I regard Meade and Mississippi as the most dangerous intersection in the village of University Heights. Countless car crashes occur with too much frequency there. My speculation: Cause has something to do with human nature related to impatience. Drivers go from Monroe to Mission, which is a short block to Meade. If driving from Adams to Madison, there is yet another stop sign. They’re ready to go and tired of stopping at every intersection..
Meanwhile, on either side of Mississippi are traffic circles along Meade at Alabama and Louisiana. Traffic slows, and drivers are sometimes—if not often—confused about right of way. Many of them speed up as they approach Mississippi, where antsy drivers wait to enter an intersection where oncoming traffic may move more brisky than anticipated—and from two directions, simultaneously.
What’s unusual is the incident that occurred today, and I have little insight about it. Someone plowed down the Stop sign, but to do so would seem to mean crossing the lane into oncoming traffic based on the direction the pole toppled. When I came upon the scene, two older women were investigating the buried water meter. The accident pulled off the heavy, concrete lid that covered it. That happened to be their water meter. They investigated for damage, leaks, or indication that the water had been turned out (A-okay).
Another neighbor walked up and started telling what she knew. The woman came upon the scene at 1:15 p.m. PDT, when the black sedan involved in the crash was parked by the fallen signage. She noted that the windows were tinted so darkly that seeing inside was extremely difficult. But an open door let her see that no one was inside, and injured, but also that the vehicle appeared to be abandoned. I arrived at the intersection about 90 minutes later, and the car was gone.
I loathe the traffic circles that the city of San Diego obsesses to make more of them. In my observation, ah, roundabouts lead to rolling behavior, where drivers accustomed to slowing for traffic circles do the same at Stop signs, which is treacherous behavior at an intersection like Meade and Mississippi.
The Featured Image and companions both come from Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. Vitals for the first two: f/1.4, ISO 64, 1/10000 sec, 23mm (film equivalent); 3:04 p.m. The third: f/3.4, ISO 50, 1/1347 sec, 115mm (film equivalent); 3:06 p.m.