Avoid Route 95 near MINI Peabody!

[roadeyes]

Just a heads up for anyone travelling on route 95 in Peabody, Danvers, Topsfield...the road is really torn apart. I got pinned behind a couple scaredy cat drivers today and a huge dump truck came barrelling up on my left. The truck was spitting up all sorts of rocks and gravel from the road and I couldn't escape it. It was like somebody was standing in front of the MINI throwing handfuls of rocks at the bonnet. I ended up with about a dozen chips in the paint and a cracked windshield.

I know that this section is pretty bad on both north and south bound sides in this area. Since Mini Peabody is nearby, I'd hate for other MINI owners (especially brand new ones!) to get caught in this. Just use Route 1 between rt.128 and route 97 or 133, instead of 95. It probably won't be fixed until spring.

[MaxaMini]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadeyes

Just a heads up for anyone travelling on route 95 in Peabody, Danvers, Topsfield...the road is really torn apart. I got pinned behind a couple scaredy cat drivers today and a huge dump truck came barrelling up on my left. The truck was spitting up all sorts of rocks and gravel from the road and I couldn't escape it. It was like somebody was standing in front of the MINI throwing handfuls of rocks at the bonnet. I ended up with about a dozen chips in the paint and a cracked windshield.

I know that this section is pretty bad on both north and south bound sides in this area. Since Mini Peabody is nearby, I'd hate for other MINI owners (especially brand new ones!) to get caught in this. Just use Route 1 between rt.128 and route 97 or 133, instead of 95. It probably won't be fixed until spring.

Were you able to get a company name of the truck or a plate? I got reimbursed by a utility company who's driver was irresponsibly operating the company truck. It's worth a shot.

[roadeyes]

Quote: Originally Posted by MaxaMini

Were you able to get a company name of the truck or a plate? I got reimbursed by a utility company who's driver was irresponsibly operating the company truck. It's worth a shot.

The truck wasn't really doing anything wrong-well, maybe a little too fast. But the point is, no matter what you do on this section of road, gravel and rocks are flying around. By the time you realize what is happening, it's too late.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure Massachusetts insurance covers cracked windshields no matter what. The paint chips are another story.

[bluetoothmini]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadeyes

The truck wasn't really doing anything wrong-well, maybe a little too fast. But the point is, no matter what you do on this section of road, gravel and rocks are flying around. By the time you realize what is happening, it's too late.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure Massachusetts insurance covers cracked windshields no matter what. The paint chips are another story.

They were...It's the companys responsibility to SECURE their load and that makes it a hazard to other drivers to have all the debris flying at other passenger cars.

[MudBud]

I agree with the road, 2nd year in a row, same time of the year, same area of 95 south and another rock into the windshield of my SUV, only 4 months old. Thats why the MINI doesn't come out until June and after they sweep the roads!!!

[Actual Size]

Ohmygod! A post by the rare and elusive MudBud. How's everything going up there Keith?

[MudBud]

Actual, I am still kicking....thought I was going to RI for the pulley party, but I don't forsee the snow leaving and the roads swept until June. No time for anything, traveling too much and now looking forward to spending some time in the Carribean. However I WILL be at MOT this year as I have missed the last 2 due to AAU basketball with my daughter.

We will get to MAMA soon enough this summer or early fall and will see everyone at MOT!!

Keith

[Actual Size]

Quote: Originally Posted by MudBud

We will get to MAMA soon enough this summer or early fall and will see everyone at MOT!!

We'll be waiting for you!

[holdenontoit]

Just an update to this thread ..........here it is, the promised "spring" and the road's still a mess! But what's more, there is a new hazard on this stretch of road: COPS! AND LOTS OF THEM now that several sections of this road have been re paved , people's speed seems to have, er, increased shall we say, and the Mass state police have been setting up speed traps all over the place . During the construction , speed fines are DOUBLED! So be carefull out there . I saw no less than three traps set up on tuesday in a 10 mile stretch of 95 southbound between Newburyport and Topsfield. Forewarned is forearmed.

Jock

[Aqualung]

from today's Globe...

http://www.boston.com/business/artic...r_windshields/

Danger alley for windshields

A crumbling stretch of I-95 put 13 towns at the top of the list for glass claims

By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff | February 14, 2006
New insurance data paints Interstate 95 from Topsfield to Salisbury as a windshield disaster zone, with more glass claims per capita in towns along the highway than any other area of the state.

Residents of the area have long complained about the poor quality of the road, but the insurance data documents for the first time just how bad, and costly, the problem was until a long-delayed repaving project was completed last fall. Glass dealers say drivers along I-95 are still bringing in damaged vehicles.

In Georgetown, a community of about 7,000 near I-95, preliminary data indicate four of every 10 cars had windshields replaced last year. It was the third straight year that Georgetown led the state in glass claims on a per capita basis.

''It's straight out of 'Ripley's Believe It or Not,' " said Peter H. Sarno, chairman of the Georgetown Board of Selectmen. ''This is something you'd expect in the big city, not here."
Nearby towns fared only slightly better. The data show 13 communities along I-95, including Rowley, Amesbury, Newburyport, and Boxford, topped the state in per capita claims. Three of every 10 cars in the 13 towns had a glass claim last year, well above the statewide average of one claim for every 10 cars.

Daniel Johnston, president of the Automobile Insurers Bureau of Massachusetts, estimated the total cost of glass claims in the 13 towns last year was about $10 million, up from $6.5 million in 2004. Johnston estimated the $10 million cost increased the auto insurance premium of every Massachusetts resident by about $3.

The glass-breaking epidemic along I-95 started in 2001 as bits and pieces of the roadway started to come loose. State highway officials took corrective actions over the next three years, but the problem only got worse, peaking in late 2004 and early 2005 before a $12 million repaving project began in April. The repaving was completed in September.
''It was dangerous. It was like driving through the tail of a comet," said Chris Green of Boxford, who had to replace three windshields and a headlight on his family's two cars within three months.

The crumbling problem got so bad in January last year that the state hired a contractor to mill off the existing pavement in several areas to remove debris until repaving could begin once the weather got warmer.

State officials now suspect something went wrong when the highway was repaved 15 years ago that caused it to break down prematurely over the last several years.
''We can only infer from the early failure and substantial failure of the road that there might have been issues with the way it was put down, but that would be speculation," said Jon Carlisle, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Highway Department.

Johnston said the data showing an unusual spike in glass claims in relatively rural areas initially prompted concerns that fraud might be the cause. When it became apparent that the rise in claims was being caused by problems with I-95, Johnston said litigation was briefly considered, but that idea was dropped for a variety of reasons.

''How do we prove that one person's windshield was broken by asphalt that came off the road as opposed to a pebble somewhere else or something else?" he asked.

Residents of towns along I-95, who use the road to commute to work and go to nearby shopping areas, say driving on the interstate was a challenge for the last several years.
Robert J. Given of Newburyport said he replaced three windshields in 18 months and is currently driving with a cracked windshield, waiting for warmer weather before having it repaired. All of the incidents occurred while commuting from his home to work in Woburn.
''There were chunks of the road literally coming up," he said.

Stephen Delaney, the town administrator in Georgetown, said the challenge of driving on Interstate 95 was staying away from trucks that often kicked up large chunks of pavement with their tires. He had limited success: He replaced one windshield on his girlfriend's car, but hasn't bothered to fix the windshield on his Corolla. The Corolla windshield has four cracks from four different incidents.

Glass claims overall in Massachusetts began rising in the mid-1990s and spiked dramatically in 2001 when they hit $151 million.

Since then they have bounced up and down, dropping to $119 million in 2004 and then rising to an estimated $142 million last year. The average cost of a glass claim is $400.
By comparison, theft claims, which used to be a serious concern in Massachusetts, totaled only $31.2 million in 2004, half as much as in 2001.

Massachusetts is the only state in the nation where there is no deductible on a glass claim. Insured customers simply call a glass dealer and have the work done, often the same day. But up along I-95 last year repairs sometimes took as long as two weeks because of the high number of claims.

''Usually we get a repeat customer every one to two years. In this case, we were getting them every one to two months," said Guy Strazzere, general manager at Giant Glass, an auto glass repair company with offices in North Andover and Peabody.

Strazzere and officials at other glass repair companies say claims have fallen back to more normal levels since the I-95 repaving project was completed, though they still fix some cars damaged by that road.

''These cars were getting literally sandblasted," said Strazzere. ''The fronts of their cars looked like they got hit by a hailstorm."

[MetalMiniMayhem]

I think this should just be an annual "Sticky" thread..!.. this time of year a similar thread always seems to come to fruition here..LMAO!