🚀 go-pugleaf

Kiki <tigress@havoc.gtf.org> wrote in message
news:7st7ni$cdr$2@news-int.gatech.edu...
> In rec.autos.driving Thomas Wilk <sponge1000@worldnet.att.net>
wrote:
> : side street would get the flashing red.  But it seems that us
> : "Mericans" have forgotten what these lights mean. Flashing yellow
>
> I think it is cause Americans forgot what yeild means too. I mean I
see so
> many people almost try to hit the people with right of way cause
they
> think yield means they don't ahve to stop and forget it means they
do have
> to stop when some one witht he right of way is in the intersection.

You have that one right.  I had a moron try to merge into the side of
my car on the freeway a couple of weeks ago.  I couldn't go left, as
there was a car there.
>
> : "stop, you idiot, because the cars on the main street aren't
required
> : to stop and they will plow into you."
>
> Heh... at least people usually slow down for red.
>
> : Now, you get those plates that do the following:
> : If you are on the side street waiting to enter the main road, you
must
> : wait a minimum of 2 minutes even if there is no traffic on the
main
>
> Yes, but if no one is there, it is quite annoying for the traffic on
the
> main road to have to stop for a side road that doesn't have any
cars. The
> reason why it is so is because the main road is more likely to have
cars
> than the side road, so with timed lights you end up with many cars
on the
> main road having to stop for absolutely nothing. 2 minutes is not
that
> hard to wait and really I doubt it is that long unless it is a busy
time
> of day. I notice trip plates tend to be really quick about changing
the
> light during the lesser traffic hours where there is a chance that
there
> is no traffic on the main road. Trip plates tend to work by after
they
> turn the light they wait for a fwe before changing again. During
times
> when there is so little traffic the main road hardly has any, the
side
> road will most likely have less, the trip plate has waited a long
time to
> be tripped, and tends to react almost immediately.
> As for the not sensing your presence, I can't really say I have had
any
> bad experiences being behind anyone that it was a problem (My car
trips
> them fine).

Unfortunately, the setups I've seen around here don't take into
account the quantity or position of cars on the main street.  If
traffic is light, they still have a long delay in most cases, though
there are exceptions (this is why I wish they would turn to a flashing
light after a certain hour).  On the other hand, a few will turn
quickly, even if a large stream of cars on the main drag is
approaching.  These things just don't seem to accomodate conditions
very well.  Hopefully, when my city finally gets around to installing
a system, it will be smarter. (I'll admit that many of the trip plate
setups here are not part of a central traffic control system, and
these are usually the ones that turn more quickly).

I actually like the idea of trip plates, and they should work as you
describe.  But in this area, they do have enormously long waits at
side roads, even in light traffic where a left turn could easily be
made onto the main street if the light weren't there (2 minutes is a
long time when nobody is approaching.  I pass this time by counting
how many times I could have made a left turn if there had been a stop
sign instead of a light).  For what cities are paying for these
control systems, they could be a bit smarter.  I know that they are
sophisticated, and are capable of providing almost stop-free driving
on main roads while accomodating traffic approaching from side roads,
but I'm willing to bet that most local governments (at least around
here) want the least cost alternative, rather than what works.

I remember when one of our city councilmen was upset because the
contractor that was planning on installing the new traffic light
system wanted to eliminate a couple of lights.  The councilman said
that it would turn the road into a drag strip.  Now, with the old
system, there are 9 lights in about 1.5 miles on this particular
street, and they are not synchronized.  So, it is apparent that he
believes that these lights are a good means of keeping speeds down. I
wish that I was in his ward. :)
>
> : If you are on the main street, the person waiting at the side
street
> : will finally get the light to change just as you are approaching.
You
> : will just make a complete stop when the light turns green.
>
> That happens with timed lights too...

True, but with a strict timed light, a driver can anticipate when the
light might turn and adjust speed accordingly.
>
> Tigress

I guess that I should have been a bit better at naming what I was
thinking of.  Rather than calling them timed lights, I should have
referred to them as synchronized.  Most older lights work on timers,
and the ones around here are very annoying.  There's no rhyme or
reason to when they will turn red or green.  But the old sychronized
systems I've seen (and there are a few streets in Cleveland that have
these still) do a tremendous job of keeping traffic moving.  It's nice
to travel non-stop through 4 or 5 miles of a city, especially in a bad
neighborhood.


Probably the biggest reason I hate all these lights is that I work in
the country and don't see too many of them once I get out of town a
bit.  I'm used to longer periods of non-stop driving.  I live in a
suburb just south of Cleveland, OH.  I rarely travel north because I
hate the driving.  Traffic light density grows considerably just north
of where I live.

> --
> These opinions are mine, not those of Georgia Tech.  It is the
opinion of
> Tech that I should be writing a paper on some topic or another.
>     |\    _,,,---,,_          Tigress
>    /,`.-'`'    -.  ;-;;,_     http://havoc.gtf.gatech.edu/tigress
>   |,4-  ) )-,_..;\ (  `'-'    tigress@havoc.gtf.gatech.edu
>  '---''(_/--'  `-'\_)         Cat drawn by Felix Lee

Tom (the long-winded one)