Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition
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Did you miss "right turn..."?
:selffacepalm:
I was buttuming yahoos crossing in front...
...not going in the same direction (or reverse.)since I see that a lot
And I look for :shame: , can only find
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A few years ago
A few weeks ago I was having some kind of medication problem where my eyes kept crossing and unfocusing while I was in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Went to work anyway. Probably not one of my better ideas. I buttume it was a medication problem because I was fine by lunchtime. I spaced out my nightly and morning pills some and it hasn't come back. I probably shouldn't be trusted with a driving license anymore XD
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I'm pretty sure I've been that level of dumb on occasion, at least for short periods.
...which reminds me that no one over in the quotes.org thread ran into the one where I asked someone "How do you do the upside-down p?"
(I realize that's not driving, but eh)
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...which reminds me that no one over in the quotes.org thread ran into the one where I asked someone "How do you do the upside-down p?"
(I realize that's not driving, but eh)
I know that one, it was backwards, not upside-down
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I know that one, it was backwards, not upside-down
How did you make that really short zero!?!?
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So many bad drivers that I can't keep up with this thread any more. Our city has this weird mix of crazy aggressive drivers and really dumb and slow ones. So there is always much entertainment on the road!
Here's one that made local news. The sad part is she didn't get charged with a hit and run... just a reversing violation.
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That's another "was just posted a couple of days ago."
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And then discussed for a while.
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And then discussed for a while.
Oh. I blame this on discourse. I see now it was just a link and not the full YouTube view that I was skimming for. That must have jumped past as I was scrolling up. It's so annoying that posts jump around as it loads more (in Firefox at least).
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A few years ago, I was the first car in the left turn lane at a red light. This was during evening rush hour and the street is so busy that if you don't bend the rules a bit, you won't turn left until it's dark outside because there will literally never be a break in traffic.
Here the rule, and that's by the book, is that when you are turning left on lights, on your green you first enter the crossroad, go almost to the middle (so you don't cross path with those opposite also turning left; that is also in the rules) and there yield to the opposing traffic. At that point the light is behind you, so when it turns red it does not affect you any more and since the opposing traffic stopped on their red, you can clear the junction. So every junction always lets some small n (usually 2-3 depending on the size) cars turn left in each cycle.
Then I don't really understand the junction you mention. I know one offset junction around here, but it has only one lights from each direction and is marked as if it was not offset.
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Is that actually a browser as such, though?
Moreso than Lynx (or any closely derived derivatives) - it understands JS for starters.
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AT&T Don't Text While Driving Documentary video
Fine, so you say how the talk about how too low speed limits are bad didn't convince you and then you slap in your own link about… completely different problem.
Texting, or doing other things, while driving is seriously dangerous. There are also cases where speed limits are important and speeding is very dangerous like the (originally motivating) areas around schools. But the fact that often there are completely unsubstantiated speed limits on roads where higher limit would be appropriate and that these are often abused by police to extort money on fines without actually helping safety at all is a fact. Speed limits should be placed so that they actually make sense. Then drivers might even respect them.
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Moreso than Lynx (or any closely derived derivatives) - it understands JS for starters.
I don't actually know GoogleBot--I thought it was just a crawler. By browser, I meant, a thing designed to serve up pages for people to view, and to me, that's more the definition of browser, than a capability list. By that term Mosaic isn't really a browser, either.
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Wait, did Google just ...
Yep. They blurred out a traffic light. Wonder what personal data it was displaying ...
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I don't actually know GoogleBot--I thought it was just a crawler.
It is. It's a bot that acts like a browser. As if someone was actually visiting the site. Google indexes and does other stuff with what's presented after all that.
The thing is, it does a better job of rendering the sites it visits than the 'defacto' browser most people compare it to - Lynx.
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Yep. They blurred out a traffic light. Wonder what personal data it was displaying ...
Yeah, Street View is full of such minor WTFs. Notice it didn't have a problem with the one right next to it.
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Notice it didn't have a problem with the one right next to it.
That's what tipped me off.
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That's what tipped me off.
If you play with Street View much, you'll see that everywhere.
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[Calgary's worst driver]
That was like watching me trying to reverse with the camper-trailer on.
http://www.vacationcampers.com.au/off-road-vacationer.php
I would say reversing with a trailer is trickier than the manoeuvre they were attempting, whatever it might have been...
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That looks like simply two junctions. According to our rules here (in Czechia; I believe they are the same in all Europe, but I don't know about America) it would look like:
But then we also have the lights directly to the sides of and above the white stop lines, so once we cross into the junction they clearly don't apply any more. They can't, they are out of sight. And the yield point is placed so that you are directly in path of those coming from south and turning left, so even if you are still stuck there when their light turns green, they have no choice but to let you out (a car standing in your path is not doing anything wrong; the rules only ever prohibit moving somewhere).
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Here the rule, and that's by the book, is that when you are turning left on lights, on your green you first enter the crossroad, go almost to the middle (so you don't cross path with those opposite also turning left; that is also in the rules) and there yield to the opposing traffic. At that point the light is behind you, so when it turns red it does not affect you any more and since the opposing traffic stopped on their red, you can clear the junction.
If only this intersection had anything close to a sane design...
I was travelling along the red line. The car I cut in front of was travelling on the blue line. The idiot is circled in orange. Normally, the lifecycle goes like this; initial state is with the north-south road having green lights and lights towards the east-west roads are red. First, the northmost light changes, allowing the north travelling center section to clear and filling in with people from the west. My gap is between those two groups. Next, my light will change to red, but the opposite direction will remain green. So that time when you're supposed to clear the intersection doesn't exist. Next, the light for the western road goes red and the light for the eastern road, as well as the north-south lights on the northern signal go green. Now my path is blocked by different people, and the center section fill up again. By the time I get another green, there's a wall of cars waiting to go.
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http://www.vacationcampers.com.au/off-road-vacationer.php
I was going to gripe about the cost of that, but then I thought "well, the price is in AUD not USD," and then I found the gallery link. That's pretty nice looking.
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That looks like simply two junc
It is. The big thing you have to watch out for when going straight is that you can make it through the first light on green, but then the second can go red, and you'd better stop where your "Enter the junction" dot is, or you run the risk of a ticket. And if a cop sees you, he will stop you, unless he can't catch you like accidentally happened to me, at this junction, as it happens, since I couldn't find the other one I know of nearby, where IIRC the lights are even closer together.
Most places in the US have a "don't block the box" rule, meaning you wait at the light until you can complete the entire turn--you're not supposed to wait in the middle of the intersection. Many, perhaps most, intersections will have a dedicated left-turn lane. There's probably not one here because it would be difficult to have one for both sides in that short a space.
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But there seems to be a stop-bar under the orange circle. Is there not a light?
wall of cars waiting to go.
Of course if it's totally jammed some rule-bending is in order. But there it would still be go as close to that wall as possible (so you are past effect of your light) and wait for somebody to let you through. If it's jammed they don't have much anywhere to drive so somebody does.
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It is. It's a bot that acts like a browser. As if someone was actually visiting the site. Google indexes and does other stuff with what's presented after all that.
The thing is, it does a better job of rendering the sites it visits than the 'defacto' browser most people compare it to - Lynx.
It's really just node.js, after it went back in time.
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By the time I get another green, there's a wall of cars waiting to go.
Maybe I missed a nuance, but if you don't get a dedicated green for left turns, that's TRWTF.
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Maybe I missed a nuance, but if you don't get a dedicated green for left turns, that's TRWTF.
There are a number of lights here like that, makes me wonder who designed them, and when.
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There are a number of lights here like that, makes me wonder who designed them, and when.
Probably someone who hates traffic and thinks if all you assholes lived downtown in apartment towers and worked downtown so you could use mass transit the world would be a better place.
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Additional fun...
The north-south road is 55mph. The cheapest gas in the area is at the gas station near this intersection. Most people live to the south of this area. In order to turn into the station, you have to stop in the driving lane, as the center lane is a left-turn area for the other direction at this point. Since the turning path is only a few cars back, it's very easy for this to turn into a deadlock. All you need is three cars going south waiting to turn left and one that wants to get gas. Within seconds, the northbound left lane will be backed up to the point where the southbound cars will only be able to turn if they are allowed to go. Of course the cars in the northbound right lane don't stop, so it's hard to find a gap.
There's another entrance to the gas station, but some people would rather create a traffic jam than drive fifty more feet.
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Probably someone who hates traffic and thinks if all you assholes lived downtown in apartment towers and worked downtown so you could use mass transit the world would be a better place.
Most of them are in recently-developed areas, so I'm assuming that traffic was a lot lighter when they were put up.
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Maybe I missed a nuance, but if you don't get a dedicated green for left turns, that's TRWTF.
No green arrow. The whole light timing is horrible - there are at least three major accidents at this intersection every year.
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Most of them are in recently-developed areas, so I'm assuming that traffic was a lot lighter when they were put up.
Responsible government would update them. (Don't laugh. I've seen that happen in Dallas.)
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Responsible government would update them. (Don't laugh. I've seen that happen in Dallas.)
Half of our roads are barely paved, maintenance here isn't a thing.
Only #4 here, surprising:
Here Are The 20 US Cities Where Crummy Roads Cost Drivers The Most Money
Widespread road conditions cost the average American driver nearly $400 every year.
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I was going to gripe about the cost of that (http://www.vacationcampers.com.au/off-road-vacationer.php), but then I thought "well, the price is in AUD not USD," and then I found the gallery link. That's pretty nice looking.
We bought ours second-hand from a friend and we love it. The way we see it is that it can be the main part of our holiday making for the next 10 or 15 years. Not just the big holidays (2 or 3 week trips) but we're aiming to get away for a weekend every month. We have two small boys (aged 2 and 3) and they're never happier than playing in the great outdoors.
We've only had it out three times so I'm still learning the best way to put it up and get it down. Even so, after years of camping it's nice to be able to have the tent, beds for us & our two sons, and the cooker all ready to go in 30 minutes. It's even nicer to have a fridge instead of an Esky and a proper queen sized mattress instead of an air mattress.
Other friends with camper trailers have looked it over and are impressed, not only by the build quality but by how thoughtfully it's been designed. They pointed out lots of nice touches that I hadn't noticed myself!
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No green arrow. The whole light timing is horrible - there are at least three major accidents at this intersection every year.
Yeah, then the intersection itself is TRWTF.
As an aside, when I lived near here, there was literally at least one intersection a week between someone coming out of the eastern side of Orchard Park and traffic on Haywood. It was probably even more frequent. Not sure why, as the intersection wasn't actually that bad. I assume it was people trying to make the yellow.
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Only #4 here, surprising:
That article's kind of surprising in a way. I'd like to know what they consider poor roads in Dallas that put it so high on the second list. Everyone I know who's from here thinks the roads are horrible, but they have NO IDEA. A season or two in Boston, where the roads are in far worse condition, would disabuse them right quick.
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The idiot is circled in orange.
I think I perhaps understand now. Basically you did exactly what I would, approached the opposing lane with intention to pass right behind the other car. Except here it would be exactly what would be expected and therefore less likely to startle anybody (of course somebody might still have a brain-fart).
"don't block the box"
We have that rule for when the intended exit is jammed. But when you only need to yield inside the junction, it is expected that you enter it and yield at the furthest possible point. Which handles turning left so that total stalls don't happen.
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Additional fun...
That appears to be a full line to me. That makes the red path illegal. It would deserve emphasizing with a sign though.
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But when you only need to yield inside the junction, it is expected that you enter it and yield at the furthest possible point.
That is probably workable most of the time, but I would venture that a protected left turn is better.
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Most places in the US have a "don't block the box" rule, meaning you wait at the light until you can complete the entire turn--you're not supposed to wait in the middle of the intersection.
I'm about 98% sure that's not what that means and that's wrong. Don't block the box means you can't enter the intersection if you won't be able to clear it after the light turns red. Sometimes there is some uncertainty as to whether you will be able to clear, but usually not; and in the usual case I am pretty sure it is legal to enter and wait in the intersection almost everywhere in the US.
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Hmm, looks like you might be right. In any event, I usually try to avoid entering the intersection if I'm going to have to stop in it because I don't generally trust other drivers.
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That article's kind of surprising in a way. I'd like to know what they consider poor roads in Dallas that put it so high on the second list. Everyone I know who's from here thinks the roads are horrible, but they have NO IDEA. A season or two in Boston, where the roads are in far worse condition, would disabuse them right quick.
79 North, just west of Turner Playground, it's basically a patchwork quilt of pavement
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That appears to be a full line to me. That makes the red path illegal. It would deserve emphasizing with a sign though.
That entire road is 50 miles of four-lane roadway with a center turning lane. The center turning lane always has solid lines on it. Your interpretation would mean that no one could ever turn left except at intersections. Western New York would come to a halt if that were true.
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79 North, just west of Turner Playground, it's basically a patchwork quilt of pavement
That's kind of what I mean, except it's in Boston, not Dallas, which was my point. Dallas roads are only--generally speaking--in poor condition of you've never seen something like that.
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That's a nice trailer.
Reversing a trailer isn't so hard. Plan ahead, think about where you need to go, decide how you're going to get there, take your time. Same as any other driving activity.
If you haven't had a lot of practice, don't plan tight reversing manoeuvres. After a while you'll learn how the trailer responds to steering input and you'll be able to put it anywhere (that's what she said).
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I'm supporting your statement, not refuting it.
Filed under: Fall Reeeeeve is closer to Providence than Boston, though
