Collision detection

[James Wilkinson Sword]

I'm surrounded by idiots - Albert Einstein.

[Rod Speed]

No he does, wrecks of cars.

[Tim Streater]

They take a lot more space and work a lot worse. They are dangerous and require two exits at each junction instead of one. You are having the driver make the decision about which exit to take whilst still on the freeway, at speed, instead of off the freeway at a slower speed, a safer procedure. You are mixing up entering and leaving traffic.

Rubbish signage doesn't help.

[Huge]

[22 lines snipped]

Which one? Given that you are (apparently) in Canada, and I'm in the UK, I doubt you mean the Gravelly Hill Interchange, which is the one I'm familiar with (and allegedly the first to be so named);

There are lots of them;

Even Canada has nine.

[Tim Streater]

In fact they do, being bright point sources of light. They are at their most irritating near dusk, before people start using headlights.

[Huge]

IoW, the exact time that they are designed for.

If DRLs dazzle you, see your optometrist.

[clare]

No, but our signage is pretty darn good - and when travelling unfamiliar roads a GOOD GPS with lane guideance can make all the difference - shows EXACTLY what lane you should be in.

Doesn't help those who can't or won't follow directions (or can't read signs)

[clare]

Try that with 16 lanes of traffic instead of 8 - - - -

[clare]

They are so unabtrusive if properly implemented that you only "notice" them when they are not working. I've been a "day-lighter" for almost 50 years - LONG before DRLs became common or manditory. When I drove motorcycle I always drove with lights on as well - LONG before it became common.

[charles]

sadly they don't cater for the idiot who totally believes his/her satnav and ignore road signs like "STOP".

[Huge]

I don't get (or have forgotten) your point. I've regularly driven I95 between Philadelphia and Boston and don't recall anything special. That's

16 lanes in places.

[Tekkie®]

[e-mail] posted for all of us...

Clare, I laugh when I see all these comments. Drivers seem to panic when they think they messed up and are going the wrong way. In the US there is always a mall or traffic light or store or place to turn around. What's an extra 15 min or so? I'd take a pee or get a burger at a fast food place and resume my corrected trip. I'd never see any skeletons in hulks along the road... Like you state the GPS is wonderful and if you mess up it will fix it. Sometimes it's an even more enjoyable drive.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

Motorcyclists are the ones that really hate DRLs, because motorcycles no longer stand out. why should every drivers attention be drawn to every car?

[James Wilkinson Sword]

Which DRLs? They range from 5 watts to 100 watts. For f*ck's sake you'd think they would have standardized them.

[clare]

The problem with "idiot-proof" is they keep coming up with dumber idiots.

[clare]

My wife keeps reading about idiots driving into lakes etc following their GPS, and had absolutely no use for a GPS until our trip to Austria. She now reluctantly admits they can be useful.

I generally use it to tell me where I am, and occaisionally use it for routing. - particularly in unfamilliar highway interchange situations

[Ed Pawlowski]

The highways are not so bad, but a lot of cities in Europe have the street signs on the side of a building and not a pole. I won't go to Europe without the GPS.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

I tested my VW Golf TDI 1.9 litre diesel automatic at 10,15,20,25,30,35,40,45,50,55,60,65,70,75,80,85,90,95,100mph. It got 58mpg from 10mph all the way to 55mph. Then it lost 5mpg per 10mph faster. Driving slowly doesn't hurt mileage if you use the right gear and go at a steady speed. Stop start at junctions obviously uses fuel (unless you have one of those utterly pointless hybrids that saves the same fuel by braking regeneration as it wastes by carrying heavy batteries).

[James Wilkinson Sword]

Wat is it with streetnames in towns only being placed on one side?

[James Wilkinson Sword]

The trouble with warning signs is they cry wolf. I often see "slow" signs on a very slight corner. Then I encounter a properly sharp corner with the same sign.