Car wreck lanes to help to the freeway commute.?

Question

Can we design a red zone along the freeway for car wrecks, fender benders, to be helped aside by tow trucks and police and paramedics, so the thousands of cars behind can flow around the scene of the accident, without going 1 mile per hour for the next three hours, on their cell phones, causing the next accident a mile ahead? I grew up in L.A.., and the freeways are overwhelmed by shear volume. Maybe have cone zones like in construction zones every five miles, even though there's no construction going on? And a couple flagmen with orange vests on radios. The traffic could squeeze around the tighter lanes, the "orange cone zones" at 45 mph, instead of coming to a screeching halt at every accident that will most certainly occur. And we won't be burning fuel at 1 mile per hour for three hours on a five mile stretch every rush hour. They're already stopping us on freeway on ramps with the on ramp signals to slow the flow onto the freeway. How about a big orange speed bump every five miles?

Answer 1

One question before I answer... where do you live that they have ramp signals? I've seen one my entire life.

Anywho... on most freeways, they have a wide enough shoulder to pull cars aside when they've been in an accident. The problem comes to when the accident occurs, the vehicles often aren't able to be moved, whether the car is too damaged, or (in the case of Las Vegas, and this is true) they don't want you to move the cars off the roadway. But like I said above, MOST freeways are wide enough. In cases like the Southfield Freeway in Detroit, there's about a 3 foot shoulder on the left, and a shoulder on the right just wide enough for a firetruck to get through. They can't widen it any more because then the service drive would be going over houses.

One problem I could see in the snow states, is there being cars in that shoulder, and a snow plow in the lane, trying to clear it. The plowtruck would have to then merge back into traffic, holding it up.

Answer 2

That's a great idea

Answer 3

In San Bernardino county(Next to LA) they have patrolling tow trucks now on the freeways looking for broke down cars and accidents to quickly get them off the freeway.  It's free and it helps clear up the problem quickly.  LA and OC county needs to start this.  

ZACH:  Most of So Cal's on ramps are "Metered".  They only let one car get on the freeway every 4 or 5 seconds to help traffic merge.  They only come on during high traffic times which is most of the day.