Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition
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Swear at them or flash my headlights normally.
I save the horn for less regular occurrences, such as the bloke who decided to change lane while I was passing him (at the speed limit) earlier.
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Time to drag this out again? (UK, so driving on the left, roundabouts are clockwise.)
I mentally reduced out the small circles (they're insignificant*) and took a minute to figure out what was still wrong with the picture. It's a normal roundabout... going the wrong direction. Ahh, so that's what the small circles do.*You could draw small circles on any roundabout like that, but they do have to go with an opposite turn as the big one.
@blakeyrat said:Whoever built that as an intersection and not a roundabout belongs in prison, and I'm not exaggerating.
What it should be is 3 intersections. Whoever originally thought up the roundabout belongs in prison, and I'm not exaggerating.
@chubertdev said:Now I don't feel so bad about this.
What, that? That's just a normal roundabout without the lines. Well, there's that STOP inside the circle, but as the outside lane coming in at that angle stops too, I don't see how that makes it unmanageable.
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I mentally reduced out the small circles (they're insignificant*) and took a minute to figure out what was still wrong with the picture. It's a normal roundabout... going the wrong direction. Ahh, so that's what the small circles do.
No, it's madder than that. It's a roundabout made out of roundabouts with stumpy ordinary bi-directional roads between. It's the Yo Dawg meme of road junction design. It's creator doesn't belong in prison; a secure mental institution would be rather more appropriate.
This junction complex is relatively near here. It's awful, with things cut through all over the place and traffic coming in from several directions. There's a roundabout (top of picture) with a road across the middle. Of course, there's heavy traffic onto it from several directions. (There is a slip road across the busiest direction, labelled “M621”, thank god.) The almost roundabout at the bottom is just that (used to be a full roundabout, but nobody needed to go round it). Oh, and there's a very large IKEA just off to the bottom too. Because pulling more traffic through the junction was thought to be a great idea!
Sweet in rush hour is one thing it definitely isn't.
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What, that? That's just a normal roundabout without the lines. Well, there's that STOP inside the circle, but as the outside lane coming in at that angle stops too, I don't see how that makes it unmanageable.
Then you put drivers on the road, and because they're idiots, it becomes unmanageable.
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No, it's madder than that. It's a roundabout made out of roundabouts with stumpy ordinary bi-directional roads between. It's the Yo Dawg meme of road junction design. It's creator doesn't belong in prison; a secure mental institution would be rather more appropriate.
Oh, I see it now. Disregard all the small circles, they're still an illusion - only thing they do is suggest that you could do a full U turn there, and nobody does that, I hope. It's just two roundabouts, one within another. The outermost goes the "right" way (clockwise) and the innermost goes the other. The circles are drawn to keep people from getting confused when crossing over the outer to get to the inner:
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You win.
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That diagram made my head asplode.
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I mentally reduced out the small circles (they're insignificant*) and took a minute to figure out what was still wrong with the picture. It's a normal roundabout... going the wrong direction. Ahh, so that's what the small circles do.
The small blue circles are the right way (clockwise) - it's the central roundabout that goes in the opposite direction for the UK (in that it goes counter-clockwise. Your diagram is fairy accurate in that respect.
That one in Swindon is the most 'well known' one in the UK, but there are at least three others:
Colchester: https://www.google.com/maps/@51.627027,-0.750646,247m/data=!3m1!1e3
Hemel Hempstead: https://www.google.com/maps/@51.746299,-0.473383,246m/data=!3m1!1e3
High Wycombe: https://www.google.com/maps/@51.884493,0.932867,245m/data=!3m1!1e3
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What is the point of having them? Why do they run opposite directions? And why hasn't the population risen up and hung the traffic engineers by their entrails?
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Probably someone high up in the planning department, who's never driven a vehicle on public roads thought it would be cute.
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This is what happens when you change the API. Ask @blakeyrat.
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Probably someone high up in the planning department, who's never driven a vehicle on public roads thought it would be cute.
Having decisions made by people who don't have to deal with the consequences is a source of many WTFs.
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I've driven the one in Hemel, it's not as bad to navigate as you'd expect.
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@Intercourse said:
What is the point of having them?
I refer you to my earlier comment:
It's creator doesn't belong in prison; a secure mental institution would be rather more appropriate.
Point? There's no point…
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@Intercourse said:
What is the point of having them? Why do they run opposite directions?
If you want to go 1 exit in the direction against the flow of the main roundabout, you don't have to go nearly all the way around to get to it. You hop on one of the outer roads.
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Here's a similar example with the right turn lane on a Pittsburgh street. I apologize for the crappy quality.
In an attempt to explain what's going on, there's a right turn lane that inexplicably has a rock obstacle. At least three times a week, I'm blocked by that barrier and the people in front of me who can't fill in the space because even during rush hour, we need no less than three Shaquille O'Neals of distance between each car at a red light at a tight, crowded intersection.
Here's a diagram:
My solution is this:
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I know that situation all too well, and it is facilitated by someone who scores a perfect zero on the “have thoughtful consideration for others while driving” scale. Because of the peculiarities of the junction I'm thinking of, widening is impossible (there's an evil slope in one direction, and the city's main park in the other, so political hell to pay for taking that over for mere roads).
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I tell myself the fact that it's only a 1.5-mile trip each way and that I can go home for lunch makes up for it.
Why don't you go by bicycle? 1.5 miles is about 10 minutes, less when you get used to it and achieve a higher average speed.
Do you need to take heavy or big objects to work?
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Why don't you go by bicycle? 1.5 miles is about 10 minutes, less when you get used to it and achieve a higher average speed.
I did for a while. Then someone stole my bike.
But I was going to stop anyway because riding--even for only 10-15 minutes--in 40C weather sucks, I got tired of riding uphill both ways (work and home are on opposite sides of a hill) and riding properly (i.e., in the street with the flow of traffic) or even partially properly also sucks: I'd have to travel on two different six-lane divided thoroughfares. I would cause traffic problems riding in the road, and one of the two roads only has sidewalks on one side.
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I did for a while. Then someone stole my bike.
Auch. That sucks.
But I was going to stop anyway because riding--even for only 10-15 minutes--in 40C weather sucks,
I understand that. I have the luxury of a shower at the office, so I can freshen up before starting my workday. I also take an extra set of clothes with me to wear during the day and leave the clothes I wore when cycling to dry.
I would cause traffic problems riding in the road, and one of the two roads only has sidewalks on one side.
No proper bicycle lanes are a barrier to enjoyable modes of transportation...
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Yeah. Worse, they stole the bike off my porch, which required them to open a 6-foot wooden gate, in an apartment complex that's fenced off from the street. Fortunately it was a cheap bike.
If I had a shower or gym or whatever in my work building that would be a different matter, but there's no amenities like that--it's just a small two-story multi-office building. When I lived in Tampa, the place I worked DID have a gym...but work was 2 or 3 times farther away, and that trip would involve travelling on this, and the alternative route would have been several miles farther than that.
Finally, Dallas isn't terribly
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And in case you think I'm a rabid cyclist (well, was. I've turned into the archetypical programmer - out of shape and overweight), I'm just as quick to jump on asshole cyclists who blow stop signs / etc. They're endangering not only themselves (night, no lights, dark clothing, riding on wrong side of the road, on the phone [jawdrop]), but motorists too.
QFT
They deserve to be punched, kicked off the road, or when you pass them, you can squeeze their brakes for them (quite effective, but also quite aggressive).
The most baffling situation I've encountered was this. It was already dark when I was riding my bicycle home from work. I was riding on a dedicated bidirectional bicycle lane. When I came around a corner, I see a red light about 50m in front of me on the cycle lane. Since I ride my bike at a rather high speed, I usually take over fellow cyclists.
I move to the left of the cycle lane to pass that other bike and ring my bell to warn the other guy that someone is going to pass him. When we were about 5m apart, I could just in time swerve completely to the right of the lane in order to avoid a collision.That mucking foron had a red light on the FRONT of his bike!
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Looks like a helicopter would be more practical to commute with than a car OR a bicycle.
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Looks like a helicopter would be more practical to commute with than a car OR a bicycle.
Driving wasn't too bad, at least the way in to work, because everything but the turn into the office complex was a right turn or right-hand onramp.
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I find the only cyclists who behave tend to be the ones who drive cars too.
No driver's license, ride my bicycle everywhere, well behaved on the road (if I say so myself).
I'm too prettyyoung to die and I don't want other people to suffer for my
badmoronic decisions, so I ride responsibly.Among the worst offenders are teenagers cycling to/from school. Invariably they ride with 4 people right next to eachother, taking up the whole width of a rather wide, bidirectional cycle lane.
In order to let you pass after you've been ringing your bell for 3 minutes straight, what do they do? Well, squeeze closer together of course! Heaven forbid they should ride one after the other for 10 meters...
Even more fun ensues if you're riding in the opposite direction of them. They also try the squeeze-closer-together-trick, but now the speeds involved are much higher.
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Even more fun ensues if you're riding in the opposite direction of them. They also try the squeeze-closer-together-trick, but now the speeds involved are much higher.
You can solve that problem by simply stopping, dismounting, and waiting. Every time you see them.
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You can solve that problem by simply stopping, dismounting, and waiting. Every time you see them.
I might try that when I'm wearing full body armor.
Since they are usually talking to eachother without paying any attention to what happens in front of them, I'd probably just get run over and they would think "I didn't know there was a speedbump here".
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Carry a big flashlight?
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I prefer to keep my hands on my handlebars when riding my bicycle
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No, you stop, and flash the flashlight at their faces to get their attention.
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Maybe I should install a big honking bullhorn on my bike. That should get their attention both when they ride in the opposite direction of me and when we're going in the same direction.
The bell on my bicycle lacks some OOMPH.
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Air bubble and an air horn! Make that thing sound like a freight train!
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Finally, Dallas isn't terribly
Dallas isn't terribly what? Don't leave us hanging! Finish it! Finish it!!!
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Our memes are leaking between threads again. @FrostCat is now adjectivizing his adverbs.
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That mucking foron had a red light on the FRONT of his bike!
Some twit rides past my house like that (I see him/her when walking my dogs at 10p). AND the idiot has 2 bright white lights on the BACK. But by the time I realize who it is, they turn before I can enlighten them.
BTW, on a sad note, a cyclist who blew thru a stop sign a couple days ago just died after being hit by a car. Yes, I hate stop signs on downhill grades, but I like living better.
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Maybe. But it does seem like he had more to say.
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BTW, on a sad note, a cyclist who blew thru a stop sign a couple days ago just died after being hit by a car. Yes, I hate stop signs on downhill grades, but I like living better.
Nothing sad about nature taking its course.
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Nothing sad about nature taking its course.
I always feel like the only guy rooting for the lions on nature shows.
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BTW, on a sad note, a cyclist who blew thru a stop sign a couple days ago just died after being hit by a car. Yes, I hate stop signs on downhill grades, but I like living better.
Hmmm, seems like a Darwin Award runner-up.
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I always feel like the only guy rooting for the lions on nature shows.
I always feel like the only guy rooting for the bacteria decomposing the corpses.
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I always feel like the only guy rooting for the bacteria decomposing the corpses.
Why do you hate the vultures?
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Why do you hate the vultures?
I don't hate anything that feeds my precious bacteria.
YOU WILL ALL BE CONSUMED!!!
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Dallas isn't terribly what? Don't leave us hanging! Finish it! Finish it!!!
walking- or bicycling-friendly.
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Well that was anti-climactic.
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Our memes are leaking between threads again. @FrostCat is now adjectivizing his adverbs.
"Pray we don't adjectivise them further?"
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Damn, thought I typed the 'c' in there.
inb4 you did but you forgot the second 'c'
Edit: failure
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How hard is it to look to the lane next to you before you move into it? Almost got merged into again this morning. Quick reflexes and strong brakes saved me.