THIS is precise the reason why I only brake when absolutely necessary. I HATE HATE HATE ppl that tap their brakes the moment they see the car ahead of them braking.
Learn to judge speed and distance and how to anticipate you driving noobs.
CZroe
Lifer
- Jun 24, 2001
- 24,195
- 857
- 126
The Coranado Bridge between San Diego and Coranado Island is the coolest reversible lane setp I've ever seen. The obvious: it's a bridge with a fixed number of lanes. Adding more functionally means building another bridge, but there is a "rush" in one direction in the morning and an opposite in the other in the afternoon, so they set up concrete wall segments like those you sometimes see on the Interstate. Before the next rush hour, they send specialized trucks along the entire length of the bridge which quickly move the walls over to shift the amount of lanes available for whichever direction is needed. If you were just visiting, you'd never see a sign that it was anything more than a barrier between oncoming lanes.
Oh, and most coastal areas with hurricane risks have procedures for converting the Interstates into one-way double-capacity evacuation routes.
Oh, and most coastal areas with hurricane risks have procedures for converting the Interstates into one-way double-capacity evacuation routes.
TecHNooB
Diamond Member
- Sep 10, 2005
- 7,458
- 1
- 76
ussfletcher
Platinum Member
- Apr 16, 2005
- 2,569
- 2
- 81
My city has a lot of those. They work fine as long as you're moving in the correct direction. NEVER go in the opposite direction of them. Going in the wrong direction often means there's only 1 lane in that direction and you'll be stuck behind some fuckhead in a corolla who doesn't know how to drive worth shit.
When going in the main flow direction, it works great. The extra lanes are often used as turning lanes so cars turning left don't block people going straight.
My city also has dedicated bus lanes. The result is that the bus flies down the road 40mph while the other lanes are basically a parking lot. I get to work faster by taking the bus than if I drove.
I watch idiots make the mistakes every day. It's annoying. I've read on things you can do to help alleviate traffic, so I try to do them. Figured you are going to be stuck in it regardless of what you do so might as well be part of the solution and not part of the problem.
zinfamous
No Lifer
- Jul 12, 2006
- 111,855
- 31,345
- 146
zinfamous
No Lifer
- Jul 12, 2006
- 111,855
- 31,345
- 146
<--lives less than a mile from the 580-880-80 (Bay Bridge), Sacramento-Tahoe interchange mentioned.
FML.
I have no idea how Chicago is worse than this. that's ridiculous. After living their for 5 years (though I was a train commuter--I could at least see the fools stuck in their cars while "sauntering" by in my train (well, it is the L)), this traffic here is much, much worse. Particularly b/c it is every freaking day, regardless of work time, regardless of hour, it can be astronomically bad.
As poor as the design is, there seems to be a much higher concentration of idiot brainless drivers around here. There is at least one wreck, every day, in the same areas. There's always reports of carpets, desks, chairs, "large metal beams," whatever, hanging out in the middle of the road, some dickless gangbanger blasting out of Oakland trying to cut across 4 lanes of traffic without signaling, at 50mph, when everyone is pushing 30.
and the Asians....oh man, the Asians.
FML.
I have no idea how Chicago is worse than this. that's ridiculous. After living their for 5 years (though I was a train commuter--I could at least see the fools stuck in their cars while "sauntering" by in my train (well, it is the L)), this traffic here is much, much worse. Particularly b/c it is every freaking day, regardless of work time, regardless of hour, it can be astronomically bad.
As poor as the design is, there seems to be a much higher concentration of idiot brainless drivers around here. There is at least one wreck, every day, in the same areas. There's always reports of carpets, desks, chairs, "large metal beams," whatever, hanging out in the middle of the road, some dickless gangbanger blasting out of Oakland trying to cut across 4 lanes of traffic without signaling, at 50mph, when everyone is pushing 30.
and the Asians....oh man, the Asians.
AstroManLuca
Lifer
- Jun 24, 2004
- 15,628
- 5
- 81
I've heard that a good way is to leave a LOT of space (a few hundred feet) even in heavy traffic and to try to maintain a steady speed instead of stop-and-go with lots of brake usage. Smooths out the traffic behind you.
I don't commute in bad traffic at all (work in the suburbs, live in the city, which is the opposite of what most people do), but when I did, I tried to do this. It doesn't always work if the traffic is REALLY busy, but I still try to maintain a steady speed. People are remarkably accommodating. When I first tried it I thought people would be blowing around me constantly, but that wasn't the case.
And yeah, hitting your brakes on the highway is dumb and should be avoided unless it's necessary. Speeding and braking, then speeding and braking again is like heating your house until it's so hot you have to run the air conditioner, then letting it get so cold that you have to run the heat again, and repeating. If you leave enough room and use a tiny bit of common sense, it's easy to anticipate slowdowns and just coast to an appropriate speed without hitting your brakes and causing everyone behind you to slow down as well.
zinfamous
No Lifer
- Jul 12, 2006
- 111,855
- 31,345
- 146
the only way to get rid of traffic is to adopt a system like in Minority Report.
100% of the time--humans are the problem. No doubt about it. Remove the problem, fix the problem.
If every vehicle on the road were networked into one large system, maintaining constant speed and flawless, uninterrupted merges and lane switches, there would be no slowdowns. computing data from 1-10 miles in advance of your vehicle could give ample time to adjust for upcoming situations, for everyone. Eliminate the wave effects, essentially.
It seems to me that running all vehicles on magnetic tracks (kind of like those old magnetic hockey table toys) and processing massive traffic-wide data as both one big system and for individual vehicles is entirely within the realm of technological possibility in the near future.
...But that kind of thing involves massive infrastructure overhaul, and I imagine that no one has either the balls--or the cash, really, to push in such a direction.
zinfamous
No Lifer
- Jul 12, 2006
- 111,855
- 31,345
- 146
That's what I do. but it doesn't really have any effect on traffic behind you, b/c it takes one dickless asshat to do what they always do--accelerate and brake on every inch.
There are plenty of strategies to eliminate traffic, that if adopted by humans, would work flawlessly. The problem is, it takes a handful of dingleberries to destroy all efforts.
anyway, if you think we have it bad, thank god you aren't in Moscow!
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/02/100802fa_fact_gessen
awesome article on traffic in general.
Imp
Lifer
- Feb 8, 2000
- 18,828
- 184
- 106
But then we're going to have people like Will Smith in iRobot drive their cars manually, and screw it up for everyone else. Because people know how much smarter they are than computers.
I'm guilty of braking when I see people doing the same ahead. That chart says that a chunk of 50% of jams are caused by accidents, so I may as well get home 10 minutes later than be dead, have a car written off, go through insurance, etc. I do try to leave space ahead of me to minimize braking, but someone will usually jump in there and leave me a meter or two; then it's my fault for rear-ending them.
zinfamous
No Lifer
- Jul 12, 2006
- 111,855
- 31,345
- 146
yep, that's the problem. and again, why people are the problem. asshat has no idea why you are leaving space, what could possibly be the value of that, was never actually taught how to drive--or simply doesn't care.
all the more reason to eliminate the driver.
and of course one manual driver would ruin the auto system, which is simply why it's all auto for everyone, or nothing. Of course, I'd hate to eliminate the driving experience--no one would want that. However, I don't see any reason why this can't be put into the major commuter routes--as shown on that list, or on all major highway systems, and leave free driving for local roads.
Face it--No one enjoys commuting to work, or driving on any of those roads, at almost any time. Hell, what would be better then getting to or leaving work, sitting back in your small private cabin, do some reading, finish up some work, watch some news or whatever, as you are in transit?
Zero stress.
Fuck. Yes.
All cars would be free + auto. entering onto the designated roadway would force auto. You would probably have to allow a manual takeover for certain emergency situations, and I could see, at least in the beginning, auto only during the heaviest commute hours on such roads. If such a system were to work flawlessly for some time, I could imagine a large number of people fully willing to just let the car do all the work, permanently (on designated roads).
If you really want to fuck with people, slow down by gearing down instead of using the brakes. Because people are so high on vicodin and antidepressants, they don't notice you are slowing down and they almost hit you.
At least big trucks with jake brakes have the advantage of sounding like a jack hammer. It wakes people up so they can start to brake.
At least big trucks with jake brakes have the advantage of sounding like a jack hammer. It wakes people up so they can start to brake.
zinfamous
No Lifer
- Jul 12, 2006
- 111,855
- 31,345
- 146
that was what I loved about Chicago. I had a car, but rarely used it. I went 2 years without a car when I first moved there.
Here in the Bay area, I do have a car, but am able to walk to work and back. It's mostly for local driving and bi-weekly trips south.
But it never fails, if I'm crossing the bridge at a busy time, most of traffic is crawling, EVERY SINGLE CAR is single occupant. surrounded by all these single occupant cars: the express SF double bus. Completely empty.
but it's OK, you know. It's perfectly cool to perpetuate the problem here in SF area, b/c we're ALL DRIVING PRIUS'S and by DEFAULT--WE ARE THE STEWARDS OF THE ENVIRONMENT. We don't need functional PT that we all want to use, b/c we drive our Pruis's. That fixes all the problems!
I mean, I love this place--it's probably one of the best places to live, which explains the population density--but I've never seen a collective group of people whose heads have been shoved far up their asses more than what is going on out here.
Pretty much this. In general I view using the brakes on a highway a failure in my driving skills. You too can help ease traffic jams by going at a consistent speed whenever possible with minimal sudden movements.
Of course my strategy is to avoid congested highways at all costs. There is nothing in the world more pointless than waiting in a traffic jam
That is a good point. Driving a Prius is still driving. Your car might not burn any gas, but the SUVs and full size trucks in the same traffic jam as you are still burning lots of gas.
Not all asians are bad drivers which means your fact is not true and it's back to stereotyping for you.
zinfamous
No Lifer
- Jul 12, 2006
- 111,855
- 31,345
- 146
I think it holds that as a population, they have a higher incidence of bad drivers than others--and no, it's not a race thing, it's economic history. this is how I explain it:
China is only a very recently industrialized nation. Only in the last decade, or less, have cars become commonplace. So, the first generation of regular car drivers in China, exists now. Who is teaching these people how to drive? Well, in many of the rural villages, you have 60-80 year olds making a meager monthly government wage to give lessons to people. Thing is, these people don't know how to drive either, they read a handbook, then take you along and tell you what they assume to be proper rules of driving. First and foremost: use that horn, and use it often. do not relent.
Now, take into account the general culture of communist China--no queues for anything--everyone for themselves in most public, consumer situations. No order, no understanding that you are part of anything else--it's just you against the mass. he who shoves his way to the front of the line is the one who succeeds. Translate that attitude to the road, in a barely-established infrastructure (China is notoriously bad for lack of street signs, horribly confusing markings and so on). And in the population centers, People haven't really relied on cars--ever.
you have a clusterfuck. Also, bring this over to the dense Island nations with tiny streets and more or less the same common practices. How does that affect us? Well, those in the major cities, relatively young, who immigrate, are immigrating to a place where they find that they now need a car. Many the same age, over here, have been driving for 10 or more years. We have established rules, and a nearly 100 year infrastructure of traffic law and driving instruction. The non-queueing culture simply does not translate that well, particularly if there are massive language barriers.
awesome article summing all fo this up (yes, same source, different year. heh)
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/11/26/071126fa_fact_hessler
Living in the Bay Area, believe me--the highly educated, young, Asian immigration is a huge part of the population here, and I work with many of them. A lot of them arrive in their mid to late twenties, never having driven a car in their life, suddenly wanting to learn and purchase a car. It doesn't matter how often they fail, or continue to make the same mistakes, they keep taking the test. And actually, they remain a very tight community. Much of their integration into the US is through other immigrants of the same nationality. same social groups, same information that they have gleaned that keeps them within their own comfortable sphere. They share info--such as--this DMV will fail you, travel to this DMV (about 20 miles away, in another town), and they will pass you. I'm not joking, lol. This is what they do!
So, you fail 3 times at one DMV, you travel to another where you suddenly pass with flying colors! excellent!
So, it's not that Asians, b/c they are Asians, are shitty drivers here. It's that:
1--moving from newly industrialize and/or highly populated excellent PT infrastructures to car-dependent commuter economies is a difficult adjustment.
2--lax or non-existent infrastructure and only recent emergence of car culture provides for poorly trained individuals of all ages.
3--"every man for himself" culture is not conducive to dealing with heavy traffic. It creates all the problems that we experience.
Have you ever driven in India? Me neither, and I never want to.
also, these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcsZxUDWCXg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AbFebGh8Rg
I mean, hell--these guys are known for being a bike-centric culture--and they don't even seem to do that very well, either!
Last edited:
RedRooster
Diamond Member
- Sep 14, 2000
- 6,596
- 0
- 76
I live in the Bay Area, CA and I can tell you it's because most people are too stupid and most people don't give a $hit about anyone else. The culture (and drivers) are very selfish and self centered and will cut in and out of traffic and speed up and slow down as long as they get home 3 minutes faster they don't care if they stop up 100,000 other people for 20 minutes.
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