Will the collapse of the I-5 bridge north of Seattle last night change your driving?

No, I mean maybe i’ll think of this question next time I drive under/over a bridge.
You see, you achieved something today if nothing else :)

Unlikely. Have they determined why the bridge collapsed? Has there been unusual weather? Something they used in the building process?

I think the chances of a bridge I cross collapsing are very small. If it happens, well, it was meant to be. While I’m diverting my trip to avoid the bridge I could get taken out by a rogue semi-trailer or some fool speeding.

O man! Yeah…I always get a little freaking crossing bridges, especially if they’re old. I don’t know when that started, though.

No. That would be like worrying every moment that you were about to be hit by lightning.

The preliminary evaluation is the bridge collapsed because a fully loaded big rig hit the supporting structure.

That’s not nearly as scary as when a section of the SF-Oakland Bay Bridge collapsed.

They just rebuilt the bridge I use. no worries.

Wouldn’t that be horrible. Just driving along and the road drops out from under you.

Yeah, sure. I’ll worry about bridges about as much as I worry about sinkholes and meteorites. Which is to say, not a whole lot.

EDIT: Oh, gosh! How could I have forgotten about shark attacks?!

No, but it certainly again puts the spotlight on the nation’s declining infrastructure. I blame, among other things, short-sighted budgeting and ennui.

The bridge is no longer on google maps

I-5 is not on my list of roads to travel but 30 years ago the Mianus River Bridge was in my travels. Several people killed and snarled traffic from Boston to NYC for years driving through Greenwich, CT.

Before I got my anxiety mostly under control, I worried about stuff like this constantly. I used to not be able to drive on long bridges because of it (I always had someone else drive me across the Bay Bridge to Ocean City, Maryland.), but I can do it myself now.

I still get a little uneasy when I’m forced to stop while on a bridge, especially if I can feel it moving. But I’m much more of the “whatever happens, happens” mindset now.

I don’t mind bridges but I’m not crazy about tunnels!

@augustlan – did you know that if you are not able to drive across the Bay Bridge, they have a service where someone will drive you across. The father of a good friend was always terrified to drive that bridge and his business required him to cross frequently. He always let them know he was coming and someone would drive him over. I don’t know if it was a free service or if it was offered by the State of Maryland, but it was available. Of course that was almost 20 years ago.

@rooeytoo I have heard about that service but never used it. In the days when I was afraid to drive it myself, there was always another person in the car with me who wasn’t afraid. I’d just let them drive and close my eyes all the way across. Now I can drive over there all by myself. Good thing, since @Fly attends school near OC! :)

@rooeytoo…. How would someone else driving make a difference? I don’t know a thing about the Bay Bridge though.

@Dutchess_III – my friend’s dad was just too scared to drive himself, I guess he was afraid he would go over the edge or just freeze. But with someone else driving, he managed to get through it. Bay Bridge is long and high and there is a section in the middle where the road bed is a grate, it is pretty scary! And to those of us who grew up near by, we remember the stories of several workers who fell into the concrete pilings and died and are part of the bridge, makes it even more scary and spooky!

It really is a scary f’ing bridge. When someone else is doing the driving, you can close your eyes til you’re safely across. When you’re driving yourself, not so much. :p

Update on driving service across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in today’s (5/27) NY Times.

@zenvelo I never knew it was considered one of the world’s scariest bridges. I feel marginally better now, having been so scared of it myself!

That’s interesting, I thought it was a free service offered by the state. I wonder if that still exists or it was just a figment of my imagination. Maybe my friend’s dad paid a commercial service??? He is long gone now, so I will never know.

You gotta love capitalism though, what a way to make a living!!!

I would hope it changes the attitude about reasonable taxation levels.

@mattbrowne Politicians don’t get elected by telling their constituents there will be increasing taxes.

@Tropical_Willie – Then the constituents are responsible for the collapsing bridges.