Irrational Driving behaviours

[PhilAsia]

FatboyKim said:

Is nobody going to mention the fact that many junctions with traffic lights won't switch to green until a car is detected either over a road induction loop or proximity sensor close to the lights? Such sensors will pick up a car up to 65/70m from the unit, so it's a pointless exercise selfishly leaving an enormous gap.

I would have, but the OP mentioned that the ATLs "are timed" in his instance...

[911hope]

FatboyKim said:

Is nobody going to mention the fact that many junctions with traffic lights won't switch to green until a car is detected either over a road induction loop or proximity sensor close to the lights? Such sensors will pick up a car up to 65/70m from the unit, so it's a pointless exercise selfishly leaving an enormous gap.

That's a very sound point. I am glad you pointed that out.

[911hope]

PhilAsia said:

I would have, but the OP mentioned that the ATLs "are timed" in his instance...

The OP must have a policy of only doing the "creep to lights", in some specific circumstances..

1. Prior knowledge of the lights' sequencing mechanism being purely on timer ( perhaps qualified by time of day, as these things change)

2. Only when followed by a at least one car so they can be frustrated.

A key thing is preserving space for you own convenience removes it from other road users.

Secondly, doing abnormal speeds (even if slow) in traffic situations creates risk, as people inevitably make predictions.

Was in a queue today, with the car behind me leaving at least 20m gap. I could see back to the roundabout, where cars could not take the exit. That car is to blame for blocking the roundabout. Can't imagine the possibility ever entered his head.

[PhilAsia]

PhilAsia said:

I would have, but the OP mentioned that the ATLs "are timed" in his instance...

911hope said:

The OP must have a policy of only doing the "creep to lights", in some specific circumstances..

I do not see where he stated that?

911hope said:

1. Prior knowledge of the lights' sequencing mechanism being purely on timer ( perhaps qualified by time of day, as these things change)

Maybe he has that knowledge. Do you know he hasn't?

911hope said:

2. Only when followed by a at least one car so they can be frustrated.

How quickly should he be travelling at to satisfy the following driver? A driver that has not linked the red light to the rate of progress.

911hope said:

A key thing is preserving space for you own convenience removes it from other road users.

If there is no following vehicle requiring the space, then the speed is not inconveniencing your imaginary other road users. The OP mentioned one vehicle behind that had obviously been able to get through the lights.

911hope said:

Secondly, doing abnormal speeds (even if slow) in traffic situations creates risk, as people inevitably make predictions.

What is an abnormal speed to you may be perfectly understandable to others. The inevitability of having to unnecessarily stop at the lights rather than using acceleration sense to coincide with the lights changing, would be apparent to most if done correctly.

911hope said:

Was in a queue today, with the car behind me leaving at least 20m gap. I could see back to the roundabout, where cars could not take the exit. That car is to blame for blocking the roundabout. Can't imagine the possibility ever entered his head.

What has that got to do with the OP's post? Nothing. A driver that is aware of their impact on others would be aware that progress would be applicable in that scenario.

Please stick to what was written.

Edited by PhilAsia on Tuesday 20th September 17:21

[Ron240]

PhilAsia Please don't waste your time disagreeing with 911hope. You clearly understand what I am saying but he does not.
I tried disagreeing and putting my point across but he seems quite 'irrational' and does not properly follow what is being said.


Oh and for the benefit of FatboyKim who I assume was having a dig at me...try reading what I originally said and you will learn that the traffic lights I was driving slowly towards already had 2 cars sitting at the red light.

[Solocle]

Ron240 said:

PhilAsia Please don't waste your time disagreeing with 911hope. You clearly understand what I am saying but he does not.
I tried disagreeing and putting my point across but he seems quite 'irrational' and does not properly follow what is being said.


Oh and for the benefit of FatboyKim who I assume was having a dig at me...try reading what I originally said and you will learn that the traffic lights I was driving slowly towards already had 2 cars sitting at the red light.

Even if you could theoretically allow better progress behind you by accelerating and braking hard into the back of the queue, the risk incurred is substantial. Safety should always be prioritised over progress.

[Ron240]

Solocle said:

Even if you could theoretically allow better progress behind you by accelerating and braking hard into the back of the queue, the risk incurred is substantial. Safety should always be prioritised over progress.

Maybe it is simply a misunderstanding but I am confused by you quoting me and saying that because it seems that you are in some way preaching to me, when in fact I completely agree with what you said and I practice it.
911hope (and FatboyKim) is the one who should be learning from this.

Edited by Ron240 on Wednesday 21st September 10:40

[PhilAsia]

Ron240 said:

Solocle said:

Even if you could theoretically allow better progress behind you by accelerating and braking hard into the back of the queue, the risk incurred is substantial. Safety should always be prioritised over progress.

Maybe it is simply a misunderstanding but I am confused by you quoting me and saying that because it seems that you are in some way preaching to me, when in fact I completely agree with what you said and I practice it.
911hope (and FatboyKim) is the one who should be learning from this.

Edited by Ron240 on Wednesday 21st September 10:40

I have a feeling that 911hope is assuming your speed to be slower than a three-toed sloth. He has made other assumptions.

[Warren Obhead]

Slow rolling in queues up to traffic lights when there’s no chance they’re getting through on that turn.

I’m all for timing your slow downs up to traffic lights to anticipate them going green, but in big queues it makes no sense at all to me if the traffic is constantly coming to a stop after rolling slowly about 20 foot.

They’re not getting through, and it’s making the queue longer overall as there is always gaps of varying size.

I get that a lot of people are in automatics which make it no effort to do, but it’s still not gaining anything.

[PhilAsia]

Warren Obhead said:

Slow rolling in queues up to traffic lights when there’s no chance they’re getting through on that turn.

I’m all for timing your slow downs up to traffic lights to anticipate them going green, but in big queues it makes no sense at all to me if the traffic is constantly coming to a stop after rolling slowly about 20 foot.

They’re not getting through, and it’s making the queue longer overall as there is always gaps of varying size.

I get that a lot of people are in automatics which make it no effort to do, but it’s still not gaining anything.

Yes, I agree. Being aware of how your actions affect others is extremely important. Considerate driving improves the driving environment for all.

[Ron240]

Warren Obhead said:

Slow rolling in queues up to traffic lights when there’s no chance they’re getting through on that turn.

I agree there is nothing to be gained from doing this.

[911hope]

Ron240 said:

es I would find that annoying.
The ideal way to do it if you can is to time your approach so that stopping is not necessary.

While on the subject of stopping at traffic lights...there is 2 sets very close together in my town that are timed so that when one is at red the other is at green. I am at the first set with a private taxi behind me when the lights change to green but I can see the next set changing to red so I only accelerate to a relatively slow speed and hold it knowing that the next set will likely change to green when I get there, but the taxi behind me apparently wants to keep on accelerating because I see the front of it dip under braking behind me and the driver is tapping his hand on the steering wheel.
He would have no place to go except stopping behind the 2 cars currently waiting at the red light...but by the time we get there which was only around 10 or 15 seconds seconds the lights have changed and we are able to keep on moving without stopping.

How close together are the lights?

[Ron240]

911hope said:

How close together are the lights?

This is the third time you have quoted my same post. You are like a dog with a bone desperate to get me on something.

Ok then here is a photo which shows proximity of the 2 sets of traffic lights. The further away lights are visible from the stop line of the first lights.

[PhilAsia]

Ron240 said:

911hope said:

How close together are the lights?

This is the third time you have quoted my same post. You are like a dog with a bone desperate to get me on something.

Ok then here is a photo which shows proximity of the 2 sets of traffic lights. The further away lights are visible from the stop line of the first lights.

[911hope]

Ron240 said:

his is the third time you have quoted my same post. You are like a dog with a bone desperate to get me on something.

Ok then here is a photo which shows proximity of the 2 sets of traffic lights. The further away lights are visible from the stop line of the first lights.

Just a polite question.

Looks like about 200m or so.

[911hope]

Solocle said:

Even if you could theoretically allow better progress behind you by accelerating and braking hard into the back of the queue, the risk incurred is substantial. Safety should always be prioritised over progress.

The options available to avoid crawling between lights range from....
[normal acceleration, speed and progressive braking]
and
[hard acceleration, high speed and hard braking].

Why assume the latter?

[911hope]

PhilAsia said:

I have a feeling that 911hope is assuming your speed to be slower than a three-toed sloth. He has made other assumptions.

Well if it is slow enough to frustrate a minicab driver? They are pretty sluggish themselves.

[PhilAsia]

911hope said:

PhilAsia said:

I have a feeling that 911hope is assuming your speed to be slower than a three-toed sloth. He has made other assumptions.

Well if it is slow enough to frustrate a minicab driver? They are pretty sluggish themselves.

Now I have made myself look foolish. I did not realise you knew every minicab driver.

[911hope]

PhilAsia said:

Now I have made myself look foolish. I did not realise you knew every minicab driver.

You don't know what you don't know.

[PhilAsia]

911hope said:

PhilAsia said:

Now I have made myself look foolish. I did not realise you knew every minicab driver.

You don't know what you don't know.

It isn't what it isn't?