By fedward
Ouch
courtesy of Fedward Potz
PSA: If you play chicken with a firetruck, you’ll lose. This was at the corner of 18th & L NW this morning. You’ll note the sheet metal from the car’s door is still stuck to the firetruck’s bumper.
I hope everybody is OK.
By brownpau
We’ve gotten word that a delivery truck has crashed into the Hirshhorn. Driver sustained serious injuries, but not life-threatening. Minor damage to the building; the truck broke through flower pot barriers and hit a window at the entrance, shattering it.
Update from DC Fire/EMS Twitter: update – loaded UPS truck crashed into front entrance of Hirshorn – driver pri 2 – serious – perimeter expanded – expect some traffic closur
By Karl Johnson
‘D3H_3088’
courtesy of ‘Cazimiro’
I just received a call literally seconds ago that a school bus was involved in a bad accident on I-270 Northbound near the Father Hurley Blvd exit, in the Germantown area. Apparently a Subaru Outback did not stop in time and slammed into the back of the bus, in the right lane, with at least half of the car being sandwiched under the rear bumper of the bus. Details are limited at this time as you can imagine so I don’t know if any children were aboard the bus or not, but whenever a school bus is involved in an auto accident of any kind, let alone one on an interstate, serious concern is valid.
We certainly hope there were no serious injuries and will bring you details as we find them, but do expect traffic to come to a hault on I-270, most likely in both directions (Northbound will probably be partially closed and Southbound will be full of rubber neckers). If you have any details, please post in the comments.
By brownpau
Update: More details on the accident from WashCycle.
I walked by this scene at 31st and M in Georgetown last night: squad cars and yellow tape around a Washington Flyer taxi, its windshield badly cracked, a mangled bicycle under its tires. Vnangia tweets that the accident was fatal. MPD had officers directing traffic around the scene (which got a bit confusing for drivers and pedestrians alike as the traffic lights were still running at the time, nearly causing more accidents), and M Street was backed up significantly. (But then, when isn’t it?)
Also mentioned on Georgetown Metropolitan. No mention on the MPD-2D mailing list. Anyone else see what happened?
By shannon
‘metro’
courtesy of ‘spiggycat’
The Metro employee who was struck by a train between the Braddock Road and National Airport stations last week has died, according to this WMATA press release. The employee, John Moore of Arlington, had opened a door that led to the track right-of-way and was struck by a train on Thursday. Metro and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating this incident. The family of the victim already hired a lawyer from Evansville, IN to help them seek monetary damages to pay for losses and expenses.
It’s been a terrible year for Metro, as this is the third Metro employee who has died while working this year. The first was the driver of the train involved in the June 22 Metro crash, Jeanice McMillan, and the second was a track repairman, Michael Nash, who was struck by equipment on August 9th. A Metro subcontractor also died earlier this summer when he was electrocuted at a Metro bus garage.
The Washington Post calls this death “the most recent fatality in a series of tragic events afflicting the system’s operations in recent months.” Do you think this is just a tragic coincidence, or is there something seriously wrong with Metro’s safety regulations?Evansville, IN
By shannon
‘joy.’
courtesy of ‘nevermindtheend’
It’s just not been a good summer for Metro. Exactly a month ago, a Metro employee was killed while performing maintenance on the Orange line, and today, word comes that another Metro employee was struck by a train between Braddock Road and National Airport stations this morning.
If you’re travelling on the yellow or blue lines, prepare for major delays for the rest of the day: service has been suspended between Braddock Road and National Airport. The blue and yellow lines are both split into two segments, with free shuttle bus service between King Street, Braddock Road, and National Airport stations.
Update: As of 12:43 PM, normal service has resumed on the yellow and blue lines. No updates on the injured Metro employee except that he was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
By Kirk
‘June 22 2009 – Red Line Delay’
courtesy of ‘Anything!’
According to a WMATA press release, customers on the Red Line should continue to expect slower service and more crowded trains for the next ten days. They expect the NTSB investigation of the June 22 metro crash to wrap up on July 19, after which service should return to normal. Until then, the situation on the Red Line will remain as is.
By brownpau
Metro’s Red Line is delayed this morning in the direction of Shady Grove, with trains on that side terminating at Twinbrook station due to an “emergency situation at Shady Grove.” Delay announcements were followed by notices to station managers to “not call Central unless your station is also having an emergency.”
Current Metro alert says Disruption at Shady Grove in both directions. Expect delays in both directions due to the report of a person struck by a train. NBC Washington says the person was struck on the inbound rails at Shady Grove at 9:50AM. WJLA reports the man was pinned under the train but survived and was taken to a local hospital.
WTOP reports the man has died of his injuries; witnesses saw him jump.
By brownpau
Vehicular crash on Rock Creek Parkway at Virginia Ave NW, down near the Watergate. Emergency responders are on the scene; looks like at least one person was injured enough to need rolling-away on a gurney. Fortunately GWU Hospital is right around the corner. The intersection is blocked so you can’t turn onto Virginia Ave NW from the southbound lane, but Parkway traffic is flowing smoothly otherwise, with minimal rubbernecking.
By brownpau
Washington Post reports that an unidentified male has fallen on to the Metro tracks at Friendship Heights Station. WJLA says he is “unresponsive” with “minor injuries,” and that he has been removed from the rails. WMATA Service Disruption alerts still have delays on the Red Line in both directions due to the incident, as well as an earlier switch malfunction problem. WTOP says Metro has turned off power to the third rail at the station and are single-tracking trains between Cleveland Park and Bethesda.
By brownpau
A Metrobus crashed into an Alexandria apartment last night. No one was injured as the resident wasn’t home and the driver had just offloaded his passengers due to a door problem — just before the bus started rolling away — but both apartment and bus appear to have been totalled. WJLA has more, and here’s some video of the scene from Associated Press:
By brownpau
So I was running a bit late for work this morning and took a cab. As we passed through downtown, WTOP on the radio warned of traffic around 18th and K Streets NW, as a pedestrian had been hit by a car around that intersection. As luck would have it, the taxi had just arrived there, and sure enough there was a backup of about half a block — nothing too bad, and I got to work just fine.
Well, guess who hit the pedestrian: Robert Novak, in his black Corvette. He says he didn’t even know he’d hit anyone till a passing biker told him. Police detained Novak on the scene for about an hour and gave him a citation (no arrest); the pedestrian, as yet unnamed, was brought to GWU with arm pain. WJLA has posted a raw video interview with Novak immediately following his emergence from an MPD cruiser.
Update: Additional info, commentary, and schadenfreude from Washington Post, DCist, Politico, TMZ (where he blames NPR for distracting him), Think Progress, Wonkette, and The Carpetbagger Report.