30 Sad Pics Of Trucks And Buses That Tried To Fit Under A Bridge And Regretted It Immediately

Bored Panda got in touch with the moderators of the subreddit and Loonling was happy to share their thoughts. Since they have seen so many photos of drivers overestimating the clearance of a bridge, we asked why do they think this is. "My suspicion is that most of us are complacent in our day-to-day life," Loonling said. "The modern world is safe and secure. We go about our days assuming the stoplights are going to work; that the road will be relatively free of potholes; the bridge will support our vehicle. For many, it does not enter in their thoughts that a trestle is a threat."

"Sure there's signage. Sure there's a flashing light. But, they're so wrapped up in the comfort and security of the modern road that they're not even really thinking about the fact that they're an exception to the rule. So, when the light flashes "oversize" (or whatever), while they may see it, it doesn't instantly seem applicable to them. How could it? They made it this far without incident. I think it's just a problem of the danger the bridge is to their situation just doesn't filter down to their monkey brain that's been lulled into complacency."

Since the subreddit has expanded and welcomes photos from all over the world now, it's only appropriate to mention a few infamous bridges that are opening some high-speed cans as well. The moderator said there's a huge number of them; they can't even keep track. The members of the subreddit keep finding them. "I think 2 other bridges are well known [in particular]. These two also have Reddit communities and an active fan club. r/3rdandWinklervsTrucks and r/thecanopener. 4 years ago, these two subs were larger than r/11foot8. But, I think they lack the 24/7 camera feed and the great marketing that Jurgen has put together for the [Durham bridge]."

"In the fall of 2016, I noticed that r/11foot8 was not being actively moderated. At the time, there were fewer than 100 members. But, I knew of the bridge from the YouTube channel, and had been sharing the videos with my young children for a couple of years. They enjoyed the chaos and destruction as these huge trucks would crash into this immoveable bridge. It was great family entertainment for us. And as an avid collector of Reddit subscriptions, I keep a running list of subreddits I discover that are unmoderated or under-moderated. If I feel inclined, and the admins are kind enough to assign ownership to me, I jump in to rid the sub of spam, trolls, and try to build up a subreddit that represents the type of content I'd like to see. So, as I said, I took the sub over in September 2016 and at the time felt that a [community of 500 members] was probably achievable."

Now, there are over 80,000 of them. From day 1 of Loonling's involvement, the subreddit has always welcomed similar bridges. And the moderator thinks maybe that's what has made it a bit more successful compared to the two others mentioned earlier. "I felt that relying exclusively on videos from the Durham bridge was too limiting."

"I hope our members feel a sense of community, but frankly, I don't think it's here," Loonling said. "People subscribe because of Jurgen. He does such a great job providing great videos, capturing the collision from the moments leading up to impact to the resolution. And getting it from two different angles!"