Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition
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I (and the link) already noted that it is way more prominent on NEW roads where the oil from new asphalt hasn't washed away yet. Or extremely high traffic areas that have long dry spells...
Does an average daily traffic of 250,000 vehicles count as high?
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When I had my driving test, the instructor asked, incredulously, "Can you see down the street from here?"
I replied, "Yeah. There's a guy on a bike a block down that way, but no cars."
I tend to sit with my seat too far forward because I'd rather see than be comfortable >.>
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And that reminds me of an intersection in my mother's city where a stop sign is completely invisible because it's behind a tree the city planted! By the time you see it, it's too late to slow down because the speed limit is 35 mph IIRC. Out-of-towners are always running that stop sign.
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In my experience the best thing you can do is stop at the line, and then roll forward until you
can seehit that annoying bitch running with earbuds in ignoring traffic.
FTFY
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Does an average daily traffic of 250,000 vehicles count as high?
Estimated at 1ml per drop of oil, with 1 drop of oil per car per 10 miles, over a 1 week dry spell is 1750 LITERS of oil across 10miles. Given a 40 foot wide road, that would be a uniform ~9 microns of oil coating the surface. That's probably a bit of an overestimate on the amount of dripping, but I'm thinking it'd get slick when it rains.
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How much oil do your cars leak?
Bear in mind that even if the average car only drops a drop every mile (just to pick a round set of numbers here, not to try to be accurate in volume) a place like the DC ring roads probably have hundreds of thousands of cars pass on them every single day. Tiny amounts add up in those circumstances.
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People with four wheel drive sometimes forget that 4WD doesn't help you turn or stop any better than 2WD.
FTFY
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There used to be some moron who rode his bicycle on the shoulder of this highway everyday during the beginning stages of rush hour. Speed limit 45, prevailing speed usually 55 (long straight stretch with no entrances or exits for about a mile, so going 45 is dumb). And that's a fucking tiny shoulder, no?
The real kicker is that there's actually a nice new bike/pedestrian path that was added on the other side of the highway, protected from traffic by barriers. Buuuut did he use that? Nope, he was happy to just pedal along with traffic whizzing past mere inches away.
I called the cops on him at least 3 times (if I saw him close to the very beginning of that stretch of road; like I said it's about a mile and it'll take him a while to cross that on a bike) and apparently they finally caught him and told him to stop doing that because he now crosses the street and uses the bike path for that stretch of highway.
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Gosh, it sure was nice of the person in the right lane to wave him through, wasn't it?
One of these days, I'm going to make a sign that says, in giant letters, "YOU HAVE RIGHT OF WAY" and just hold it up for these idiots.
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Don't your tiny-ass East Coast states have those nasty car inspections? But dripping oil ain't no thang?
No vehicle is going to have 100% perfect oil seals. There will always be some leakage. If you have a long enough dry period with enough traffic, there can be enough of a buildup of oil on the roads to cause issues. Generally, you won't see an issue on residential streets. The problem tends to be on main roads and highways.
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Don't your tiny-ass East Coast states have those nasty car inspections? But dripping oil ain't no thang?
Yes, but older cars still tend to leak a tiny amount that, in aggregate, adds up over time, even while not being enough to fail an inspection.
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We had about 2.5-3 solid months of no rain this summer, and I didn't see any evidence of slick roads when it did come down.
That first rain was fairly hard, so it probably washed the oil off fairly quickly. Plus we did have a few showers (at least one) during the summer. SoCal you're talking 6-9 months of zero rain.
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Last time I went, they didn't even bother with the measuring wand thing that sticks in your exhaust, they just plugged into the ODBII port and looked for errors there. It doesn't matter if the emissions control system works, only that the car computer thinks it does!
You are more right than you know. Here's a tool to modify a Subaru computer to tell the thing they plug into the ODBII port whatever you want it to tell them.
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Are East Coast inspections as much of a joke as Midwest inspections?
That was always my experience in Boston. My landlord actually had a buddy that did inspections, and you were pretty much guaranteed to pass if nothing was falling off the car.
They're serious about it here in Dallas--I failed once because I cleared the Check Engine light by pulling the battery, and the ECU hadn't gotten over the hissy fit[1] yet.
[1] Modern cars are aware of that trick and if you probe them within the first 30 miles or so of pulling the battery, the emissions system will say "I'm not ready yet to report on whether my sensors are accurately reporting yet."
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If there's enough oil dripping to fail an inspection, your car isn't going to be running for long.
When I was in college, I had a mini-pickup that was a hand-me-down from my dad. I never changed the oil, because it changed itself while I drove. I used to joke that it got 400 miles to the gallon — of oil. It went on like that for years, until one time I forgot to top it up before driving home (200 miles) for a holiday.
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Check your local laws, but in most states it's legal. The traffic code in my state says nothing about arrows being handled differently than full lights in that section of the traffic code, just red lights in general, and says you can turn right after coming to a complete stop, except at intersections which are marked with a sign saying you can't.
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Here's another one that I was reminded of this morning:
When changing lanes, the car next to you starts merging into the lane you are leaving when you're still half in it. Excuse me, but what if I need to reverse my lane change for emergency reasons? It's my understanding that in that scenario both lanes are mine until I finish changing lanes.
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When I was in college, I had a mini-pickup that was a hand-me-down from my dad. I never changed the oil, because it changed itself while I drove. I used to joke that it got 400 miles to the gallon — of oil. It went on like that for years, until one time I forgot to top it up before driving home (200 miles) for a holiday.
Well, I guess I should have accounted for replacing the dripping oil... :)
No wonder there's so much on the road!
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In general, turning into the closest lane of the cross-street is almost always legal in the USA. That includes turning left into the closest lane of a one-way street. There are a handful of places where the left turn to a one-way street is illegal (Google it if you're wondering if your state allows it), but a right turn on red is still allowed, unless of course there's a sign saying you can't.
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When I was in college, I had a mini-pickup that was a hand-me-down from my dad. I never changed the oil, because it changed itself while I drove. I used to joke that it got 400 miles to the gallon — of oil. It went on like that for years, until one time I forgot to top it up before driving home (200 miles) for a holiday.
My '92 Saturn required a new quart of oil with every gas tank fillup. Not quite 400mpg/oil, but around 300miles per quart.
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Last time I went, they didn't even bother with the measuring wand thing that sticks in your exhaust, they just plugged into the ODBII port and looked for errors there.
That's what failed my car this year. I don't remember whether they checked the actual emissions, but it was the ODBII code that was the reason for failure. I know there's a limit to how much you're required spend to fix a failing car to register it, but there was an actual problem that needed to be fixed, and it cost more than that limit. (Whether it was actually the expensive problem Firestone claimed it was, or just a $20 hose is another question.)
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I had them reject me because my gas cap wasn't sealing properly.
Which probably is a good thing actually, because that poor seal was costing me money in wasted gas.
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What's up with the 2.6MB PNG instead of a JPEG?
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And that reminds me of an intersection in my mother's city where a stop sign is completely invisible because it's behind a tree the city planted! By the time you see it, it's too late to slow down because the speed limit is 35 mph IIRC. Out-of-towners are always running that stop sign.
Classic revenue enhancement technique!
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I don't remember whether they checked the actual emissions, but it was the ODBII code that was the reason for failure.
I has a car that failed the OBDII test back in the first month they started doing it. It turned out to be a wiring harness and I got it fixed. When I got it re-inspected, the OBDII report said "NOT READY". They pulled my sticker and gave me the printout which said I had 10 days to bring the car back for a re-test. I had to drive around with no sticker for a week. During that week, every cop that saw me pulled me over and I had to go through the process of showing him the report and him figuring out if this was legal. Even worse, OBDII doesn't go out of NOT READY status until a certain number of miles have been driven and it's been through a specific set of conditions (like highway cruising, idling for a long time, etc.). So, you have to drive it or you're even more screwed. I hate to think of what would happen if it was still not ready 10 days later.
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(Hey this quote actually went at the end!) There are a few intersections in my city where there are big signs saying "Stop behind the white line!" But if you do, you can't see traffic coming from the left because someone thought it would be great to put some bushes and trees on the corner. Cross traffic has no light or stop signs, so if you don't want to get smashed you literally have to break the law so you can see traffic and know when it's safe to go.
I somehow think this one's worth a call to the state DOT where you live...wait...isn't it the same one as mine!? (They can at least send the property owner a "Cut down your evil shrubbery or else nastygram.)Yeah. We once did a trip to Spain and our 60 seat bus had to stop at a red light. Suddenly the bus twitched a bit, sort of like the driver accidentally stalled the motor.
Turned out that a Mercedes had failed to engage his brakes and plowed into the back of our bus at ca. 30 km/h.
The Mercedes was 1 meter shorter. The bus? Some scratches and dings to the back.
The only thing worse than people who pick fights with buses are those who pick fights with trains. Train is to car as car is to soda can, TYVM.Well, the usage of the wording, now that I've looked it up, can indeed be confusing.
For instance, I myself didn't know that asphalt and bitumen can be used interchangeably (at least in English) and that you should use "asphalt concrete" to denotate the actual mixture of gravel and bitumen used for building roads
That's what you get for listening to Chemistry professors.
Yes: 'concrete' refers to 'aggregate + binder'. 'Portland cement concrete' uses Portland cement and/or other pozzolans (fly ash from coal plants is common) to form a stone-like binder when hydrated then let to dry. 'Asphaltic concrete' (whether it be hot-mix or cold-mix) uses bitumen (a soup of gigantic hydrocarbon molecules known as asphaltenes) as the binder. Most gravel roads simply have a light coat of oil to keep dusts from flying around; there isn't a 'binder' per se to hold the aggregate together though.
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@mott555 said:
And that reminds me of an intersection in my mother's city where a stop sign is completely invisible because it's behind a tree the city planted! By the time you see it, it's too late to slow down because the speed limit is 35 mph IIRC. Out-of-towners are always running that stop sign.
Classic revenue enhancement technique!
Yeah, but those who can make it to a court appearance would get the ticket waived for the sign not being visible.
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The only thing worse than people who pick fights with buses are those who pick fights with trains. Train is to car as car is to soda can, TYVM.
This. So much this. 20000 tons moving at 50 mph does not stop suddenly.
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They tried to add one here in Dallas a year or two ago. I don't get out that way much but I believe people basically ignore it in favor of the left turn lane that's always been there.
Meh. Ours get use because the street they're on makes left turns an outright health hazard.
And that reminds me of an intersection in my mother's city where a stop sign is completely invisible because it's behind a tree the city planted! By the time you see it, it's too late to slow down because the speed limit is 35 mph IIRC. Out-of-towners are always running that stop sign.
*flails* CAN SOMEONE PLEASE GET A TRAFFIC ENGINEER TO YOUR MOTHER'S CITY PRONTO?
Yeah, but those who can make it to a court appearance would get the ticket waived for the sign not being visible.
I'm sure the city still gets money on traffic court fees, though.
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Funny thing, you can actually get sued for waving someone through if they get hit like that. You accepted partial legal liability by implying that it was safe for them to proceed.
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A jughandle AND a left turn lane? That is a WTF.
The intersection was retrofitted to add a jughangle; the left turn lane was to be blocked with cones or barrels. I actually haven't been there since it happened so I don't know what the deal is; someone told me everyone's ignoring the jughandle, even though the cops will supposedly ticket you for not using it.
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When I was in college, I had a mini-pickup that was a hand-me-down from my dad. I never changed the oil, because it changed itself while I drove. I used to joke that it got 400 miles to the gallon — of oil. It went on like that for years, until one time I forgot to top it up before driving home (200 miles) for a holiday.
If you're not running around buying new hybrid Ford Fusions, you're probably aware that old cars are historically well-known for eating a quart or so of oil every 500-1000 miles.
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but a right turn on red is still allowed, unless of course there's a sign saying you can't.
IIRC NY State is a notable exception, where right turn on red is generally illegal. Surprised the heck out of me at the time.
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you're probably aware that old cars are historically well-known for eating a quart or so of oil every 500-1000 miles.
400 mpg = 1 quart / 100 miles. Mostly lost around the rocker cover. Mostly due to my having only slightly more skill as an auto mechanic than the average PHP developer has at programming. I fixed stuff, but it wasn't pretty.
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Even worse, OBDII doesn't go out of NOT READY status until a certain number of miles have been driven and it's been through a specific set of conditions (like highway cruising, idling for a long time, etc.)
If you search, you may be able to find charts specific to your model and year of car showing the requirements. OTOH "35-40 miles with a significant stretch on the highway" should cover it.
As I mentioned, pulling the battery will trip the not ready indicator. I'm convinced they added this bullshit to prevent people from doing that, which is really annoying as it's almost certainly a catalytic converter that's the cause of my check engine light.
New WTF: You know something is poorly designed when the replacement procedure starts with "cut the bolts off with a blowtorch because they will be galvanically welded to the engine."
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400 mpg = 1 quart / 100 miles. Mostly lost around the rocker cover.
Regardless of how my reply may have appeared, that sentence you quoted wasn't directed at you, as your ratio indicated you knew what it was.
Your particular problem, on an older car, was probably fairly easy to fix. I had an old Celebrity that did that--every once in a while, you'd buy a new gasket ($5) and tube of sealant and spend a (little more than) a few minutes replacing the gasket, and you were good again until THAT gasket developed a leak. (Or you could get a garage to do it for $50.)
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Pittsburgh?
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Your particular problem, on an older car, was probably fairly easy to fix. I had an old Celebrity that did that--every once in a while, you'd buy a new gasket ($5) and tube of sealant and spend a (little more than) a few minutes replacing the gasket,
As I said, mostly due to my lack of skill as a mechanic. I didn't know you needed a gasket and sealant. When I did learn that, I never bothered fixing it because, meh, it works, mostly. Until it didn't, of course.
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If you search, you may be able to find charts specific to your model and year of car showing the requirements. OTOH "35-40 miles with a significant stretch on the highway" should cover it.
But you should probably skip the chart because it will give you a heart attack as you realize you will never be able to deliberately follow it. I remember seeing one for, I think, a Nissan, that showed how you had to have something like six repetitions of "go at least 50 mph for 30 seconds, then slow to under 30mph for at least 30 seconds" just as one part. That's why I say, just drive 10-20 miles in city traffic and 20 or so more in highway traffic, and make sure you've gone, say, a total of 40 miles, and your ECU should clear the not ready state...unless of course the check engine light comes back on.
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To balance this out, people in Dallas are the best at handling a signal outage in a four-way intersection. My comparison points include but are not limited to Green Bay, Florida[1], DC, and Boston
I would love to know how you found enough people in Green Bay to get in a four way dual. Last time I was up there, there was like 1 vehicle/100 yards on the freeway during rush hour.
(Hey this quote actually went at the end!) There are a few intersections in my city where there are big signs saying "Stop behind the white line!" But if you do, you can't see traffic coming from the left because someone thought it would be great to put some bushes and trees on the corner. Cross traffic has no light or stop signs, so if you don't want to get smashed you literally have to break the law so you can see traffic and know when it's safe to go.
When I took my drivers test, this was a tested scenario. The correct answer is to stop at the line, then creep forward until you can see.
On quotes going into the middle, discourse inserts the quote wherever the cursor is. If you leave your cursor in the middle of a block because you went back to edit (or accidentally touched the mouse button while hovering there), discourse will quite happily insert the quote right there. (it happened to me while typing this out) Whether this is desireable behaviour is open to debate.
Yeah, but those who can make it to a court appearance would get the ticket waived for the sign not being visible.
Except for all the out of towners who can't be bothered to come back to fight it. The locals know it's there and make the stop.
My own crap drivers story:
I was on I75 in Florida going about 80 (in a 70MPH zone. How I never got a ticket is a mystery, there were cops everywhere on this streach of road) I was in the left lane, with three lanes in each direction. Up ahead, I see two cars next to each other in the center and right lanes doing about 65, with a bright yellow truck behind them in the right lane.
My ESP was doing well that day, because I just knew that the truck was going to do something stupid. Sure enough, the truck decided to change lanes from the right, across the center lane, and into the left lane. Of course, perfectly timed to force me into the left breakdown lane to avoid a massive crash.
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I didn't know you needed a gasket and sealant.
Heh. I had someone tell me that. Your typical Haynes or Chilton manual will as well, and you'd be crazy to try to do any given repair without one (or someone else to walk you through it) the first time.
And of course, in the name of efficiency, the manufacturers are making it impossible to do most of this stuff anyway. Most modern V6s, you can't change the spark plugs yourself. Well, you can, but you wouldn't want to, because the instructions start "take the intake manifold off so you can reach the rear bank" and take 3 hours if you are already familiar with the process. Fortunately, if your car's like that, you probably have platinum spark plugs so you only have to do it every 100K miles...and if you don't you should probably use them the next time.
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I would love to know how you found enough people in Green Bay to get in a four way dual.
Heh. Get off the freeway and visit downtown, such as it is. Oh, it'll still make you laugh at how quaint it is, but you WILL see some traffic.
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Except for all the out of towners who can't be bothered to come back to fight it. The locals know it's there and make the stop.
Which is why I said:
those who can make it to a court appearance
And those from the next county over would probably be able to make the court appearance while not knowing about the stop sign.
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When I took my drivers test, this was a tested scenario. The correct answer is to stop at the line, then creep forward until you can see.
Yay!
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Another fun one: If no one is being super-retarded and impeding traffic, everyone goes 60 - 65 in the 55 zone. Unless there are cops. Then everyone goes from 65 down to about 35 by slamming on their brakes without warning, sometimes triggering massive pile-ups.
And then there's this one: I had a friend from Kansas City who got ticketed on I-435 for going 95 mph. The best part is it wasn't a speeding ticket, it was a ticket for not keeping up with traffic! This is one reason I stay away from KC, at the time I didn't own a vehicle capable of going that fast. My current truck can, but since it's a diesel the tach would be touching the redline in 5th gear to do so.
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I was on I75 in Florida going about 80 (in a 70MPH zone. How I never got a ticket is a mystery, there were cops everywhere on this streach of road)
Oddly, you weren't going fast enough. It's just like I-95 north of Boston, where the limit's 65 but everyone goes 72-77. The cops know what the natural speed is and only ticket people exceeding that, because at least in that one instance, they're not assholes. (Florida cops generally are, and will gleefully ticket you for a technical violation that other states wouldn't. And then they'll fuck you over a second time with things like "you can get a $15 reduction on this $90 ticket for a busted taillight if you come down to the station during business hours and wait until someone comes out to verify you've fixed it." It's even worse than that, because they'll actually cut the ticket price by $30, but charge you $15 to get off their fat ass and look at it.)
Now if everyone had been doing 70 and you were doing 80, they'd ticket you. But I bet everyone was going 80. For one thing, they'd have to ticket everyone, because if they didn't, everyone they DID stop would argue that they were being singled out.
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The locals know it's there and make the stop.
Locals on the crossing road also have to know if there's out of towners coming, to avoid getting killed when they run the stopsign. Hopefully it's a 4 way stop, or else you're just screwed.
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Then everyone goes from 65 down to about 35 by slamming on their brakes without warning
Which is stupid, not just because of what you said next, but also because the cops are trained to look for that--if they see someone nose down, they know it's because that person just stomped on their brakes.
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Maybe he wanted to pull through and park next to the silver truck, but the silver truck was taking up half of the spot he wanted.
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And then there's this one: I had a friend from Kansas City who got ticketed on I-435 for going 95 mph. The best part is it wasn't a speeding ticket, it was a ticket for not keeping up with traffic! This is one reason I stay away from KC, at the time I didn't own a vehicle capable of going that fast. My current truck can, but since it's a diesel the tach would be touching the redline in 5th gear to do so.
Doing the speed limit (55mph) across all lanes of I265 in Atlanta: Youtube
