Memphis drivers crash into utility poles 80 times a month, costing millions

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) — Drivers are slamming into power poles roughly 80 times a month in Memphis, forcing ratepayers to absorb a $7.2 million annual replacement cost, an Impact Team investigation reveals.

Memphis Light Gas and Water customers are often on the hook to replace the poles when drivers crash into them, cutting power to homes and businesses across the city.

The Impact Team got access to MLGW’s power pole graveyard, where Assistant Maintenance Manager Derrick Jones said replacing a downed pole can cost between $7,500 and $15,000 each.

“That’s a lot of poles being hit that didn’t have to be,” Jones said.

MLGW tries to recover costs through insurance

Jones said MLGW typically absorbs the cost but tries to recover it through damage maintenance.

“If there’s a police report, we can actually go out and go through their insurance company so the vehicle owner may have to pay,” Jones said.

But that doesn’t cover the cost to homes and businesses when power is lost.

A crash on April 14 cut off contractors’ work at a site on Mount Moriah.

“We delayed because they keep running into these poles—power outages—we can’t plug our tools up. We have a couple with batteries, but we have some (that) have cords,” said Marvin Lang Jr., a plumber and independent contractor.

Phillips Walker lost power to his laundromat — the 10th time in a year — after a driver crashed into a pole.

“A car swerves, hits that pole right there, knocks the utilities out. Hits this bush right there that we had to replace and comes and slams into this building right here, took the door out,” Walker said.

On top of losing business, he had to pay for the damage.

“We had to actually pay for the wiring that went from the pole underground here and was yanked out of the pole and because that was on my property I had to cover that portion of the wiring which was over $10-12,000,” Walker said.

Memphis drivers force double the work compared to other cities

MLGW manages more than 222,000 poles in its system, many of them a half-century old.

“50 years isn’t that old for a pole. We do have a company that goes out and they test the poles for rot, breaks, shakes and if they need to be replaced, we replace them,” Jones said.

An Impact Team analysis of pole replacement in other cities shows Memphis drivers force MLGW to work double time compared to other utility companies.

Nashville Electric Services averages 25 to 30 pole replacements each month, covered by a budgeted $3.5 million each year. Alabama Power replaces roughly 52 power poles a month destroyed by drivers in the Greater Birmingham area.

Expert weighs in on roadway behavior, pole placement

Dr. Sabya Mishra, a transportation and civil engineering professor at the University of Memphis, said the problem could be traced to three factors.

“Either it’s the fault of the roadway, or it is the fault of the vehicle or the fault of the driver,” Dr. Mishra said.

Dr. Mishra said attention should be given to where power poles are placed, in addition to better understanding roadway behavior and distracted driving.

“For example, if the poles are placed in close proximity to the roadway. Then that causes kind of challenges in vision and if the number of poles installed on roadways are in very close proximity,” Mishra said. “Can the poles be in such position that the likelihood of hitting them would be minimal? So that can be looked into and that is one of the controllable factors that can be explored.”

MLGW says moving poles isn’t an option

MLGW says it’s not where the poles are positioned, but how drivers drive in Memphis, noting that most of the poles the utility replaces are hit by drivers speeding, texting, not paying attention or under the influence.

The utility says moving poles simply isn’t an option.

“MLGW does not design roads, and our poles can only be placed in the right of way. On the occasion that a road is redesigned, we may move our infrastructure because the right of way has been changed or expanded. However, on a street like Poplar Avenue, the right of way cannot be expanded, and our infrastructure cannot be moved.

In addition, moving infrastructure is not cheap. Consider what it costs to replace pole; then multiply that by moving several blocks of poles back from the road. Our solution is to do stories like these that encourage drivers to obey the speed limit, not drive under the influence, and not text while driving. And if you do hit one of our poles, report it to police and your insurance company,” said Ursula Madden, Vice President of Corporate Communications at MLGW.

That includes putting power lines underground.

“The cost effectiveness of putting it underground would be astronomical. Who absorbs that cost? That cost would have to go to the consumers,” Jones said.

Jones had a message for drivers.

“My message to the drivers, stay between the mayonnaise and the mustard. The poles don’t just jump out in the middle of the streets. Stay between the white and the yellow and you won’t have this problem,” Jones said.

Nationwide, roughly 75,000 crashes involve utility poles each year. Memphis accounts for nearly 1,000 of them.

For a closer look at MLGW’s 50-year study on maintenance and more — click here.

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