On March 15, a fatal accident happened on the bridge — the head of the shop of the Chkalovsk plant was killed. Two more people were hospitalized with injuries. Novosibirsk drivers admitted that it is difficult for them to drive on the Bugrinsky bridge
This week, two serious accidents happened at the Bugrinsky Bridge in Novosibirsk: on Monday, the Toyota Lite Ace minibus flew into the oncoming lane, collided with a Lexus RX400, then with a MAN truck and overturned. The driver of the «Lexus» — the head of the shop at the Chkalovsk plant — died in an accident, and he has a small child.
And on Thursday, March 18, a cargo «Gazelle» rolled over on its side on the bridge, before that its driver lost control — the movement towards the right bank froze for several hours.
What is the cause of the accidents? Does snow along the bump stop affect traffic? We discussed this with the drivers, who often drive around Bugrinka, and an expert.
After the accident, people on social networks began to argue about the possible reasons, the versions were different: from the poor energy of the place to the inattention of the drivers. Many also suggested that the whole thing was in poor snow removal — allegedly due to the fact that snow is shoveled to the edges of the road, snow banks are formed there, which interfere with traffic. The drivers themselves mentioned this in conversation with the NGS.
What do the drivers say?
— I ride the Bugrinsky bridge every day. The condition of the coverage is normal, and even excellent in comparison with some areas in our city. The road is being cleaned as usual, the snow has passed — we have moved along the edges, usually towards the right lane. And regularly with a rotary machine they throw snow to the side of the road. On the bridge itself, a parapet of snow occupies the right lane, — says the driver Evgeniy. — There is a problem of snow along the bumpers, snow played a secondary role in the Lexus accident, where, in my opinion, the minibus driver is to blame. But in the accident with the truck, I believe the snow is to blame. A person who goes there for the first time could easily have run into this snowdrift.
Another motorist, Yegor Perkov, also drives across the bridge every day. In his opinion, the movement is complicated not only by the snow, but also by the tiled surface on which the car «jumps». According to the motorist, in the accident with the Lexus, the snow had no effect on the accident.
— In the first accident, the speed limit and the driver’s inattention played a role. And in the second accident, with the Gazelle, there was snow. There is a temporary sign, «Obstacle Avoidance», but for some reason it lies. He should stand, but he is lying around, no one needs it, covered with snow. Literally a little distracted, and that’s it, you can get there. I myself recently, either looked in the mirror, or something, turned sharply, and the snow was 20 meters away. In case of emergency braking, you can either be driven along a rut somewhere, or you can crash into this snow. Only by the time Mishustin arrived, something was cleaned, and so there are snowdrifts on the roads, driving is unbearable, » said Yegor.
Another driver, Ilya, says that the road on the Bugrinsky bridge is quite normal.
— According to my impressions, the road there is in good condition: both in terms of snow removal and in terms of the road surface itself. It happens that the snow lies on the edge, narrows the carriageway somewhat, but it is not critical. The bridge is wide enough that cars can still move in three lanes. The only thing is that the ramps to the bridge itself are too narrow, and sometimes there really is not removed snow interferes with traffic, » Ilya said.
In the accident with «Lexus», Ilya believes, the fact that there is only one camera in the area of the bridge played a role, and therefore not everyone observes the speed limit there.
— Firstly, it is winter now, and no matter how perfectly the roads are cleaned, they are still slippery. At high speeds, even the spikes do not help much traction, so any careless movement can cause the car to skid. Secondly, those who drive at high speed drive in the left lane almost always, and it is closer to the oncoming lane, so this also increases the chance to fly there if something went wrong, ”explains Ilya.
And the Novosibirsk resident Sergei Sergeev was just stuck in a big traffic jam due to an overturned truck on March 18. He says that the roads were cleaned well until February, but recently the situation has worsened.
— I pass the Bugrinsky bridge every day, in both directions: from work, to work. As the snowfalls began before the spring period, the roads deteriorated significantly, there were two lanes out of three. They just carry the snow on the sides, they don’t want to take it out along the way. I will note: when Mishustin arrived, the Bugrinsky bridge was cleaned perfectly, — said Sergey.
“The abundance of snow on the roads does not allow us to correctly assess the situation”
According to the head of the Novosibirsk regional office of the Federation of car owners of Russia Vyacheslav Ashurkov, the situation with snow removal on the roads in Novosibirsk is bad in general, not only on the Bugrinsky bridge.
— I am extremely negative about the winter content in Novosibirsk, especially this winter. I admit that the cause of the accident, in addition to the driver’s carelessness, was the roll-over. The enclosing structures, which, in general, were needed in order to delimit the flows, in fact, became the cause of the accident. Because, in fact, during the first accident, the car took off through this separator and landed on the Lexus roof. That is, it turns out that it was the inappropriate content that led to such disastrous results. Of course, the court will determine the fault, the traffic police. But we already see that the abundance of snow on the roads and shoulders does not allow the driver to correctly assess the situation. Sometimes you just don’t see anything: you drive out and have to look out of these snowdrifts, while you move quietly, but an accident may occur, — explained Vyacheslav Ashurkov.
The expert said that it was difficult for him to assess the accident with the truck, but in the case of Toyota and Lexus, snow removal influenced the outcome of the accident.
— Judging by the videos and photos that I saw, I conclude that there are a lot of questions for those who should clean our roads. It is clear that there are a number of other factors. I don’t know how fast the car was moving, which took off into the oncoming lane, I don’t know what maneuvers it made before. But if it were just a clean bump stop, the car would have hit this bump stop and bounced off, but stayed in its lane. And he just took off, — said Vyacheslav Ashurkov.
What do they say in the city hall?
When preparing the material, the NGS tried to contact the head of the department of highways of the Novosibirsk city hall, Yuri Serdyuk, but he recommended contacting the press service of the city hall.
The recent accidents were commented on today during a press conference by the mayor of the city Anatoly Lokot.
— As far as I know, the accident, at least one of them, was definitely not connected with snow. There were no snow banks on the roadway of the Bugrinsky bridge and junctions. We are responding. Thoroughly, I assure you, we investigate each case following the law enforcement agencies. They issue us a prescription if the reason is inadequate maintenance of the road network. Here we quickly respond to each of these cases, — said Anatoly Lokot.
At the same time, the mayor did not specify what kind of accident, according to his information, was not associated with snow.
In total, over the past year, the NGS talked about five accidents at the Bugrinsky bridge, and one of them happened in the summer. In August, the taxi driver lost control and crashed into a bump stop. And in early November, six cars collided on the bridge due to icy conditions.
