[tsanto]

Found a pretty good article that I think is worth a read.

Distracting Miss Daisy


Although I don't think a sign on the side of the road is going to distract you from driving, I have to agree with most of the article.

[Stoneman]

I'd say he's clueless to the real differences in transportation tendencies between the two countries. It made very little sense to me. Perhaps he should worry more about straightening out driving habits in his native land than telling us how we should do it 'more like us'...

[DucDave]

Having driven in Ireland and Italy I agree completely with his observations. Our idiotic signage, speed limits, enforcement policys, and failure to recognise the difference between real safe driving, (lane dicipline and the like), opposed to revenue enhancing enforcment, makes driving here more dangerous and less fun. In 2 weeks in Italy, where everyone drives fast, and there are 1000 scooters to every car, I didn't see a single accident or incident of road rage. What a refreshing difference....

[Wanderer]

I'd echo DucDave here - and I'm not unaware of the differing infrastructure needs of the EU and US. What does suprise me is the very granular nature taken to road and traffic flow design here, each instance/obstacle is dealt with in a very comparmentalised way - speed limits for individual corners, stop signs at intersections. Speed limits set by road-type is very useful, as soon as you hit a given type of road, you know what your limits are - not playing the spot-the-sign game as you hit a new road each time.

The lack of roundabouts is a big suprise - for the space of a 4-way stop, you can place in a mini-roundabout, and keep traffic flowing much more easily (and imo, reduce the chance for certain types of accident at the same 4way stop)
This scales up pretty well also - large multi-lane roundabouts are practical and usable, as long as people understand how to enter/navigate/exit them, and keep traffic flow going.

On my daily commute through dracut, I count about 7 stop lights/signs in a 3 mile stretch. Traffic at these can get seriously backed up - cant help but think it could be done more efficently. But it does seem to be a symptom of the system and/or design ethos

[rpete]

Off topic, but I can't resist linking to this magic roundabout

Fleming Way, Swindon, Reino Unido - Google Maps

Magic Roundabout (Swindon) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Wanderer]

Originally Posted by rpete

Off topic, but I can't resist linking to this magic roundabout

Fleming Way, Swindon, Reino Unido - Google Maps

Magic Roundabout (Swindon) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ahh Swindon. Yup, been round that one... interesting, to say the least

[Pittenger5]

Originally Posted by Wanderer

Speed limits set by road-type is very useful, as soon as you hit a given type of road, you know what your limits are - not playing the spot-the-sign game as you hit a new road each time.

The lack of roundabouts is a big suprise

Honestly, I dont know what country youre living in. Look at 93, it drops to 55 for a while without changing lanes. 95 into New Hampshire stays the same lanes and drops to 55. Where I live, on the Fells in 2 different spots it stays 2 lanes each way, and fluctuates between 25 and 35. Basically the same amount of residential road. The JWay does about the same thing and everyone ignores them. So I dont agree with you on that regard.
As for rotaries the less in the boston area the better. People do not understand them. Ive almost been hit about a thousand times by people who just barrel into them without even slowign down. I tend to change routes on rotaries judging from how traffic is generally behaving.
If you ever get bored and want to make an argument FOR rotaries, go to everett, the rotary right between Main St and 99 and watch how many near accidents there are every day just from people NOT yielding.

[hammadown]

I think the problem with rotaries here is a lack of understanding about how to drive in them. Its ok to miss your exit...and if you're on a bike its encouraged several times until your knee slider wears out or you get too dizzy. This extends to anoither problem we have with drivers causing traffic jams. Everyone is so in a hurry to "get to the front" that they usually cause a back. Take a road that goes from 3 lanes to 2. if traffic is going a bit slow, you can bet there will be a line of cars in the soon to be ending lane trying to force their way to the front. What does that do? Cause a bottle neck and make things worse. These smaller events eventually lead to all traffic being stopped on the highway. The long and the short of it is a bit of common sense, and probably some better designed road systems leave a lot to be improved upon here for traffic.

[wingerdor]

Thanks for the great article. I think the thing that is missing from the article is the comparison of driver training. I am a big supporter of rotaries, but that's because I understand how they work. People hate rotaries because no one ever taught them how to use them. I don't know what the driver training is in the UK, but the US driver training is pathetic at best.

A friend told me that in the Advanced motorcycling school training in the UK, he was told to watch out for Volvo drivers! The theory being that Volvo drivers are driving the "Safest Cars in the World" so they don't drive near as defensively as they should, because of this feeling of safety. Perception drives reality.

[Wanderer]

Originally Posted by Pittenger5

Honestly, I dont know what country youre living in. Look at 93, it drops to 55 for a while without changing lanes. 95 into New Hampshire stays the same lanes and drops to 55. Where I live, on the Fells in 2 different spots it stays 2 lanes each way, and fluctuates between 25 and 35. Basically the same amount of residential road. The JWay does about the same thing and everyone ignores them. So I dont agree with you on that regard.

Hm- I probably didnt pose that very well. Example - there are Motorways, A-roads, B-roads. As long as you know what class of road you are on, you know the speed limit of the road itself. I don't really see a correlation here yet - once I get off the highways, limits seem to be basically pretty random.
Was on 119 over the weekend - 40, 45, 50, you name it, it has it. It's more of a concern when I switch from road A to road B - often I've got no idea what the limit of road B is until I see a given sign - with a classification based system, as long as I know the road type (listed at all intersections) I know the maximum limit. Of course - I may have entered in a lower limit section, but I've got a baseline at the very least.


As for the rotary thing, I can only go on my own experience of a decade of driving in a country where they're the norm, with 4-way-stops pretty rare. As long as people have the wits to learn how/be taught how to navigate them, I'd take a rotary over a 4 way stop sign every day.
Then again - that probably wouldn't be easy to retrofit into the US driving system without significant changes into the way people take their tests and qualify for a car licence in the first place.

[ninjette_ridr55]

People have to qualify for a license here? I thought they handed them out in Cracker Jack boxes

Seriously, it's way to easy to get a license here. Some people shouldn't even be allowed to breathe let alone drive. /rant