The Anti-Car Thread

[Geffers]

Annoyingly the designers of these layouts are often not experienced motorists, they are out of college tapping away computer programs, inputting statistics and outputting more statistics. Driving used to be a pleasure, bureaucrats are like Harry Potter's Dementors, they are sucking the soul and happiness out of people. Probably end up with huge jams due to a handful of pedal bikes.

 

[Tiffany]

I find roundabouts very frustrating. We have them too and they purposely put them in neighborhoods. We have one near us, but it is a tight circle, no lights. This one in Cambridge is huge!

 

[Retro]

@Tiffany Thing is, done right, roundabouts really help traffic flow hugely, I saw a recent documentary that explained all this in detail. Unfortunately, they're often put in as a way to restrict cars, for example a mini roundabout at a T-junction, to force cars going along the main road (the straight ahead bit) to always slow down at that junction even though they have right of way and shouldn't be impeded. That's infuriating and it sounds like the ones you're thinking of might have a similar anti-car purpose, perhaps?

 

[Tiffany]

@Tiffany Thing is, done right, roundabouts really help traffic flow hugely, I saw a recent documentary that explained all this in detail. Unfortunately, they're often put in as a way to restrict cars, for example a mini roundabout at a T-junction, to force cars going along the main road (the straight ahead bit) to always slow down at that junction even though they have right of way and shouldn't be impeded. That's infuriating and it sounds like the ones you're thinking of might have a similar anti-car purpose, perhaps?

You're right, done right, they help traffic flow and I'm not sure if I've seen the T-junction type roundabouts. Now I'll be looking for that! The roundabouts we have in our neighborhoods are to make you slow down seriously slow and make a tight turn like your wheels are going to scrape the wheel well. The speed bumps are also fun in the same neighborhoods. Of course I do understand they are to prevent speeding and to protect walkers and joggers, and I'm respectful of that and drive the speed limit.

 

[Retro]

The roundabouts we have in our neighborhoods are to make you slow down seriously slow and make a tight turn like your wheels are going to scrape the wheel well.

That's precisely what I'm talking about, no wonder you hate them.

I don't agree with the speed bumps either. They're incredibly uncomfortable to drive over and damage a car's suspension. Here in Brexit Blighty, the small ones that look like cushions are actually called cushions even though they're anything but soft! What a Mickey take. Pure propaganda by the anti-car lobby.

 

[Tiffany]

Speed bumps are very wrong to drive over....we have all kinds of speed bumps here too. Some are very wide to hop over, then you have the little narrow ones that pop your car up really good if you didn't slow down enough, and the soft ones/cushions (yeah, like you said, they are not soft), here they make them a half octagon shape so it's not a half moon, you spike over it hard no matter how you hit it.

 

[Retro]

Sounds bloody cruel on the car and driver, that.

A few miles from me, there's a couple of "cushions" spaced quite far apart (the road is wide-ish) - enough so that if there's no car coming the other way, one can just drive between them at full speed with the wheels hardly touching them. Since the road is normally quiet when I go along it in the evenings, I do this every time. I just need to make sure that I aim the car accurately down the middle...

 

[Retro]

You think that these humps are cruel? I once saw a news article on humps in Saudi Arabia: certain roads have humps several feet high to thwart those rich people with jeep type vehicles that can go over normal ones without slowing down. Talk about extreme!

If I remember correctly, these gigantic humps were only on certain roads though, not everywhere. Could have been on long straights were people like to race... Go over those at high speed and the car will be propelled into the air and crash on the other side.

 

[Tiffany]

Ha...clever beating the system! Sometimes on major roads we can do the same, get close to the curb, where the bump doesn't meet the curb and go around to avoid to that forever annoying bump up in the air.

Gigantic humps in Saudi Arabia? Good grief, those aren't humps, they are barricades.

 

[Geffers]

You're right, done right, they help traffic flow and I'm not sure if I've seen the T-junction type roundabouts. Now I'll be looking for that! The roundabouts we have in our neighborhoods are to make you slow down seriously slow and make a tight turn like your wheels are going to scrape the wheel well. The speed bumps are also fun in the same neighborhoods. Of course I do understand they are to prevent speeding and to protect walkers and joggers, and I'm respectful of that and drive the speed limit.

The supposed objective of a mini roundabout (The ones at t-junctions) is to help traffic flow, If you are at the minor road waiting to turn right or left into a main road you have to wait for a break in traffic from both left and right, sometimes almost non existent at busy times. Put a mini roundabout in and now we, in UK., have priority over traffic coming from our left so only have to wait for it to be clear in one direction.

Our UK ones are also used by local councils as traffic calming measures as it physically forces drivers to slow, we have painted ones and some that are raised, even the raised ones are often able to be driven over as they are a smooth bump. The legislation just requires that we keep left of centre so actually driving over the painted ones, or even the raised ones is legal but of course you get a few pedantic police officers so may end up going to court.

Geffers

 

[Geffers]

Speed bumps are very wrong to drive over....we have all kinds of speed bumps here too. Some are very wide to hop over, then you have the little narrow ones that pop your car up really good if you didn't slow down enough, and the soft ones/cushions (yeah, like you said, they are not soft), here they make them a half octagon shape so it's not a half moon, you spike over it hard no matter how you hit it.

The narrow ones you have to be careful of, they are designed to force cars to slow but bigger vehicles like buses can straddle them, problem with cars straddling them is if you regularly encounter the same bumps then you will end up scuffing (wearing out) the inside edge of the car's tyres. I tend to put one set of tyres, either nearside or offside, over the centre of the bump, less wear on the tyres.

This is only an issue if you regularly travel the same route.

We also think in UK that councils avoiding filling potholes is another method of slowing traffic.

 

[Geffers]

Recall about 20 years back in UK there is quite a large city called St Albans, busy shopping area, historical and residential. A nice city. Had plenty of mini roundabouts that actually used to work quite well. Some bright spark at the council designed a one way system with computer controlled traffic lights, the lights were programmed to give priority to any emergency vehicles, they are legally exempt from red traffic lights so not sure the purpose of that. Anyway, they imposed this one way system around October of the run up to Christmas, absolute disaster, retailers ended up with a bad Christmas, the system was abandoned soon after and they reverted to their roundabouts.

Typical council.

Geffers

 

[Retro]

This post about Labour wanting to introduce an obnoxious pay per mile charge belongs here, too. Discuss this in either thread.

Our new Labour government: time to prove yourselves

Discuss anything related to our new Labour government here. So, on 4th July there was a seismic political shift when Labour got their landslide victory over the corrupt tories after 14 years in power. They foisted brexit on us and did the country so much harm in that time that I say good...

nerdzone.uk

 

[Tiffany]

That pay per mile scheme is ridiculous. It only insults the hard working and already broke people into more enslavement.

 

[Retro]

Driving just got even more perilous with AI-driven cameras being able to catch more offenses than just speed. Gotta say that I agree with catching people using mobile phones while driving and not wearing a seatbelt, though.

Ten police forces within England are now testing AI traffic cameras that can automatically detect offences such as using mobiles behind the wheel with rapid-exposure cameras linked to an artificial intelligence system.

In the Greater Manchester area, cameras are being deployed from September 3, with the wider trial now running until March 2025. The goal is to understand how the technology works and gain information that could be used for a nationwide rollout.

What are AI traffic cameras and which offences can they spot?

Ten police forces in England are testing AI traffic cameras that can detect offences such as using mobiles behind the wheel.

uk.news.yahoo.com

 

[live627]

Even the police automate themselves out of a job. This is brilliant. Big brother is watching. Always watching.

 

[Tiffany]

Interesting that the UK is going in that direction with AI detection of people's violations within their car. Some cities in my state, do have camera's that take pics of your moving violations and you get a nice dandy ticket in the mail. Some cities have removed them too, due to privacy or something. I do agree, seat belts are super important, including the proper child seats for their safety. People on their phones do cause a lot of wrecks and are infuriating on the road when they are around you having conversations and are clueless while driving...so dangerous.

 

[Astro What]

Even the police automate themselves out of a job. This is brilliant. Big brother is watching. Always watching.

I really enjoyed when I worked at Lewisville PD. We had a traffic division that took care of that stuff. We on patrol were NOT encouraged to write tickets unless working an accident or the offense was egregious.
Our ticket books were a 50 count book. When I quit after working there 9 years I still had 38 tickets in mine when I turned it in.
Patrol's concern was not traffic, but patrol.

 

[Retro]

Oh great, an increase in average speed traps is all we need. Hate these things with a passion. Feels like I'm driving in a straightjacket and will often get stuck behind some massive lorry that I could have just overtaken before average speed traps.

I've seen more permanent installations over the last few years and the problem is only set to get worse.

I remember the glory days before 1992 when the first speed trap went up in the UK. Motoring was enjoyable back then and I used to absolutely love it, the freedom of it. Nowadays however, there are so many restrictions and gotchas that it's totally ruined the driving experience and speed traps are just one of those things ruining it.

Motoring experts have suggested that drivers should expect to see more average speed cameras on the roads in the years ahead.

Usually, a common sight through stretches of roadworks, average speed cameras were first used in 1999 and are now a more frequent sight on standard stretches of roads. In recent weeks, for example, the cameras have been set up in favour of fixed-spot installations in areas such as Solihull in the West Midlands, Caithness in Scotland, Glasgow and Bolton.

How do average speed cameras work and are they effective?

The RAC has said average cameras will likely be a more frequent sight on the UK's roads.

uk.news.yahoo.com

 

[Retro]

Looks like the scandal finally got too big and forced Wales to remove that blanket 20mph speed limit. Now we need some of that round here. 20mph roads are an abomination and should be abolished everywhere.

The mandatory 20mph speed limit currently in place across Wales could be scrapped under plans by the new Welsh Government.

The newly appointed Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan stated under her leadership the country would look to remove the speed limit in areas that weren't considered essential.

20mph limits were put in place across all of Wales in September last year in a bid to improve road safety.

But since then, drivers up and down the country have been protesting the restrictions, so much so that the Welsh Government were forced to change their mind.

Mandatory 20mph speed limits could be wiped out in Wales

Speed limits were introduced on September 17

www.gbnews.com

 

[live627]

20mph is for residential streets

 

[Astro What]

Here in Texas, unless it is otherwise posted the general speed limit on streets in a residential area used to be 30mph. But most cities have them posted for whatever speed their city council has voted into place.

 

[Tiffany]

Also in Texas the police are particularly vigilant on monitoring streets near school zones before the school year starts. Both times in the past ten years, I was pulled over going a tad over the speed limit under both the same circumstances near school zones. This past August I was driving down a hill and gained some speed over the speed limit. I wasn't paying much attention as I was just coming home from a dental appointment. I knew it when I saw the squad car what I did. I pulled over, license and registration verified and the officer and I had a great conversation. Same experience ten years ago. Both officers were awesome and gave me a warning; very pleasant.

I'd like to also add that driving safety has become much more important to me lately, as both my dh and I have been watching YouTube videos of car accidents, road rage people and police chases. What we noticed in every compilation, the people making left hand turns in intersections were most vulnerable. I've actually become a better driver watching these videos and I've been driving a very long time, lol. Yes, I do have a dash cam up front and one in the back just in case.

 

[Retro]

Finally, drivers going too slowly is starting to get some attention. Seriously, since they put these ridiculous 20mph limits all over the place, so many people are driving insanely slowly. 25 in a 40 isn't uncommon now and I have to start flashing and hassling them to go faster which only occasionally works. On top of that, the assholes usually do this where it's not possible to overtake, or I'd just do that and be done with it. Going slow is infuriating and dangerous, causing so many deaths, as this article explains.

Almost 1,500 people have been injured or killed in the last 10 years in accidents triggered by people driving too slowly.

Slow drivers can cause behaviour such as tailgating, undertaking, congestion and road rage, which can then lead to much more serious traffic incidents.

Figures from the Department for Transport show that in the last 10 years 1,378 people have been killed or injured in 947 crashes where police put somebody driving too slow as a contributory factor to the crash.

The article finishes with this tail of a clueless driver stopped by police:

In September 2020, Derbyshire police revealed they had fined the motorist behind the wheel of an Audi for driving too slowly on the M1.

The police force’s roads team wrote: “M1. Cruising in lane 3 of 4 between 40 and 50mph. Causing mayhem forcing traffic to take evasive action. Perplexed look when explaining the concept of lane hogging.

“Ticketed for driving without due care and attention, to hopefully receive awareness course.”

More than 1,000 injured or killed by drivers going too slowly in past decade

Almost 1,500 people have been injured or killed in the last 10 years in accidents triggered by people driving too slowly.

uk.news.yahoo.com