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If they're run with the intention of stopping accidents rather than generating revenue, that might help.
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Dec 21, 2014 00:36
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Entropist posted:All this complaining about red light cameras seems bizarre to me and I never heard of it outside of these forums. In the Netherlands they're a pretty standard feature, hardly anyone complains about them because everyone pretty much agrees that running a red light is bad. Of course, we do have sane yellow times... As I'm sure you're aware, it's almost entirely because American cities inevitably end up privatising the system, shortening the yellow times to drive revenue, implementing strict and brazen policies, and basically just using the cameras to mess with drivers. The accident rate soars (+20% according to that Chicago Tribune study) because the system is unpredictable and often harshly punitive, which encourages sudden stops. Kaal fucked around with this message at 01:06 on Dec 21, 2014 |
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Dec 21, 2014 01:03
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How obvious are these red light cameras? I'm guessing they'd have to be pretty obvious or signposted to create such a change in driving behaviour.
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Dec 21, 2014 06:59
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Lobsterpillar posted:How obvious are these red light cameras? I'm guessing they'd have to be pretty obvious or signposted to create such a change in driving behaviour. In Arizona every intersection with traffic cameras is extremely well signed. It would be impossible not to notice. Even so; I see people getting flashed by the cameras at least once a week.
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Dec 21, 2014 07:25
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Are they going off on people legitimately blowing the light, or just being an inch over the line?
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Dec 21, 2014 20:40
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Javid posted:Are they going off on people legitimately blowing the light, or just being an inch over the line? My understanding of the cameras is that they won't trigger unless they detect speeds in excess of some amount (I heard 20mph, but that can probably change). So it's possible, I guess, to not blow through the intersection, but if you're crossing the solid white bar at 20mph you've either got hellacious brakes on your car or you might as well go through the intersection anyway.
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Dec 21, 2014 20:53
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Grundulum posted:My understanding of the cameras is that they won't trigger unless they detect speeds in excess of some amount (I heard 20mph, but that can probably change). So it's possible, I guess, to not blow through the intersection, but if you're crossing the solid white bar at 20mph you've either got hellacious brakes on your car or you might as well go through the intersection anyway. Of course, each state has its own laws. YMMV. Varance fucked around with this message at 22:40 on Dec 21, 2014 |
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Dec 21, 2014 22:19
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Javid posted:Are they going off on people legitimately blowing the light, or just being an inch over the line? There's one near O'Hare that, until recently, flashed whenever someone was turning right, even if they came to a full stop first...or had a green arrow.
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Dec 22, 2014 01:53
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Kakairo posted:There's one near O'Hare that, until recently, flashed whenever someone was turning right, even if they came to a full stop first...or had a green arrow.
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Dec 22, 2014 17:43
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SLOSifl posted:I was stuck in the middle of an intersection in Austin, trying to turn left and stuck between cars. I got a ticket from the redlight camera. Yes, I was in the intersection...I was also in there during the entire green cycle waiting. Don't block the box! I'm not the expert on traffic design or law, but I'm pretty sure you are in the wrong on this one and that the law generally states that you should not enter the intersection if you can not clear the intersection.
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Dec 22, 2014 19:03
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Opals25 posted:Don't block the box! If you're turning left but only waiting for oncoming traffic to clear, you should enter the intersection until traffic clears, then finish the left turn. New York, for example: http://dmv.ny.gov/org/about-dmv/chapter-5-intersections-and-turns
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Dec 22, 2014 19:19
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NY is pretty clear about not blocking the box.
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Dec 23, 2014 03:35
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RadioPassive posted:If you're turning left but only waiting for oncoming traffic to clear, you should enter the intersection until traffic clears, then finish the left turn. This depends on the jurisdiction. Here in Connecticut, this maneuver can be either legal or illegal depending on the intersection.
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Dec 23, 2014 03:36
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We have a couple of intersections downtown with a pedestrian scramble crossing. Combine that with drivers' tendency to hold up traffic waiting for another car to leave their parking spot so they can nab it, so on a particularly busy day you sometimes get cars who enter the intersection without realising the traffic ahead of them hasn't cleared. On occasion they get stranded in the middle of the crossing when the scramble phase starts and it's quite fun to stare accusingly at the driver as you cross the road. I'm not sure you can actually booked for this in NSW but still. --- I'm guessing Pathetic Motorways http://www.pathetic.org.uk/ has come up during the long life of this thread but it's a fun roadsperg site to check out.
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Dec 23, 2014 03:45
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SLOSifl posted:I was stuck in the middle of an intersection in Austin, trying to turn left and stuck between cars. I got a ticket from the redlight camera. Yes, I was in the intersection...I was also in there during the entire green cycle waiting. Don't enter the intersection unless you can clear it. Nobody should ever put themselves in a situation where they are stopped in the intersection.
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Dec 23, 2014 04:12
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Opals25 posted:Don't block the box! That's not a law in most of the country. It's usually perfectly legal to enter for a left turn during green and then complete the turn once the red happens, unless otherwise marked.
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Dec 23, 2014 05:24
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The thing to watch for is a "Do Not Block Intersection" sign... though those tend to be posted at minor roads near intersections to clue traffic in to not blocking a driveway or minor street while waiting for a red. There's also this variant, which is more prevalent in areas with pedestrian scrambles, or CBDs where multiple intersections are in close proximity such that traffic can backup in a way that prevents a full left/right turn. 
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Dec 23, 2014 05:33
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I would have obeyed that swanky DON'T BLOCK THE BOX SIGN to be fair.Dr. Stab posted:Don't enter the intersection unless you can clear it. Nobody should ever put themselves in a situation where they are stopped in the intersection.
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Dec 23, 2014 16:42
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Depending on the area, the threat of tickets does help. Where I work in Stamford CT just painting the road and putting up do not block the box signs helped a lot, in Manhattan it's 2 points on your license if you get caught and there are signs reminding you of it.
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Dec 23, 2014 23:07
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A Christmas present for the thread: traffic volumes on the Berlin Turnpike for the last 11 years. Black line is a 4-week moving average. You can spot the major holidays, and you can tell how good the weather was during each of those Summers. I'd like to know what's been driving up the volumes this year.
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Dec 24, 2014 18:45
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Speaking of "don't block the box", I always get screwed out of 3+ light cycles at this intersection before I give up and decide I'm going to block the box. The main problem stems from the Whole foods, where the queue for parking always spills out on to Clarendon Blvd. What happens is (green arrow) people are trying to the leave the shopping center and head north on Edgewood. At the same cycle, (purple arrow) people heading south on Edgewood are trying to make a left on Clarendon, and then a left into Whole Foods. They all block the box and the intersection gets congested. Then people heading east on Clarendon are trying make it through the intersection and turn left into Whole Foods. I drew a black line where the stop bar is. I'm often times at the front of the red line, waiting at a green light because the intersection is jammed. After a cycle, it clears up, but then I still can't enter because I would be blocking the box. Then when I don't go, people behind me get mad and honk and drive around me and then get in front of me and block the box. Ugh
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Dec 24, 2014 23:54
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That is an odd intersection. The obvious solution (to me) is to put carpark access to Wholefoods on N Edgewood St so the purple people don't go onto Clarendon. Mind you, green traffic and purple will still be clashing but red traffic will get through. Is there parking in the shopping centre to the south? Because people should probably just park there and walk to Wholefoods, the lazy bastards.
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Dec 25, 2014 09:23
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It seems to me that the easiest solution would be simply forcing the Green people to take a right rather trying to push their way North by mucking around in a one-way. The biggest problem seems to be that the intersection isn't squared and so there's far too much weaving going on.
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Dec 25, 2014 09:43
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Seems like the best place for this but maybe it depends on the state. There is an intersection near my work that has two lanes exiting an off ramp and they turn to the left through a light controlled intersection. The roadway they turn into has 3 lanes. Through the turn lane, there is a single segmented line in between the two lanes that separates the left lane from the right and maintains the turn/curve and where it places the cars in the left exit ramp lane in the middle of the 3 lanes and places ones in the right exit ramp lane on the farthest right of the 3 lanes of traffic. This leaves the farthest left lane of the 3 lanes of traffic as one that does (should?) not have traffic feeding directly into it off the ramp. Indiana law would seem to say that you maintain your lane after a turn so traffic exiting the ramp would place the left most ramp traffic in the left most of the 3 lanes and the traffic in the right ramp exit lane in the *middle* of the 3 lanes. But with the line drawn in the intersection, it seems to divide the lanes and to me, is trying to control the cars to go into the Middle and Right lanes out of the 3. Well, I see people almost collide here all of the time and if I try to stay to the left of the segmented line, I will nearly always get crowded over by someone to the right of me crossing that line and to me, they are changing lanes in the turn and trying to occupy the lane I am currently driving in. Did someone make a mistake when designing this intersection with the lines the way they are or am I surrounded by assholes who 8 times out of 10 will cross this dotted line because they think they should have access to the middle lane even if it means they crossed the line to do it?
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Dec 26, 2014 15:17
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anivasion posted:Seems like the best place for this but maybe it depends on the state. The designers did the best they could to clarify where cars should go but as usual, dumb drivers will do whatever the hell they like. Typically cars will attempt to make a straight line out of that nice curve even when it means they have to take a sudden jerk of the steering wheel at the the PT to avoid nosing into the car next to them. If you are that car next to them, even if you are doing things right you may want to assume that they are going to do the stupid thing and learn to give them extra room so they don't hit you. Either get ahead of them or stay half a length behind them. A dashed line always means lane changing is allowed although a smart driver would signal and wouldn't do it on a tight curve. I don't believe there is any law in any state that prevents that unless the line is solid. On tight curves on an interstate highway, the lane lines will turn solid to indicate that changing lanes there is prohibited because it is a stupid and dangerous idea.
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Dec 26, 2014 19:44
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Neutrino posted:The designers did the best they could to clarify where cars should go but as usual, dumb drivers will do whatever the hell they like. Typically cars will attempt to make a straight line out of that nice curve even when it means they have to take a sudden jerk of the steering wheel at the the PT to avoid nosing into the car next to them. If you are that car next to them, even if you are doing things right you may want to assume that they are going to do the stupid thing and learn to give them extra room so they don't hit you. Either get ahead of them or stay half a length behind them. A dashed line always means lane changing is allowed although a smart driver would signal and wouldn't do it on a tight curve. I don't believe there is any law in any state that prevents that unless the line is solid. On tight curves on an interstate highway, the lane lines will turn solid to indicate that changing lanes there is prohibited because it is a stupid and dangerous idea. Are links cool to post? Here is the intersection in question: https://www.google.com/maps/search/google+satellite+maps+indianapolis+71st+street/@39.8815795,-86.2685199,51m/data=!3m1!1e3 The turn from north to west off of the ramp at the bottom of the screen is the one I am remarking on. Right before the bridge, you can see 2 other lanes across a solid white line and they are an exit only ramp back onto the interstate. I assume it is designed this way because if you were to follow the 3 lanes to the next block, the two left lanes are turn only lanes to the left. The right lane off the ramp goes to the only thru lane on this road through the next intersection. It makes perfect sense to me, and the line on the road is clearly marked even at ground level. But people turn and cross the line in the intersection routinely with no signal. Just dumb people being dumb? Does the line define a lane separation that people are just ignoring because they feel people in the right off ramp lane should be accessing the middle lane by default?
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Dec 26, 2014 20:19
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http://vimeo.com/83173191 Cute video showing how NYC has been pulling their infrastructure out of the dark ages. They've been doing some really good work re-claiming the city from cars.
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Dec 26, 2014 22:14
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Baronjutter posted:http://vimeo.com/83173191 This is a vast mischaracterization of what they're doing. Tons of what they've done has made getting about by driving much easier.
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Dec 26, 2014 23:36
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Nintendo Kid posted:Tons of what they've done has made getting about by driving much easier. This doesn't sound like you're disagreeing with him or believe that either his post or the video are much of a mischaracterisation at all.
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Dec 27, 2014 02:41
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Lead out in cuffs posted:This doesn't sound like you're disagreeing with him or believe that either his post or the video are much of a mischaracterisation at all. New York City does not need to be reclaimed from cars, furthermore making it easier to drive definitely is not reclaiming the city from cars. Especially since they're doing about jackshit in the parts of the outer boroughs were you really end up relying on cars to begin with.
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Dec 27, 2014 03:14
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Oh Seattle drivers... Don't park in the bike lane or in front of driveways. DO park in parking spaces. Also don't park on tram tracks or in the dynamic envelope of a tram! Apparently this is a big problem in Seattle.
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Dec 27, 2014 05:57
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Baronjutter posted:Oh Seattle drivers... I've been doing some work for the local city council as a student engineer helping out the traffic engineers with pedestrian surveys (go to remote places - count how many people cross the road - determine 2 people and a flightless bird in 2 hours means you don't really need a zebra crossing there) and parking turnover, and its amazing in some places the kind of parking maneuvers people do. Especially builders. I saw one builder parked for 45 minutes in the middle of the road just before an intersection, making uphill traffic have to cross onto the wrong side of the road to overtake - and the sight lines are pretty poo poo on that intersection even if you're on the right side of the road. Also, parking limits are really only a guideline when you're so far from the city centre chances are close to zero you'll get a ticket. quote:Also don't park on tram tracks or in the dynamic envelope of a tram! Apparently this is a big problem in Seattle.
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Dec 27, 2014 07:02
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Lobsterpillar posted:I've been doing some work for the local city council as a student engineer helping out the traffic engineers with pedestrian surveys (go to remote places - count how many people cross the road - determine 2 people and a flightless bird in 2 hours means you don't really need a zebra crossing there) and parking turnover, and its amazing in some places the kind of parking maneuvers people do. Especially builders. I saw one builder parked for 45 minutes in the middle of the road just before an intersection, making uphill traffic have to cross onto the wrong side of the road to overtake - and the sight lines are pretty poo poo on that intersection even if you're on the right side of the road. Also, parking limits are really only a guideline when you're so far from the city centre chances are close to zero you'll get a ticket. I doubt that the tram rams it, since it's not a very big tram.
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Dec 27, 2014 15:15
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Here in Melbourne, Australia with our ~250km tram network; if an unattended car is blocking the tram, the driver will record the number plate and send it to the cops to issue a fine. They will also repeatedly ding the bell hoping to draw attention to the driver if they are nearby or in the car. [Edit: http://tramsimulator.com.au/ ] Not that it happens often. But cars blocking trams bu u-turns or the like might be recorded on cameras and sent fines also. Basically, never ever block a tram. We even have hook turns to allow trams right of way at some CBD intersections: Melbourne's hook turn: street view: http://youtu.be/0LXUirRYMwk Performing a hook turn: http://youtu.be/HdoBNDYBl1A drunkill fucked around with this message at 15:48 on Dec 27, 2014 |
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Dec 27, 2014 15:46
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drunkill posted:Here in Melbourne, Australia with our ~250km tram network; if an unattended car is blocking the tram, the driver will record the number plate and send it to the cops to issue a fine. They will also repeatedly ding the bell hoping to draw attention to the driver if they are nearby or in the car. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-1138039/Parked-Mini-blocks-Nottingham-tram-network.html "People power" is an option too...
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Dec 27, 2014 17:00
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Lobsterpillar posted:Do they get hit by the trams or do the trams just have to stop and get annoyed? They're under orders that if a parked vehicle has even a remotely close chance of being touched they are to stop and wait for the car to be towed. Sometimes they'll drive reallly realllly slow and try to see if they can get around it, but if they hit it it's an insurance issue. Even if the car is parked illegally the tram is choosing to scrape the car after they've noticed the risk. I say just put a sort of plow on the front of the tram and drive on through.
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Dec 27, 2014 21:10
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Silly traffic planning question I always wondered. How do local governments actually figure out who is going where? I assume that if you have a community where many people are going to X neighboring town and Y neighboring town for work, how do you know what roads to improve? Or does this not even happen? I'm sure you get partway there with tax returns, but I don't expect local govt to get that granular or specific.
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Dec 27, 2014 21:57
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Volmarias posted:Silly traffic planning question I always wondered. How do local governments actually figure out who is going where? I assume that if you have a community where many people are going to X neighboring town and Y neighboring town for work, how do you know what roads to improve? You can put electronic vehicle counters fairly cheaply on roads to measure the traffic going down that road, plus their speed and direction. Stick these on what you expect to be the main roads between two towns and you can figure out how many cars are driving between them. Combine that with census data about where people live and any other data you can think of that is relevant.
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Dec 27, 2014 23:35
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Lobsterpillar posted:Do they get hit by the trams or do the trams just have to stop and get annoyed?
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Dec 28, 2014 01:46
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Volmarias posted:Silly traffic planning question I always wondered. How do local governments actually figure out who is going where? Measurements, surveys, inference throug spatial models, etc.
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Dec 28, 2014 07:37
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