The Ribeira Sacra is becoming a lethal trap for tourist buses: there are too closed curves

In April a bus full of retirees was heading to the cannons of Sil, one of the tourist points more striking of the Ribeira Sacra. When trying to turn in one of the curves that gives access to this location, the bus He got stuck. Not only that: its front part was on the edge of the road and exposed dangerously to the slope that led to the river. It is the third incident of this type in the last two months.

Curves too closed. Last weekend another bus full of tourists was caught on the Lu P-4103 road, between Ferreira de Pantón and Santo Estevo de Ribas de Sil, in the province of Lugo. As they point out In Galicia Newsthat section is already known for its closed curves, which are not a problem for cars, but that are for buses.

A misleading road. As they point out In the voice of Galiciathe road that has become a nightmare for buses cheats at the beginning. When Ferreira de Pantón leaves “it seems safe, but its final stretch, the descent to the bridge that crosses the SIL near the Santo Estevo train station, not only narrows, but earns pending and is filled with curves.” It is in the two worst, 180 degrees, in which buses can get stuck. The narrowness and slope join the problem and turn these curves into a true trap for buses.

Black Points in La Ribeira Sacra. To that black point are joined by the entries to the Tourism Parador of Santo Estevo, in Nogueira de Ramuín, and to the abandoned monastery of Santa Cristina, in Sil Parada. Access to Playa de A Cova is also complicated.

GPS browsers don’t help. In that incident the driver, alerted by a neighbor, was able to maneuver and turn to continue the journey by an alternative route, the N-120. The problem in many cases is that the GPS browsers used by drivers indicate that LU P-4103 is the fastest route, but do not offer notices about those paths that can be an important problem for heavy vehicles.

The two possible routes: La Corta (Lu P-4103) is the one that makes us go through closed curves that can become a bus trap.

Better the longest route. To go from Ferreira de Pantón to the jetty of Santo Estevo, from where the guided tours of boat to the cannons of the Sil, there are two possible routes. The browsers They show both. The fastest is that of the Lu P-4103 road, 18 km away and that is traveled on average in 28 minutes. The second, adequate for heavy vehicles as buses, is what is made along the N-120 road, with a 28 km route that is completed on average in 36 minutes. In this second case there are no closed curves that threaten buses and other heavy vehicles.

And it is not easy for them to be updated. Today we depend on companies such as Google and Apple and their maps to use their browsers, but it is not easy to suggest changes in these maps to prevent such problems. Each of the three major alternatives acts as follows:

• WAZE: It only allows you to warn of incidents andn real time (Works, cars in the gutter, bumps, objects), but there is no way to suggest that this type of notices are added to the map permanently. Is A very voted request In your suggestion mailbox, but for now there is no update that allows you to do something like that.
• Google Maps: It allows to contribute With data or content errors, such as Add or correct roads, although this option is “only available in some countries and regions.” Although we can notify on cut roads, it is apparently not possible to mark that road as narrow or with curves too closed for heavy vehicles, for example.
• Apple Maps: In Apple’s service there is also the option of Notify incidents In real time, and also to inform with a problem

And the signage, what? The neighbors themselves expressed in the voice of Galicia their opinion on a problem that has an obvious solution: signaling these roads to warn of these closed curves. As those neighbors indicated, “it is not understood that they have not yet placed warning signs on the roads.”

Spokesmen of the Diputación de Lugo indicated in that newspaper that that is effectively the solution, and confirm that they will “reinforce and improve signaling” on that road to “anticipate these situations, protect both users of the road and the environment and guarantee a safer and more orderly circulation.”

Image | Saxad Isz

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