Being The Nice Guy
In my rather rough sketch above, you see a busy four lane road. Our motorist sees a cyclist wanting to cross the road. Let's call that motorist "Joe." Now Joe is a nice guy, he's courteous and conscientious, to a fault. All his friends say he's willing to help out anyone that needs it. In this scene though, his "niceness" (is that even a word?) is NOT what's needed. Joe has come to a stop and is waving for the cyclist to cross the road. This cyclist has been riding for decades and has come across this deadly act of niceness before. He shakes his head "NO" to Joe and stays put. Joe doesn't know why the cyclist won't take advantage of the break he's giving him and becomes irritated. After another round of waving and head-shaking, Joe raises a fist at the cyclist and zooms off.
What Joe doesn't realize is the drivers travelling in the other three lanes of the highway won't know why he's stopped. If the cyclist had pedalled onto the road, the others drivers would not be expecting him to be there.
Over the Line
The cars of today are so easy to drive, it doesn't take much concentration to get one down the road. Let's face it, most drivers turn on their mental autopilot the moment they get behind the wheel. And if their autopilot's "settings" include cutting across the centreline or bike lane to straighten the road, this is a recipe for disaster. I live at the end of a narrow winding road, and it's not a thrill to come around a blind corner to find two thirds of a 6,000 pound SUV over the centreline in MY lane! I have just a split second to determine if they can careen back into their lane or do I hit the ditch.
Of particular annoyance are those drivers who can't stay out of the bike lane. Look at the painted line indicating the bike lane along a highway and you'll see that it's worn away on every curve to the right. Me and the rest of the cycling fraternity ride in that lane and the key to our survival is keeping cars out of it. If YOUR "autopilot" is currently set to automatically cut into the bike lane, take a moment to rethink that bad habit – here's your chance to prevent a disaster before it happens.
The Stale Yellow Light
When my generation was learning to drive, we were taught to look down the road for traffic lights that had been green for a while. They are called a stale green light and could change to yellow at any time. Sadly, it now seems a lot of drivers don't worry about how stale a green light is, but gauge how long a light has been yellow and will speed up to run it – with tragic consequences.
For your information here is a link to a very well written article that appeared in the Victoria Times Colonist, titled "Is that green light fresh or stale?"
The Stop Sign
Worldwide, a red octagonal sign means STOP! However some drivers arrogantly believe themselves able to instantly determine if a stop is really needed – sooner or later this will result in disaster! With your car stopped, you can apply your full attention to determining when it's safe to proceed. William Phelps Eno would be pleased.
Among the innovations credited to Eno are the stop sign, the pedestrian crosswalk, the traffic circle, the one-way street and pedestrian safety islands.
In 1921 Eno founded the Eno Foundation for Highway Traffic Control, today known as The Eno Center for Transportation. The Foundation is a non-profit organization with the mission of improving transportation policy and leadership. Eno was one of the first honorary members of the Institute of Transportation Engineers.
