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Re: Brain-Dead Road Engineering (was: driver's ed. is a joke)



In article <rushton.169.00EFBC40@primenet.com>,
Rushton <rushton@primenet.com> wrote:
>Of course in America we are blessed with such brain-dead engineering as 
>left-lane entrances and exits.  The left entrances are probably the worst.  

Other not-quite-thought-out designs include highways with short or
practically no on ramp, especially when combined with the common design
feature of having to follow a sharp curve to get on (like 135 degrees to the
left, and then 110 or so degrees back to the right).

Left lane exits are great for causing problems if you're getting on the
highway on the right and your exit is the one on the left, 30 seconds away.
With heavy traffic and traditional American courtesy, following distances,
and attention to the road, it can be nearly impossible to make two lane
changes in that time.

>Add to that all the folks from out of town driving around trying to search for 
>some section of the city w/o decent street signs.  We also have a number of 
>"disappearing lanes" that are not marked at all.  All of this goofiness adds 
>up to accidents, deaths, and confusion.  How many years have we been building 
>roads?  And we still haven't figured it out?   

The most annoying thing that you can find in an unfamiliar town is a left or
right only turn lane that isn't labeled until it's too late and you're
trapped in. Or worse is when someone -else- is trapped in and he decides
he's getting out any way possible.


References: