Yeah correct. Getting senile.
Iāve long believed that thereās a simple solution.
If states/towns would put a gantry over roads perhaps 1/4 mile and 1/8 mile before a bridge that repeatedly gets slammed, with a horizontal tube (perhaps even 1/2 dozen spaced, 4" PVC tubed) hanging from chains such that if the tuck were too high itād make a racket without causing expensive damage, and include a place for a truck to pull over before reaching the bridge, perhaps itād prevent the accidents. With the cost of shutting down the road, clearing the wreck, and inspecting the bridge after an accident, I would think the device would pay for itself the first time it worked.
As with all designs, the details could be worked out. My attachment is only a concept sketch. It might even be rigged to trigger large blinking red lights when itās hit.
Thatās what they have at the car wash. We have one older railroad bridge on a busy two lane residential road that gets hit every so often. It was probably built in the 40ās so was fine then. The railroad isnāt about to replace it and regrade several miles to raise it up a couple feet. Plus over the years the road has been re-paved to lower it even more. Lowering the road isnāt an option due to it already being a low part of the road and susceptible to flooding. I also think GPS regularly routes traffic on this road instead of the four lane a few blocks over. Because it is residential there are no easy turn-around options and for the few that have stopped in time and then had to back up a couple blocks needed police assistance. New flashing signs seem to help some but its a strong bridge and if the railroad doesnāt care if it gets hit, I donāt know why I should. Its great entertainment and fills the front page of the paper when it happens.
Good observation. I donāt use automatic car washes, so I didnāt even think of it.
Or one of those tire puncturing grates they have at the parking lots 
I like your sketching style! In addition to your engineering background, I suspect that you may have taken a visual arts course or two.
As to the concept, I have actually seen this in practice, although I am having a hard time recalling exactly where I saw it. It might have been on the approach to the Holland Tunnel, but after they raised the toll to $16 several years ago, I havenāt used that tunnel, so my memory may be faulty as to the location.
There is a structure quite like the drawing by TSM at each end of a bridge that was part of the original Route 66 in Sapulpa, OK. Itās purpose is to keep big and heavy vehicles from using it so they can keep as a tourist attraction.
They actually tried that on a bridge in upstate NY ago that was constantly getting hit some 30+ years .
They took it down after a semi hit that think going 50+ and sent it flying into on coming cars injuring a few people.
An interesting deadly possibility that I hadnāt thought of.
Perhaps some ātriggersā hanging down that would activate some form of extreme warning system with redundant alarms? The spikes mentioned by TT come to mind, but theyād destroy the tires of the vehicle following the truck too.
The details could be figured out easily enough. The only thing that canāt be figured out is why itās never been triedā¦ at least to the best of my knowledge. The cost would be recouped at the first accident-prevention event.
Now that bridge has laser that will detect when a truck is too highā¦and many lights start flashing and even a sirenā¦And yet about once a year some idiot somehow hits the bridge.
A couple of points- Why would you fire all 3 young men in the truck that hit the bridge? Only one of them was driving it.
Most truck drivers that hit bridges are not buying gps units anymore, they are using free gps apps on their cell phones.
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I have seen those devices used in many places. Fast food and bank drive-throughs, parking structures, and service stations.