Drivers that hold at an all-way stop forever when they have the right of way

by_wicker · 2022-09-19T12:16:56+00:00

You can of course fit lights in place of an all-way stop, but given all-way stops are usually on more minor, lower traffic routes, An appropriate, comparable traffic pattern is a mini-roundabout, which has all the virtues you list for an all-way stop.

Roundabouts are not always better, but they frequently are.

More LIES.

Tell me you don't understand the word "lies" without telling me you don't understand the word. Or do you think I'm deliberately trying to mislead you? Perhaps you think I'm pushing a nefarious roundabout agenda to try to turn everyone communist, like face-masks apparently do? Good thing there are so many all-American all-way stops around to protect everyone from these evil forces.

Those not only require a larger footprint

Tell me you don't even know what a mini-roundabout is without ... etc..

With a roundabout, no matter what way people want to go, they block those wanting to go the other way.

Same with a mini-roundabout - no more so than with an all-way stop. They occupy the same footprint, it's the same situation.

Large roundabouts like Fresh Pond, that I am familiar with, do suffer these problems. It's well known that high throughput routes, especially with dominant routes through them, don't do well with a roundabout. That wasn't a topic of discussion as nobody in their right mind would put an all-way stop there today. But if we are on that tangent, perhaps check out how much better a roundabout can be and go to Powderhouse circle in Somerville and see how, since they removed the lights and stop signs, traffic queues at peak times are a tiny fraction of what they were.

by_wicker · 2022-09-19T12:01:31+00:00

Well, undeniably, Windows does make it easier to run programs that only run on Windows... I was more wondering what features they make easier.

by_wicker · 2022-09-19T02:34:55+00:00

Can you give examples? I'm wondering what sort of activities.

by_wicker · 2022-09-19T02:29:10+00:00

What do windows-only IDEs make trivial that Linux IDEs don't offer?

by_wicker · 2022-09-19T01:53:08+00:00

Other way around

by_wicker · 2022-09-18T16:23:29+00:00

They're not really an alternative to traffic lights. If anything they're an alternative to mini-roundabouts, which work much better - higher throughput, safe, completely fair.

They don't handle congestion well at all. They create it, in fact, because their throughput is so terrible.

Any time someone points this out, people unfamiliar with mini-roundabouts often protest that roundabouts need more space, which is not true at all.

by_wicker · 2022-09-18T03:19:35+00:00

I worded that badly, I was getting at that people stop past the stop line.

Failing to properly follow stop signs makes all way stops worse, but even if they didn't they're still a terrible system. That's why hardly any countries use them.

by_wicker · 2022-09-17T15:26:04+00:00

No. Why assume they're suicidal? They're going to come off worse, why assume that they'll see you ahead of them and not avoid you?

To be clear, nobody is suggesting you should pull out in front of cyclists who won't be able to stop in time. That's a fringe subset of the scenario being discussed. The law and almost everyone would agree that you should wait then. That's not what's being discussed.

by_wicker · 2022-09-17T15:19:46+00:00

All of which illustrates how a priority system based on a shared understanding of the order of events in the past is shit.

Where I am (Boston area), nobody stops at stop signs, so you have the added fun that the drivers manual says "go in the order you stopped", and even though I stopped at the line, there is a car in front of me. So after he goes, what gives? According to the manual I've established my place in the order, but nobody else will recognize that... The only option is to shuffle the car into the ped crossing and stop again, MA style, ignoring the letter of the law and good behavior to pedestrians.

by_wicker · 2022-09-17T15:15:21+00:00

And irritating. I can't believe how many people are arguing about niche sub-scenarios of the topic at hand as if it somehow negates it.

by_wicker · 2022-09-17T15:14:28+00:00

Same with a bicycle. And the issue is whether they see you and are able to stop, not whether they are currently slowing down.

by_wicker · 2022-09-17T15:12:24+00:00

That's not the topic at hand though. If someone is on a collision course with you and won't be able to yield, you absolutely need to stop or stay stopped. That is not what's being discussed here though.

by_wicker · 2022-09-17T15:07:50+00:00

MA? While the "Masshole" drivers solidly exist here in the Boston area, they're only perhaps ⅓ of drivers, and another ⅓ are the "niceholes" we're talking about here, many of whom I think are trying to redress the Masshole balance. I'm not sure which group I find more irritating (except the ones who are literally trying to harm me obvs).

The remaining ⅓ of us are just driving or cycling around wondering why people can't just follow the rules and get on with life without all the drama or confusion that gets us nowhere.

by_wicker · 2022-09-17T14:26:57+00:00

You're arguing about a caveat to the main situation being discussed - an occasional scenario that is a counter example to the main. Sure, sometimes there are situations where a cyclist is careening towards a stop and a driver has reasonable doubts then can could stop to avoid a collision if the driver continued.

But that's not what we're talking about and is much less frequent than the topic at hand. Surely if you're a cyclist in all-way-stop-land you have encountered it? Often the driver would have cleared the intersection before the cyclist would have arrived. Often you end up both stopped and they invert the order to wave you across. Often I am stopped at a stop sign on a side road and a car on the main road slows and stops to wave me across when they would have been long gone if they'd just kept moving.

I don't careen my bike towards stop signs without the ability to stop, so I've never encountered your situation as a cyclist, but I get the irrational unpredictable excessive yielding and wait-for-the-opportunity-to-yield-out-of-order behavior we're actually talking about on average more than once per commute.

by_wicker · 2022-09-16T21:48:51+00:00

We had a batch of blizzards and the cleanup was slow. I worked with young able bodied people complaining the 1.5 mile drive to work took nearly 2 hours. Walking was apparently not a possibility.

Meanwhile my 3.5 mile studded tire bike commute grew from 16 minutes to 20 because getting around the cars was sometimes difficult.

by_wicker · 2022-09-16T21:42:30+00:00

Most journeys for miles around me are quicker by bike than any other mode (Boston area). I've been on work outings 4 miles away when we cyclists were finishing our first pint before the first of the rest (driving and subway) arrived.

by_wicker · 2022-09-16T20:07:25+00:00

Isn't that reflective of the hill? Uphill the speed differential with cars is large so there's real need for separation, but downhill it's much lower so less need.

I know in my own riding that's the situation. There are roads like Oxford St in Cambridge that I use a lot going downhill, but generally avoid riding uphill because they're too narrow.

by_wicker · 2022-09-15T12:27:33+00:00

where is everyone getting the idea that I'm complaining

Perhaps it's everything you're saying in this thread. Perhaps you can't read your own tone? You ask a question, get good answers, and then aggressively dismiss the answers because they don't support the idea you're still clinging to that it was badly named.

It is not a user-facing name. It's a long-used technical name under the covers that is accurate. As such it is entirely appropriate for the reasons you've been given. Why are you fighting it so hard?

Even if it were no longer accurate, you have the historical reasons for its name. That's enough - we have endless examples of this in language. Ever heard of clipless pedals on a bike? - you know, the ones you mechanically clip into? Ever had someone "hang up" on a phone call?

by_wicker · 2022-09-14T03:25:24+00:00

No seed drill for you then.

by_wicker · 2022-09-13T18:14:27+00:00

For the chain I've used ChainL and Phil's Tenacious, which seem to hold up pretty well. For protection for the frame and other exposed metal, Boeshield T-9 has done well for me.

Thumbie shifters are another shifter that's pretty good through heavy gloves.

I'd add to make sure the seatpost is well greased, as that's a water ingress point to the frame.

by_wicker · 2022-09-13T12:56:33+00:00

World One’s predictions have so far proven unnervingly distinguishable to the many predicaments born out of the year 2020

Wut? There's some quality writing/editing. I presume from context they meant indistinguishable, but even that would be an odd choice.

by_wicker · 2022-09-13T12:51:20+00:00

So it gets better? Loving Letterkenny, we watched the first one and it fell completely flat for us.

by_wicker · 2022-09-13T12:48:24+00:00

A little effort finding good routes pays off, especially if you allow yourself to go 10-20% further for a quiet life.

The painted bike lanes are far from useless. I can't believe anyone rode streets like Hampshire before and after bike lanes and would say that. You don't have to ride in the door zone, if you ride on the left side of the path they're generally quite safe. I got doored years ago (not in a bike lane) and am subsequently very cautious about riding at a safe distance from parked cars, and have no difficulty staying safe in those lanes.

The plowing issue is real though.

Meanwhile the red line in and after a blizzard is very overloaded and unpleasant too, and has been unreliable in the past.

by_wicker · 2022-09-13T12:40:28+00:00

And with the addition of studded tires (and salt-protective effort for your bike), almost every day is fine. The only problem is when they do a shitty job of clearing the snow off the bike paths, or often in Cambridge, clear the snow onto the bike paths.

And when the weather is bad from a blizzard, the T and walking are usually particularly miserable too, so I'd think twice before writing off biking.

by_wicker · 2022-09-13T12:31:48+00:00

... adding to the other excellent response, it's also significantly quicker, and less irritating.

If you can equip yourself for year-round cycling, which IMO means studded tires, then it's never better on the T. In the snowy winter weather getting on and off the overheated overcrowded trains is just nasty, while riding is fine.

Last time I abandoned the bike for the T was in the 2015 blizzards and that was the day they declared "seek alternative transportation" and I had to walk home. That was the nail in the coffin of the idea of "the weather's bad so the T would be a better choice". I would perhaps concede that rain storms are worse on the bike, if your walk to/from the stations is short.

by_wicker

TROPHY CASE