the circumstances the building may have been the best option.

Whoever is responsible for the maintenance and loading of the truck is where the fault here mainly lies, but Ithaca has a responsibility to configure its roads such that deaths are not a sliver of poor judgment away. I always assumed this philosophy is why there is, for instance, always a car parked directly in front of Chapter House: a runaway vehicle would be less likely to reach the bar with 4000# of metal blocking it.

Kyle Rose
If I were a betting man, I'd wager the driver did not make the turn toward Seneca because he was going too fast at the bottom of the hill and feared a rollover. It's not clear how many pedestrians were on the east end of the Commons at the time, but under the circumstances the building may have been the best option.

Whoever is responsible for the maintenance and loading of the truck is where the fault here mainly lies, but Ithaca has a responsibility to configure its roads such that deaths are not a sliver of poor judgment away. I always assumed this philosophy is why there is, for instance, always a car parked directly in front of Chapter House: a runaway vehicle would be less likely to reach the bar with 4000# of metal blocking it.

The link that Scersk posted mentioned that the truck driver had to be interviewed through a translator, which at first suggested to me that maybe he wasn't able to read signs directing him to turn onto Seneca, but from a check on Google Street view (images as of last fall), there don't look to be any signs indicating that that's what he should have done. Theoretically, if he were headed to Ithaca College, the sign would have directed him to head down State Street, but it's not clear where he was trying to get to I don't think.

Josh '99

Kyle Rose
If I were a betting man, I'd wager the driver did not make the turn toward Seneca because he was going too fast at the bottom of the hill and feared a rollover. It's not clear how many pedestrians were on the east end of the Commons at the time, but under the circumstances the building may have been the best option.

Whoever is responsible for the maintenance and loading of the truck is where the fault here mainly lies, but Ithaca has a responsibility to configure its roads such that deaths are not a sliver of poor judgment away. I always assumed this philosophy is why there is, for instance, always a car parked directly in front of Chapter House: a runaway vehicle would be less likely to reach the bar with 4000# of metal blocking it.

The link that Scersk posted mentioned that the truck driver had to be interviewed through a translator, which at first suggested to me that maybe he wasn't able to read signs directing him to turn onto Seneca, but from a check on Google Street view (images as of last fall), there don't look to be any signs indicating that that's what he should have done. Theoretically, if he were headed to Ithaca College, the sign would have directed him to head down State Street, but it's not clear where he was trying to get to I don't think.

If he's carrying cars, route 13 is the most likely destination.

Josh '99
Theoretically, if he were headed to Ithaca College, the sign would have directed him to head down State Street, but it's not clear where he was trying to get to I don't think.

Supposedly he had a pickup to make in Ithaca. What piqued my ire was that he turned from Mitchell (366) onto State (79), which implies he was coming from somewhere east or northeast of campus. To get to 366, he probably came in from, say, Cortland along 13: why not continue on 13 instead of head into town the way he did? Bad directions? Stupidity? The need to cut a few miles?

What bugs me, because of the geometries and topographies involved, is that 79 into Ithaca is open to heavy truck traffic at all. As the local legislator (I forget which) mentioned, you can't close state routes to trucks because it impedes interstate commerce. You know, that thing that is the end-all and be-all of this damn society. Damn localities, damn safety, damn aesthetics, damn the environment, damn quietude—heavy trucks must be allowed to roam free, because otherwise we'll all turn into communists!

Truck that hit Simeon's had numerous prior brake violations. Binghamton Press and Sun-Bulletin

I walked by Simeon's this past weekend when I was in town dropping my kids off at hockey camp. What a tragedy, RIP Amanda Bush.

This article indicates that the truck driver consider driving straight into the Commons but saw construction workers who would have been hit: Accident Description

Walking by the area and considering the options he had at that point.......not fun to think about.

Owners of Cornell Barber Shop in basement sue for damages. [ithacavoice.com]

The rebuilding of Simeon's is well under way, Brian Crandall reports. The restaurant is expanding to the second floor. The apartments above will be luxury-scale. The exterior will be a faithful reconstruction.

The Ithaca Voice reports on Simeon's reopening celebration planned for Thursday. They started service again at the end of August.