Wednesday, November 16, 2016

The nightmare intersection

A simple drive becomes a 25-minute game of Russian Roulette.

Topeka’s road and parking lot layouts can be questionable.  For example the intersection of 10th Avenue and Buchanan Street.  The small parking lot that parallels 10th Avenue usually isn't cause for concern, but this October day it was.

An elderly man heading south on Buchanan Street approached the intersection.  He looked both ways, to his left, he saw that parking lot filled with cars.

This was problematic because the cars were aligned in a way that completely blocked the view of eastbound, oncoming traffic.  The man looked puzzled, weighing his options.

He could either floor it into the intersection or creep out hoping someone would slow down.  Both options were risky and neither seemed more advantageous than the other.  


He debated for 25 minutes, until finally deciding to creep far enough out that he could see past the cars.

4 comments:

  1. Dude if I were that old man I would of panicked and just jumped out of my car and ran away.

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  2. I'm surprised he could remember what he was doing after 25 minutes

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  3. Hm. Interesting story. I liked the first sentence, that had me hooked. It wasn't a standard "lede" that they teach here in the mass media program, but if you take the "Murder, Mayhem and Media" class, you'll understand that sometimes you don't want all the info crammed in the first sentence.

    I looked at the map and I think I see the parking lot you were referring too. If that's the case, shouldn't it be the "westbound" traffic?

    As a side note, hesitation causes a lot of accidents. Just go! :)

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  4. I can't imagine sitting at an intersection for 25 minutes. Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith.

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