Desolate English path has killed more than 100 people (2017) • Hacker News Board

Re: Desolate English path has killed more than 100 people (2017)

#41

Post by Angostura » Mon, Sep 07, 2020, 10:20 PM UTC

crote wrote: post #37

ovi256 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The one in France is the causeway to Noirmoutier island. It's a two way road that is impassable at high tide. At both ends, prominent panels display warnings, the current time and the time of the next high tide. Still, there are regular occurences of people that lose their cars and have to be rescued from the shelter poles, and, very rarely, worse. Incidentally, it's about the same length as this 3 mile path, 4.2 km.…

France also used to have Mont-Saint-Michel, but that one is no more.

Really? I'm went over that causeway a few years ago - what happened?

Re: Desolate English path has killed more than 100 people (2017)

#42

Post by gallego2007 » Mon, Sep 07, 2020, 10:21 PM UTC

WalterBright wrote: post #35

In Seattle, the old I90 floating bridge across Lake Washington had a "bulge" where a section of the roadway could be pushed into the bulge to make room for boat passage. When the section was retracted, the highway abruptly ended, and a barrier was put up. The Bulge was infamous for traffic accidents where you suddenly had to swerve right then left then right at highway speed, with narrow lanes lined with concrete wal…

I had to look this up just to see what this 'right-left' swerve looked like on a bridge... found the following article [1] (from an insurance company no less!) with a picture and a link to an old news article [2] about the missing teen driver.

[1] https://pemco.com/blog/closed-drawspan-evokes-memories-of-th...

[2] https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=860&dat=19810915&id=z...

Re: Desolate English path has killed more than 100 people (2017)

#43

Post by shajznnckfke » Mon, Sep 07, 2020, 10:27 PM UTC

rusk wrote: post #40

shajznnckfke wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting, AdBlock via mobile Safari’s content blocker feature was blocking the images.

I had the same experience and was thinking it was strange. Surprising the BBC wouldn’t be testing for this kind of thing. Wonder if they’re subverting adblockers deliberately?

I’m thinking it could be an overinclusive block list. Although putting your good content in the same place you serve your ads (same cdn, and/or same html element) could be a good way to discourage adblocking.

Re: Desolate English path has killed more than 100 people (2017)

#44

Post by clairity » Mon, Sep 07, 2020, 10:30 PM UTC

theklub wrote: post #4

Reminded me of this one, deadly seemly little river in the UK... https://www.amusingplanet.com/2015/11/bolton-strid-stream-th... .

it's great to hear about these kinds of hidden dangers (immortalized by a wordsworth poem no less), but based on what's stated in the article, the sign shown in one of the photos seems to make the mistake of exhorting without informing (and persuading):

> "danger. this pool is very dangerous. submerged rocks. diving, jumping & swimming prohibited."

it seems it should say something more like

"danger. hidden, swift undercurrents will pull you under and trap you to certain death. avoid the water."

but maybe that one pool only has submerged rocks as a danger, and not undercurrents. even so, it could be more informative: "danger. hidden shallow submerged rocks make diving, jumping & swimming here deadly." but that makes the inclusion of swimming puzzling.

Re: Desolate English path has killed more than 100 people (2017)

#45

Post by ghaff » Mon, Sep 07, 2020, 10:31 PM UTC

rodgerd wrote: post #24

ghaff wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also a path through tidal flats to the island of Lindisfarne in extreme Northeast England. (There's also a causeway for cars although that is covered at high tide as well.) People do need to get rescued every now and then.

It's a great trip, but you need to time your visit to the tides or you'll regret it. My wife studied Old Germanic languages, so a visit to Holy Isle was a must-do. We stayed in a nearby inn so we could leave when the tide was running out. If you're in the north-east of England it's absolutely a wonderful thing to do.

Lindisfarne was the beginning of a long distance walk on St. Oswald's Way connecting to a section of Hadrian's Wall. Fascinating part of the country although the section from the mainland from Lindisfarne back to the coast is one of the less interesting.

We just walked along the causeway. The timing with the tides was a bit tight when we were there and it made more sense to take the more straightforward route although it wasn't as "authentic" as taking the path through the tidal flats.

Re: Desolate English path has killed more than 100 people (2017)

#46

Post by andbberger » Mon, Sep 07, 2020, 10:32 PM UTC

crote wrote: post #37

ovi256 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The one in France is the causeway to Noirmoutier island. It's a two way road that is impassable at high tide. At both ends, prominent panels display warnings, the current time and the time of the next high tide. Still, there are regular occurences of people that lose their cars and have to be rescued from the shelter poles, and, very rarely, worse. Incidentally, it's about the same length as this 3 mile path, 4.2 km.…

France also used to have Mont-Saint-Michel, but that one is no more.

Mont-Saint-Michel recently stopped existing??

Re: Desolate English path has killed more than 100 people (2017)

#47

Post by ghaff » Mon, Sep 07, 2020, 10:36 PM UTC

supernova87a wrote: post #25

By the way, I wonder if there is something about liability in English law that enables this to continue to stay open and posted as a path? I would imagine that in the US, liability would quickly force local government / whoever to take down the signposts, as they "entice" people to think there is a safe, established path and should risk their lives and are probably somewhat liable for the result. I guess there aren't…

There are areas in the US--e.g. on the Lost Coast of California--where you can be trapped by tides.

I'm not sure I agree in general though. There are tons of places in the US where you have hard to follow trails (and even roads) that aren't really maintained--especially in certain seasons.

Re: Desolate English path has killed more than 100 people (2017)

#48

Post by schoen » Mon, Sep 07, 2020, 10:39 PM UTC

clairity wrote: post #44

theklub wrote: post #4

Reminded me of this one, deadly seemly little river in the UK... https://www.amusingplanet.com/2015/11/bolton-strid-stream-th... .

it's great to hear about these kinds of hidden dangers (immortalized by a wordsworth poem no less), but based on what's stated in the article, the sign shown in one of the photos seems to make the mistake of exhorting without informing (and persuading): > "danger. this pool is very dangerous. submerged rocks. diving, jumping & swimming prohibited." it seems it should say something more like "danger. hidden, swift und…

San Francisco has these signs on Ocean Beach:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/c_nilsen/2823013166

They emphasize the concrete fact that people have actually died from the danger, which seems a little closer to your suggestion.

Re: Desolate English path has killed more than 100 people (2017)

#49

Post by pueblito » Mon, Sep 07, 2020, 10:44 PM UTC

bloak wrote: post #36

supernova87a wrote: post #25

By the way, I wonder if there is something about liability in English law that enables this to continue to stay open and posted as a path? I would imagine that in the US, liability would quickly force local government / whoever to take down the signposts, as they "entice" people to think there is a safe, established path and should risk their lives and are probably somewhat liable for the result. I guess there aren't…

Cancelling a public right of way is not easy. If it were, most of them would have disappeared years ago because land owners don't usually appreciate them being there. By the sound of it, the current signage is hardly enticing. But it's an interesting question whether someone might potentially be liable.

Can disuse cause a public right of way to cease existing in the UK?

Re: Desolate English path has killed more than 100 people (2017)

#50

Post by dredmorbius » Mon, Sep 07, 2020, 10:46 PM UTC

Benjamin_Dobell wrote: post #29

csours wrote: post #26

Things that look and feel like something you've done a thousand times, and may do a thousand times again with no danger. Except that sometimes, things can change very quickly. There's a creek bed near me that dried out almost completely over the summer; usually there's some water flow and occasional shallow pools where small fish live. While it was completely dry, I wanted to walk as far downstream as I could. I woke…

As soon as it started raining, wouldn't you have just gotten out of the creek via the nearest embankment?

Flash floods 1) develop quickly 2) often in impassable terrain (upstream and downstream are your only options), and 3) often under "blue sky" conditions from distant of hours-old rain rain.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=q_yw8uUqH5I