【歩道の標識柱に激突「ナゾの交通事故」現場】

　年末時期、札幌市内はまだそう深くはないが積雪がどうも根雪っぽくなってきて、路面は車道も歩道もそこそこ転倒やスピンに注意が必要な路面、いわゆる「ブラックアイスバーン」的な箇所もある。初心者や運転に不慣れな場合、乾燥した安全路面と勘違いして夏道走行なみのラフな運転、ハンドル捌きでは思わぬスピン状況になってしまうことがある。
　わたし自身も初心者の頃にこの「ブラックアイスバーン」路面上でクルッと車体がひと回りした経験がある。たまたま広い空地だったので、ただただ目が回った程度で、車体にも損傷はありませんでした。今となっては、そういう経験を事故なしで経験できたのは、かえってラッキーだったかも知れない。
　雪道運転では北海道のドライバーならこういった経験は１度くらいはあると思います。十分に注意していても雪道でスピンして、やむなく「コッツン」と他のクルマや建築などに軽く接触してしまうことはあり得る。そういう経験を多少なりともしていれば周囲に人がいることを確認できたら、注意力はさらに倍加する。まぁ当然の「経験知」だと思います。
　昨日、家からちょっとした薬品の買い物の用事があって近隣のドラッグストアまで「徒歩」で向かっていた。早朝散歩に加えてもうちょっと歩数を稼ぎたかったのが、徒歩の動機だったのですが、時間を考えるともしクルマで出掛けていたら、この写真の事故車とニアミスだったかも知れなかった。
　ちょうど、この写真の事故現場には警察車両が駆けつけたところで、運転していた女性の方が、動転しながら警官と話し始めていたところ。場所はドラッグストアの駐車場と、幹線道路の間の「歩道」の速度標識の柱に左前方が激突してエンジン部分は無惨に大破していた。運転席と前方乗車席のエアバッグが膨らんでいたのを確認することもできました。大破している状況からするとかなりの速度で激突したと推認できた。しかし、どうも「車道」から歩道に乗り上げたという形跡はまったくなかった。歩道は堆雪していて、クルマのタイヤ痕が当然つく状況だけれど、周辺の雪からはそういった形跡がまったく感じられなかったのです。
　状況から考えると、どうも「ゆっくり」と歩道を進んでしまってあわてて車道に降りようとしてこの柱に激突したことが、クルマの激突方向角度と現在位置からは想像できる。不慣れな運転者が車道と勘違いして歩道を進んでしまい、そこに人が歩いてきたことに気付いて動転して、車道に戻ろうと急なハンドル操作で標識柱に気付かず激突した。どうもそれ以外に論理的にこの事故状況を説明できないのではないか。読者の方でこの現場写真からまた別の仮説を立てられたら、教えていただければ幸いです。みんなの冬道安全運転知識向上になる。
　あまり長時間にわたって一通行人である人間がこの事故調査をしていては、警察捜査の邪魔になると考え早々に退去しましたが、なんとも不思議な事故現場状況でした。


English version⬇

Riddle Traffic Accident” Scene of a Crash Involving a Sidewalk Sign Pillar
We came across a mysterious traffic accident that seems to have been caused by black ice on the road surface in Sapporo. Please drive safely on winter roads.

　At the end of the year, the snow in Sapporo is still not very deep, but it is starting to look like deep-seated snow, and the road surface, both on the roadway and sidewalk, has some “black ice” that requires caution to avoid falls and spins. If you are a beginner or an inexperienced driver, you may mistake the road surface for a dry and safe surface and end up in an unexpected spinning situation if you drive rough like you do on summer roads or steer too hard.
　When I was a beginner myself, I had an experience where my car spun around on this “black ice” road surface. It happened to be a wide open space, so I was just dizzy, and there was no damage to the car body. Now, I may have been lucky to have experienced such an experience without an accident.
　I think Hokkaido drivers have had this kind of experience at least once when driving on snow-covered roads. Even if you are very careful, it is possible to spin out on a snow-covered road and unavoidably “cotzun” lightly into another car or an architectural structure. If you have had such an experience, your caution will be doubled if you can confirm that there are other people around you. Well, I think it is a natural “experiential knowledge”.
　Yesterday, I was “walking” from my house to a nearby drugstore for a small drug shopping errand. My motivation for walking was to get a few more steps in addition to my early morning walk, but considering the time, if I had gone out by car, I might have had a near miss with the car in the accident in this photo.
　The police vehicle had just arrived at the scene of the accident in this photo, and the woman who was driving had just started talking to the officer, upset. The location was the parking lot of a drugstore and the “sidewalk” between the main road, where the left front end of the car struck a speed sign post on the “sidewalk,” wrecking the engine part cruelly. We could also see that the airbags had inflated in the driver's seat and the front passenger's seat. From the circumstances of the wreck, it could be inferred that the car had struck at a considerable speed. However, apparently there was no evidence at all that the car had gone from the “roadway” onto the sidewalk. The sidewalk was covered with snow, which would have naturally left tire tracks, but there was no evidence of such a crash from the surrounding snow.
　Considering the situation, it can be imagined from the angle of the car's collision direction and its current position that the car apparently proceeded “slowly” on the sidewalk, and in its haste to get off the roadway, struck this pillar. An inexperienced driver mistook the roadway for the sidewalk, was upset when he noticed a person walking on the sidewalk, and swerved abruptly to get back on the roadway, accidentally hitting the sign post without noticing it. I don't think there is any other logical explanation for this accident situation. If any readers can come up with another hypothesis based on these photos of the scene, I would appreciate it if you could share it with me. It would improve everyone's knowledge of safe driving on winter roads.
　I left early because I thought that it would interfere with the police investigation if I, a passerby, spent too much time investigating this accident, but it was a very strange accident scene situation.