One small town in the great white north seems to have parking poles at its local Walmart that drivers can’t avoid hitting. A local recently posted more than 20 photos of accidents where drivers steered their vehicles into a stationary parking pole. All resulted in damage and some even caused vehicles to flip over.
We’ve seen cases of inattentive drivers causing damage before but it’s rare to see it happen again and again in the same location. Typically, locations, where such accidents do occur regularly, are irregular in their own way. For example, the infamous 11-foot-8 rail bridge is dangerous because it’s unique and drivers aren’t prepared for its low clearance.
What makes this series of accidents strange is that it’s at a Walmart parking lot, a place where the vast majority of Americans have been many times without incident. Nevertheless, one vehicle after another seems to have smacked into a pole at the Walmart Supercenter in Auburn, Maine.
More: How Did This Mass Driver Impale His VW On A Walmart Parking Lot Pole?
Somehow it seems that the vast majority of these accidents are taking place while drivers attempt to turn left into the parking lot lane. Why that’s so surprising is that first of all, vehicles shouldn’t be on that side of the lane once in it. So these drivers are turning far earlier than they should be even if the pole wasn’t there.
Secondly, and regardless of where they should be in the lane, the pole looks to be DIRECTLY in their line of sight as they make the left turn. It seems evident from the photos that this isn’t just one pole either. At least three different poles in the parking lot have come under attack. And all sorts of vehicles from cars to trucks to SUVs have all been damaged in the process.
Many kudos to Redditor Frigginnathan who has clearly been chronicling the battles of this parking pole vs the world for quite some time. We know that because, in the 20 photos uploaded to the original post on Reddit, we see the pole has changed over time. However, the poster says that he is aware of at least 45 incidents!
For a while, it was fairly short which might explain why some folks hit it. Of course, it was still bright yellow at the time so it shouldn’t be so easy. In other photos, it’s much taller and neon green. In others, it’s tall, yellow, and has a metal sign sticking out of it. Despite all of these configurations, it seems as though vehicles can’t help but try to take the poles out.