billw55 Posted July 19, 2014 Report Share Posted July 19, 2014 Two seconds is nothing. I can't even count the number of times when I was at a red light and everybody in view was stopped for what seemed like almost a minute, and I had to wonder who on earth we were all waiting for.I live in a town with a large University. Some of the intersections around campus have an all-red cycle to facilitate pedestrian flow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackshoe Posted July 19, 2014 Report Share Posted July 19, 2014 What frosts me is the guys who come up from behind at high speed in a side lane (usually one that's ending or has stopped or very slow traffic up ahead) and then expect the folks in the long line at the merge or end of the stopped traffic to let 'em in - and people do. Most folks would never consider jumping a line when on foot at a bank or store or whatever, but put 'em behind the wheel of a car and it's a different story. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinidad Posted July 19, 2014 Report Share Posted July 19, 2014 There are times that traffic engineers can do a lot.The situation that I described has changed much for the better within the past year but it took some construction. The solution I gave above has nothing to do with construction. It only has to do with drivers' behavior. Changing the drivers' behavior (away from the blocking method you described as a solution and towards "zipping") considerably improves the flow of traffic and reduces traffic jams. Rik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winstonm Posted July 19, 2014 Report Share Posted July 19, 2014 What frosts me is the guys who come up from behind at high speed in a side lane (usually one that's ending or has stopped or very slow traffic up ahead) and then expect the folks in the long line at the merge or end of the stopped traffic to let 'em in - and people do. Most folks would never consider jumping a line when on foot at a bank or store or whatever, but put 'em behind the wheel of a car and it's a different story. :( Yes, and I see that as sort of the same thing I am talking about. The drivers trying to merge from a parking lot have other options than pulling directly into the lane in which they want to travel - they could turn right and then turn around - or they could turn right and circle the block. Similarly, the driver in your example has the option of merging earlier into traffic or risk getting shut out totally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barmar Posted July 20, 2014 Report Share Posted July 20, 2014 What frosts me is the guys who come up from behind at high speed in a side lane (usually one that's ending or has stopped or very slow traffic up ahead) and then expect the folks in the long line at the merge or end of the stopped traffic to let 'em in - and people do. Most folks would never consider jumping a line when on foot at a bank or store or whatever, but put 'em behind the wheel of a car and it's a different story. :(I had a coworker who said he had no qualms about waiting until the last minute to merge into the exit lane. I tried making this analogy to him, but it had no effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenberg Posted July 20, 2014 Report Share Posted July 20, 2014 I had a coworker who said he had no qualms about waiting until the last minute to merge into the exit lane. I tried making this analogy to him, but it had no effect. I console myself with the fact that most people don't do this. Out here, there are a great many places and times when traffic gets pretty impossible. I deal with it by trying to plan my travel times, by taking the metro, and if worse comes to worse then just sitting back and listening to the cds. Or, sometimes, by not going. I once got off the road, called my wife, and said "I can't stand it, I'm having dinner here, I'll be home when things calm down." I try not to do that often. I think that the sheer awfulness of it all has, in some weird way, brought most of us to an acceptance and then to cooperation. There are still a few nuts, there always will be. On the capitol beltway, the speed limit is 55 for the most part. Much of the time traffic moves much slower, but at other times it is open and typical speeds are 70 to 75. So I happily move with the traffic. Then out of nowhere some guy comes streaking past me at maybe 15 mph, or more, faster than I and everyone else are going. Weaving through us all. Either he has a passenger who just had a heart attack and they are on their way to the hospital, or he is a total nut. Or both. When someone rudely pushes his way in front of others, I have learned to accept it. I don't do it, most don't do it, maybe he can someday decide that he won't do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barmar Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 Interestingly, if most did it it would kind of solve the problem. The back-log would just move from the right lane to the send-to-right lane, where all the people waiting until the last minute to merge would get stuck behind each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helene_t Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 Traffic jam is an interesting phenomena from a statistical point of view. Utterly unpredictable. Somewhat akin to a super-cooled liquid, maybe?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyberyeti Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 Traffic jam is an interesting phenomena from a statistical point of view. Utterly unpredictable. Somewhat akin to a super-cooled liquid, maybe?. Having studied this as part of my chaos theory course, it's surprising how little deviation from completely predictable behaviour it takes to cause one in simulations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwnn Posted July 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 Dangling modifiers! (not actually a pet peeve but I figured it is in the spirit of this thread to point it out) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenberg Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 Interestingly, if most did it it would kind of solve the problem. The back-log would just move from the right lane to the send-to-right lane, where all the people waiting until the last minute to merge would get stuck behind each other. There are interesting variations. In the merge I was describing, it goes like this: As we drive along 32, say in late afternoon, it is 100% predictable that we will need to slow down and merge. We all know what is coming. This has the following affect on me. I am usually in the left lane of the two lanes, and generally we are passing, not flying by but passing, the cars to our right. At some point, about a mile or a bit more before the merge, I start to think that passing more people would be tacky. The psychology changes from "I am just choosing to drive in the fast lane" to "I'm now barging ahead of others as we approach the merge". And so I move to the right lane. Interestingly, so do most others. And then, often, there will be a "guardian" who stays in the left lane but slows down to stay even with the car to his right, blocking those who wish to skip ahead. Mostly we have all come to accept lining up. I think it is the predictability, the inevitability, of it all that makes it work. Other times and places, where the jam just appears out of nowhere, things become far more chaotic. The big issue was/is to get the rwo lane, meaning one lane in each direction, road moving at a decent clip. The overpass did wonders for this. Without it, the situation was hopeless, no matter how we did our lining up. It's still a pain, but a much lesser one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackshoe Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 Here in Rochester, the interchange where Interstate 490 and Interstate 590 meet was, back before I moved here, a very dangerous PITA. They called it "The Can of Worms". They rebuilt the interchange, also before I moved here, and it's much better now, though still sometimes a PITA. And old timers still call it "The Can of Worms". :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenberg Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 Dangling modifiers! (not actually a pet peeve but I figured it is in the spirit of this thread to point it out) Tihs does not really qualify as a dangling participle but has some of the same amusing ambiguity: Advice on a gym wall "Do not exercise until the heart is pounding" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mbodell Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 According to the book traffic it is actually better for traffic flow for people to late merge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helene_t Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 Tihs does not really qualify as a dangling participle but has some of the same amusing ambiguity: Advice on a gym wall "Do not exercise until the heart is pounding"Yes, negations are often ambigious in English. In most other languages I know of it would be clear that it means "Do not (exercise until the heart is pounding)". If they meant "(Do not exercise) until the heart is pounding" they would have said "Do not (exercise before the heart is pounding)" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dicklont Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 Megapeeve: When in a debate or argument, whether online or face to face, people insist on labouring the point that the views they are expressing are 'their opinion': "Well, that is my opinion and I'm entitled to it" ... "You have your opinions and I have mine" - as if that matters in the slightest. Your argument being 'your own opinion' does not make it cogent in any way and certainly does not mean it warrants any respect for that fact alone. Nine times out of ten the 'opinion holder' turns out to be completely uninterested in reasoned debate but merely wants to put forward a weak ill-informed viewpoint without having it challenged.http://thepostonline.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Yeah-well-you-know-thats-just-like-your-opinion-man.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barmar Posted July 23, 2014 Report Share Posted July 23, 2014 Yes, negations are often ambigious in English. In most other languages I know of it would be clear that it means "Do not (exercise until the heart is pounding)". If they meant "(Do not exercise) until the heart is pounding" they would have said "Do not (exercise before the heart is pounding)"SNL (or maybe it was MAD TV) did a sketch about this many years ago. The boss of a nuclear power station was going on vacation, and on his way out he told the underlings: "Just remember one thing: you can't put too much water in the coolant tank." As soon as he left, an alarm went off, and the underlings got into an agreement. Did he meant "You must not put too much water in", or "No matter how much water you put in, it's not possible for it to be too much" (i.e. it's OK to keep putting more water in). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwnn Posted August 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2014 People pronouncing Toni Kroos like Toni Cruz. I still can't get used to it, pisses me off every time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barmar Posted August 13, 2014 Report Share Posted August 13, 2014 People pronouncing Toni Kroos like Toni Cruz. I still can't get used to it, pisses me off every time.I doubt I'll ever piss you off like this, since I had to google him to find out who you're talking about. Although I suspect I could still tick you off by saying he's a soccer player, rather than footballer. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WellSpyder Posted August 13, 2014 Report Share Posted August 13, 2014 I doubt I'll ever piss you off like this, since I had to google him to find out who you're talking about.Just out of curiosity, did you know that you were googling him rather than her? (I wouldn't have done....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barmar Posted August 13, 2014 Report Share Posted August 13, 2014 Just out of curiosity, did you know that you were googling him rather than her? (I wouldn't have done....)No, I didn't know prior to googling. I suspected it was a sports figure, since that's my area of least expertise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al_U_Card Posted August 13, 2014 Report Share Posted August 13, 2014 Having taken Driver's Ed., I was surprised to find that up north (Saguenay-Lac St-Jean) they had yield signs rather than stops (worked well) traffic circles (okay too) but intersections were another story. Rather than what I had learned, their approach was: Yellow means continue without reduction in speed. Red meant that the next five cars were allowed to cross the intersection and Green meant: Look out for the next five cars! As for traffic jams, it seems that they are most prevalent where differential rates of braking occur. Big trucks can stop faster than they can accelerate away from a stop. Thus, lots of cars will be held back by their braking. A great reason for ring roads and truck bypasses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenberg Posted August 13, 2014 Report Share Posted August 13, 2014 People pronouncing Toni Kroos like Toni Cruz. I still can't get used to it, pisses me off every time. You wouldn't think a person, at least a fellow American, could do much with Berg but they do. I am sometimes addressed as Berge, sort of like barge with an e sound where the a is. I usually try to mention how sad it was that the Titanic was struck by an iceberge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helene_t Posted August 13, 2014 Report Share Posted August 13, 2014 They probably find it easier to say "Ken" than to say "Csaba", though. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winstonm Posted August 14, 2014 Report Share Posted August 14, 2014 People pronouncing Toni Kroos like Toni Cruz. I still can't get used to it, pisses me off every time. These are probably the same people who let others cut in to traffic. B-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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