Urban Legend or not-- I can't find it on Snopes. Oliver Stone and the George Washington Bridge

[Ian David]

I remember hearing a story about a mishap with film director Oliver Stone.

The story is that Stone was in a passenger in a film production van, about to drive over the George Washington Bridge, and told the driver to take the lower level.

The driver insisted they take the upper level, which frustrated Mr. Stone.

Anyway, the van-- and the whole caravan of film production vehicles behind it-- got stuck in terrible gridlock, and Oliver Stone became even more furious and berated the driver mercilessly.

Oliver Stone blamed the driver for making them miss their shooting schedule for the day.

Fed-up, the driver turned off the engine, took the keys, and got out of the van.

Then, the driver threw the keys off the bridge and walked away.

I heard this story way back when I was in film school, and always wondered if it were true.

[DS1]

1. gridlock on a bridge?

[Ian David]

2. I've been through THAT many times myself, especially on the GWB.

Gridlock grinds traffic to a halt: more cars jamming in, and space is running out
The New York Daily News
By James Rutenberg with Ananda Chaudhuri and Carolina Gonzalez

<snip>

It means the morning commute from the Prospect Expressway to the Battery Tunnel or Brooklyn Bridge can take 90 minutes instead of the 45 minutes it regularly took about a year ago and the 25 minutes without traffic.

It means the trip from New Jersey to Manhattan over the George Washington Bridge or through the Lincoln or Holland tunnels often takes 90 minutes and once took an hour or less.

<snip>

"Sometimes, it takes one hour to drive the 7 miles," she said as she sat snagged in the gridlock stretching to the Queensboro Bridge on Friday morning. "I come in later now, and it is just as bad."

<snip>

The Port Authority, which runs the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, the Outerbridge Crossing and the Goethals, Bayonne and George Washington bridges, had more vehicles using its facilities last year than ever before 118 million altogether. That number is expected to climb to 120 million by year's end.

More:
http://www.transalt.org/press/media/1998/980622dailynews.html

[LeftyFingerPop]

3. On the bridge and...

on the Cross Bronx Expressway. Have gotten trapped on both for HOURS. :hi:

[Ian David]

4. You must have seen it too around Boston...

The Canadian Lumber Jerk

This early morning wreck occured on the lower deck of I-93 southbound in Boston, on that 100 yard stretch known locally as the "high bridge". This section is directly above the Charles River and the Gridley Locks.



<snip>

What makes this accident even more interesting, is the fact that it was almost a perfect repeat performance of another accident 3 years ago, involving another Canadian lumber trucker. The impact of that accident went down in the history books as the worst non-weather related traffic jam since 1973, when a truck hit the Tobin bridge.

On May 2nd of 1995, Serge Brosseau was hauling a load of 2x4's (while intoxicated) when he swerved and tipped his trailer into one of the bridge support beams and bending it. In addition to dumping his load onto the road and into the river, it forced a complete closure of I-93 in both directions until bridge repairs were completed, 2 days later! The cost of that whole fiasco was about $1M with the police overtime, not including
commercial loss to businesses.

The trucker in this newest accident hit the EXACT SAME BEAM! Thankfully, this time there wasn't any structural damage to the bridge, and the cleanup was almost completed by the start of morning rush-hour. But it sure brought back some scary memories ;-)

More:
http://towzone.com/lumberjerk/lumberjerk.html

Also, don't forget the day the lobster truck over-turned on the Tobin!

Or the day they first tested the Zipper Truck, and there was total gridlock from Saugus to Braintree due to rubbernecking!

[Elidor]

5. Well there's the problem

A proper director would have BEATEN the fucking driver so mercilessly that walking away wasn't an option. When you're in charge of a multimillion dollar picture on a tight production schedule, under an incredible amount of pressure, there should be no question who's in charge. Stone must be a bit soft to let a driver override him. I'd have been jumping up and down on his back like a rabid monkey the second he made the wrong turn.

Err...uh...I can be just a tad bit intense about deadline situations. I take them very seriously.