🚀 go-pugleaf

On Wed, 01 Jul 1998 20:30:32 GMT, stevenhs@microsoft.com wrote:

>I live in Seattle also and find no problem getting to highway speed in
>the very underwhelming vehicles I drive.  Maybe there are specific
>ramps you are referring to, but it sure doesn't seem any different
>than other cities (all US) that I've lived in.  (While visiting
>Toronto several years ago, I did find some problems merging up to
>highway speeds on the short uphill entrances to the elevated
>freeway--QEW?)  The entrances/exits on the left, as well as right side
>HOV lanes, are undesirable but a design necessity in dense urban
>areas.
>
>Although the nature of traffic here is gradually changing as more
>non-natives relocate here, Seattle drivers are perhaps the most
>passive drivers I've ever experienced.  Their timid merging has
>nothing to do with an inability to accelerate.  It is a lack of will.
>Throw into the mix the aggressive non-natives and it makes driving
>here interesting.  But OTOH at rush hour you are basically confined to
>20 mph.

You make excellent points. I was thinking of specific on/off ramps
(520, 2, etc.)

Some of the uphill on-ramps are difficult. I own a Geo Metro (1989
3-cylinder) and it's quite often very difficult to accelerate with
traffic. But that's about as puny as engines get, so maybe that's the
bottom of the curve. Luckily that's my just-in-case/carry the dog car,
not my primary.

I agree that drivers in these parts are very conservative. It gets
even worse in central Washington.

>On Tue, 30 Jun 1998 18:07:08 GMT, dmc@dmc.com (dmc) wrote:
>
>>On Tue, 30 Jun 1998 08:28:29 GMT, whorning@pipeline.com (Walt Horning)
>>wrote:
>>
>>> (1) make highways safe as poosible with guard rails down the middle
>>>     when opposing lanes are too close (unlike here)
>>> (2) driver training is mandatory. No training, no license
>>> (3) let them drive fast enough to ease congestion and thus actually
>>>     reduce deaths by increased limits or have none at all.
>>
>>A very large problem with trying to implement this (at least in
>>Seattle) is that on-ramps often don't provide enough length for the
>>average car to accelerate to the posted speed limit, let alone a
>>higher speed.
>>
>>Merging in Seattle is ridiculous. People try to merge into 60 mph
>>traffic at 40mph. The commuter lane (carpool) is often on the right,
>>too. Since traffic tends to move faster in the carpool lane, people
>>have to merge across high-speed traffic into stopped non-carpool
>>lanes. Gee, why would that cause a problem?
>>
>>We just don't get it here in America.
>>*--
>>Daryl dmc
>>dmc@brig-a-doon.com
>>
>>Remove the hyphens to reply
>

*--
Daryl dmc
dmc@brig-a-doon.com

Remove the hyphens to reply