Comments on: If You Live In A City…

By: mikebdot

mikebdot — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:16:56 +0000

Depends on which line you’re talking about. A lot of the time the line is backed up well beyond where people merge. So, at that point, it doesn’t really matter, the people are stopped regardless. Like I said, why have a line twice as long when you can have two lines and merge freely into the merged area? And, I don’t do it all the time, only when there isn’t adequate warning about what is going on ahead or when I can see something like a trucker that will be slow moving forward anyway. I don’t make people hit their brakes. That’s what causes issues, people hitting their brakes. People need to learn how to coast.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:40:47 +0000

Sorry, you linecutter, you, I’m not buying it. The whole reason the line is moving so slow is because you folks keep cutting into it. If every DID line up, the line would move fairly quickly…

By: mikebdot

mikebdot — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:06:29 +0000

If they pulled people over for driving like an ass (wreckless driving) rather than pulling people over for going 40 in a 30, which is far less dangerous, maybe people wouldn’t cut in line. The thing is, people line-up wayyy too far back from where the lane should merge, which could cause traffic issues for miles, especially if there are sensors that cause the lights behind the merge area to go into a different routine. The “logic” some cities put into the lights is only “logic” insofar as the computer does what the idiots in charge of traffic flow told it to do.

If people would learn how to alternate effectively at the merge areas there wouldn’t be a great need to line up in a single line. That’s what’s frustrating to those of us, who on occasion “cut”. If traffic is backed up already, what’s the sense is making the string of cars twice as long? People just don’t know how to merge because it is not a skill they do well, hence the need to line up as quickly as possible. Same with people who get over in the fast lane two miles prior to actually making that left hand turn. It really isn’t much of a task to change lanes. Those same “uncivil” people that are changing lanes at the last minute will let you into their lane if you move over. They don’t want to hit you anymore than you want to hit them…oh, well, strike that. They don’t want to hit you…

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 03:46:19 +0000

You just need one cop — all he has to do is shoot out the tires of the offending vehicles –

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 01:56:02 +0000

Yeah, but how do you enforce civility against linecutters? You’d have to have a cop at every exit ramp…actually, at least three or four, since the minute you pull one person over you’re out of play for a while…I’m afraid we’re stuck with them…

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 01:14:14 +0000

Well, you’re a nicer guy than I. I consider linecutters to be no better than people who run red lights, talk loudly on cellphones, or hassle you at the airport. I never let them in. I’m generally opposed to capital punishment, but these guys make me rethink my stance.

I had a very conservative professor in college who said that the decline in civility is one of the worst things plaguing us (and this was in the 1970′s — things have only gone downhill since). He argued that the state had the right to enforce civility. I think he has a point.

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 22:38:25 +0000

I’m right there with you…I MAY let you in, if you’re a linecutter, depending on the mood I’m in, but I certainly feel no obligation to. Your time is no more valuable than mine…

By: Peter

Peter — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:28:05 +0000

I’m definitely a lineupper. In fact, I’m a vigilante line-upper. Sixteen years of living in Manhattan has taught me how to keep unfairly merging traffic at bay. I’m very familiar with the Caldecott Tunnel (known locally as the Crawldecott) and I’m definitely a middle lane guy.

However, I have to confess that there is a certain amount of moral superiority which one feels when you don’t let drivers from the left cut you off. This guy’s a cheater and I’m not. My wife thinks I’m being a jerk and calls me a Boy Scout. As they say on sports television: you be the judge.

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:00:34 +0000

Even so, a LOT more people are taking the bus these days, with gas prices…and I might even consider it myself, if it was a direct route (more for stress relief than anything)…but I’d have to changes buses multiple times and all that jazz…

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 17:48:31 +0000

Yes, this is a major problem throughout the Southwest (which I’m tentatively putting Austin in for the sake of a point). LA, Phoenix, and most everywhere in Texas could really benefit from some legit rail options.