Posted on 03/24/2022 8:40:50 PM PDT by BenLurkin
In 1978, this 16 year old did the same in a 1968 VW bug. Amazing we lived.
Explain
First was the roundabout. I can't count how many times *after* we returned to the US that I'd be sitting at some stoplight at an intersection late at night with no other vehicles within a mile, waiting & waiting & waiting & waiting for a green light, and thinking fondly of those good old days in England with their wonderful roundabouts.
The other aspect was lane usage on the Motorways (ie Interstates). Everyone was expected to stay in the slow lane AT ALL TIMES, except when in the act of passing. And you were expected to pass quickly and then immediately pull back into the slow lane. This was self enforced by all the other drivers, who would blink their headlights in your rear view mirror, followed by honking if you didn't pull over quickly. "Camping out" in the fast lane made EVERYone annoyed with you; absolutely NOBODY sympathized that you had an underpowered vehicle (a rented motorhome), and had mistakenly tried to pass a large truck just as a long hill was coming up and you found you only had enough power to pull level with the truck. If you found yourself in that situation and faster cars were coming up behind you, then you were expected to immediately slow down and pull back into the slow lane *behind* the vehicle you were trying to pass.
This system only broke down in traffic jams when it was stop & go in both the fast & slow lane. But the vast majority of the time this system worked well and made things move very quickly on an average-traffic day.
I really, really also missed this aspect when we returned to the States. Ie when there's a long line of cows in the slow lane all doing 55mph in a 60mph zone, and there's one idiot blocking the fast lane who thinks it's a wonderful idea to pass them doing 55.00000001 mph.
Looking at the trucks skid marks, he tried the best he could to get out of the way. I really feel bad for him, he has to live with this.
There is one near Stafford VS and I hate the thing, still haven’t fully figured out where to be looking for the crazy driver who blows the stop sign.
These Diverging Diamond intersections are BRILLIANT. I read an article how they take 39 potential accident scenarios to like 14 or something. I don’t recall exactly.
But we had an intersection off the interstate to the mall, and people would be LINED UP for over a mile trying to exit there, sitting on the interstate. The DD intersection fixed that so well, it’s rare to see 1/3 of the exit ramp with cars. Super smooth, great traffic flow.
Huge fan here.
Those idiots want to "Meter" the flow of traffic.
They're self appointed speed cops who want the entire highway behind them to follow at their speed. It's why they sit in the #1 lane, (fast lane) forcing everyone else to maintain their speed. They do nothing but cause severe collisions as everyone behind them is changing lanes jockeying to get around them. Those folks should be dunked in barrels of snot.
Wow, what a story! I’m so sorry for the loss to your friends and community. God bless those bereaved parents!
There was a Freeper article quite a few years ago, 2012-2014, discussing the HOV lanes in DC and how one FDA driver was causing traffic congestion because he did the exact speed limit in the left lane of the newly built HOV lanes. Turns out he was a FDA drug approver who did the exact same thing for drug approvals. Every i had to be dotted and every t had to be crossed.
People were dying because he would not give an inch on any approvals, for any reason.
That was before the leftist and lawyers got involved claiming the kids would be offended or too scared to watch them, so the ditched the programs. They were billed as, "Not to scare you, but to show you". And they worked.
Some kids who watched them were interviewed years later as adults, and most stated, "I never forgot those videos".
A Chevy Spark is literally listed as the cheapest car you can buy now. It is 2300 lbs and likely would not hold up well against a truck carrying rocks or whatever.
That kind of highway design might sort of work in OK, but not in anywhere heavily populated.
There are some European countries and venues here in the U.S. that don’t tolerate that well. It’ not safe, and it’s in your face rude to the bone.
These blockheads apparently don’t realize they’re the person causing many collisions by their driving behaviour, as people jockey around changing lanes behind them, in an effort to pass. Takes a real weasel to play “meter the flow of traffic” game.
I remember an amusing story from back when the national 55mph law had taken effect in response to the 1973 OPEC Embargo, thanks to a Democrat Congress + Pres. Nixon believing "experts" who said it would save 2.5% in gasoline usage. It actually only saved around 0.5%, and was extremely unpopular with the public. But it was wildly popular with local & state jurisdictions who quickly discovered it to be a major source of revenue from overpriced speeding tickets .... which is why it hung around for two decades.
But anyway, some busybody, self-righteous group of 3 or 4 friends somewhere in the upper Midwest (Michigan? Illinois?) were very put out to see so many of their fellow citizens - a large majority in fact - routinely ignore the new law. So they decided to do their patriotic duty one morning during rush hour on a major interstate running through some Midwest Megalopolis that had 3 or 4 lanes in one direction.
They festooned the back of their cars with red white & blue bunting and large signs with slogans such as "55 SAVES LIVES!" and "IT'S THE LAW!" and so on. And they occupied every single lane, keeping their cars side-by-side at exactly 55 mpg so that nobody could pass them.
The outcome of this was that these patriotic law-abiding citizens were absolutely SHOCKED! and SCANDALIZED! to see just how violently their fellow citizens could behave behind the wheel. It started out with honking and blinking of the high headlamps which effected no change in the behavior of the "moving roadblock".
Then some cars started to bump them from behind, and attempted to pass them on both shoulders, resulting in near-accidents.
It was incredible how clueless these people were in predicting the reactions of other motorists - not ALL of the motorists or even a majority of them I'm guessing, but still a large enough percentage to come close to causing a massive multi-car wreck.
Model T fords had a cruising speed of 45 mph. “Speed limits” were not even needed at the time.
The passing zone distances and “time needed to pass” were figured for 45 mph and perfectly safe for 45.
The speed limit is now 55 and in some places 65. Which equals a flow of traffic at 65-70 in reality.
They never refactored the “time needed to pass” distances at these speeds. Even at 55 they are too short. And many need to just be removed. At modern speeds the need to even pass isn’t even really needed in these extremely short zones.
Leaving these lines painted as they are and figured for 45 and having passing zones where there should not be any is neglect.
“It sounds like either the speed limit is not appropriate for the area,”
No... The lines are not appropriate for the speed limit because they were never reassessed when the speed limit was raised. The speed limit is actually safe and fine for the road, the passing lines as marked are not safe for the newer limit.
“or they have to figure out a way to get motorists to drive at or near the posted speed limit.”
Of course, just post more signs because we know they will obey these? Or post 20 cruisers at every corner 24-7 to discourage speeding? Or build speed bumps?
Are these cures irrational? You bet... The lines just need to be reassessed taking new speeds and time needed to pass into account and paint double yellows where they are now needed.
Same here. I was a traffic hazard every time I took the wheel. Only a series of miracles kept me from killing myself or others.
Now, my 16 year-old daughter just got her license and I live in a constant state of terror. This tragedy really hits hard. I cannot imagine what these parents are going through.
When I lived in Alabama in the ‘70s, the state troopers would often do the same thing. It was common to see the troopers side by side occupying both lanes of the interstate driving exactly 55 mph. The traffic behind them stretched for miles.
I'll go out on a limb here and make a wild guess: That nobody got frustrated enough to play bumper cars with them.
:-)
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