Mar
03-09-2010, 01:51 PM
I finally got frustrated enough with the bumper to bumper jams on Deerfoot to step back and look at what's causing it. I've noticed every time it's a direct result of on ramps and off ramps. People simply don't know how to get on/off the highway or they're too scared to do it properly. So I'm here to say how I think it would work most efficiently. This may not be what legalities call for but to the best of my knowledge it is pretty close and would for sure work better than what I see daily.
1. People hit the brakes when changing lanes. Why? You should never be hitting the brakes on the highway, this is what causes accidents and slows down traffic. There should be no reason, ever, for you to hit the brakes on the highway unless there's some accident or you have to slow down for construction or something. If you need to change lanes, do so without hitting the brakes. You should not be driving directly next to another vehicle and there shouldn't be anyone in your blind spot at any time so you should be able to merge at any point seamlessly.
2. Don't hit the brakes to let someone in your lane. Too often I see people slow down or speed up to get next to an entry point in a lane and then put their indicator on as they're merging. This is wrong, put your indicator on prior to looking for your entry point so that the traffic in the other lane has time to accommodate you. This way nobody's hitting the brakes to let someone in, causing a ripple effect of braking for miles behind them. You have to be conscious of what is going to happen in traffic if you hit the brakes, it doesn't only affect you. If you need to let someone merge, notice their indicator, let off the gas to allow space and disrupt traffic around you as little as possible.
3. People suck at on ramps. Here's a usual scenario I see: Car A is ripping down Deerfoot at 100 and car B is coming up the on ramp at 75. They end up side-by-side in the 2 lanes, car A doing 100 and car B now doing 90. Car A will try and merge left to get out of the way, causing traffic in that lane to hit their brakes to slow down and accommodate him, causing a ripple braking effect for a mile back, slowing down everyone else. Car B now checks to see if it can merge, 10 feet before the lane ends and merges at 90, causing everyone behind him to hit the brakes and slow down. This eventually happens a few times in a row causing traffic to slow to 20 and people are now stopped in the on ramp, trying to merge onto Deerfoot. This is stupid.
Here's what should happen: Car A drives in the right lane doing 100 and notices an on ramp coming up. He modifies his speed slightly to allow enough merging room for a vehicle in front of him and keeps a constant speed with no need to merge left at all. Car B is coming down the on ramp and checks as early as possible for an entry point onto the highway, ensuring to match the speed of other drivers. Car B modifies its speed to line up directly with the space left in front of car A and merges in like a zipper and NOBODY touches the brakes for any reason. Nobody merges out of the way neither, this is unnecessary and is what causes traffic to slow down.
4. Trucks should be banned from the Blackfoot - Deerfoot north on ramp. Every morning I take this on ramp and every morning I merge onto Deerfoot doing 45 unless I'm lucky enough to be the first at the light. Big fat ass trucks cannot get up to speed on that twisty on ramp and try to merge at a speed way too low for the highway. This makes people on the highway in the right lane hit the brakes, squatting all the traffic behind them together and now there's no room for anyone else to merge so everyone else has to slow down to get into the tight spaces. If I'm the first in line I have no problem merging at 100, this only happens when I'm behind trucks which are constantly using this on ramp all morning long.
5. When taking an off ramp, do not hit your brakes until you are on the off ramp. Again, there should be no reason to hit the brakes while on the highway, wait until you're fully in the off ramp lane before hitting your brakes. This keeps traffic on the highway moving at a proper rate of speed and is much safer. Too many times I'm about to take an off ramp and am on the horn to try and avoid dropping below 80, the minimum highway speed. Somewhere around there your hazard lights are required and I don't really feel like having to hit my hazards every time I exit the highway.
6. Side note - all traffic arrows should occur after the green light. Think about it, what do people do when they're waiting to turn left on the solid green? They hang out in the intersection until it goes red and then they turn. They think, "Well, since I'm too stupid to keep myself out of dangerous situations, I'm going to use the defense that it's legal for me to complete my turn." No asshole, try waiting your turn back behind the line so you don't end up in that situation. So what I think is the blinking arrow should occur after the solid green, that way the vehicles waiting in the intersection to turn can do so safely after the green has gone to red. They now have the arrow. I see no benefit to having the blinking arrow before the solid green, this is how it's done to get onto the Langevin Bridge downtown and I think it works great.
7. Only the adjacent lane should slow down for emergency vehicles (as far as I know). If there's a cop or tow truck pulled over on the side of the road with lights flashing, only the adjacent lane needs to slow to 50, DO NOT SLOW DOWN IN OTHER LANES! Every other lane should still be doing 100, you will cause an accident if you hit the brakes. Too many people don't know what the law is and they're so afraid they'll get a ticket, they do what they think is the safe thing to do and they slow down just in case. No, it's not safe, it's dangerous and unnecessary.
Cliff Notes: Don't brake on the highway. Ever. There's no need for it.
1. People hit the brakes when changing lanes. Why? You should never be hitting the brakes on the highway, this is what causes accidents and slows down traffic. There should be no reason, ever, for you to hit the brakes on the highway unless there's some accident or you have to slow down for construction or something. If you need to change lanes, do so without hitting the brakes. You should not be driving directly next to another vehicle and there shouldn't be anyone in your blind spot at any time so you should be able to merge at any point seamlessly.
2. Don't hit the brakes to let someone in your lane. Too often I see people slow down or speed up to get next to an entry point in a lane and then put their indicator on as they're merging. This is wrong, put your indicator on prior to looking for your entry point so that the traffic in the other lane has time to accommodate you. This way nobody's hitting the brakes to let someone in, causing a ripple effect of braking for miles behind them. You have to be conscious of what is going to happen in traffic if you hit the brakes, it doesn't only affect you. If you need to let someone merge, notice their indicator, let off the gas to allow space and disrupt traffic around you as little as possible.
3. People suck at on ramps. Here's a usual scenario I see: Car A is ripping down Deerfoot at 100 and car B is coming up the on ramp at 75. They end up side-by-side in the 2 lanes, car A doing 100 and car B now doing 90. Car A will try and merge left to get out of the way, causing traffic in that lane to hit their brakes to slow down and accommodate him, causing a ripple braking effect for a mile back, slowing down everyone else. Car B now checks to see if it can merge, 10 feet before the lane ends and merges at 90, causing everyone behind him to hit the brakes and slow down. This eventually happens a few times in a row causing traffic to slow to 20 and people are now stopped in the on ramp, trying to merge onto Deerfoot. This is stupid.
Here's what should happen: Car A drives in the right lane doing 100 and notices an on ramp coming up. He modifies his speed slightly to allow enough merging room for a vehicle in front of him and keeps a constant speed with no need to merge left at all. Car B is coming down the on ramp and checks as early as possible for an entry point onto the highway, ensuring to match the speed of other drivers. Car B modifies its speed to line up directly with the space left in front of car A and merges in like a zipper and NOBODY touches the brakes for any reason. Nobody merges out of the way neither, this is unnecessary and is what causes traffic to slow down.
4. Trucks should be banned from the Blackfoot - Deerfoot north on ramp. Every morning I take this on ramp and every morning I merge onto Deerfoot doing 45 unless I'm lucky enough to be the first at the light. Big fat ass trucks cannot get up to speed on that twisty on ramp and try to merge at a speed way too low for the highway. This makes people on the highway in the right lane hit the brakes, squatting all the traffic behind them together and now there's no room for anyone else to merge so everyone else has to slow down to get into the tight spaces. If I'm the first in line I have no problem merging at 100, this only happens when I'm behind trucks which are constantly using this on ramp all morning long.
5. When taking an off ramp, do not hit your brakes until you are on the off ramp. Again, there should be no reason to hit the brakes while on the highway, wait until you're fully in the off ramp lane before hitting your brakes. This keeps traffic on the highway moving at a proper rate of speed and is much safer. Too many times I'm about to take an off ramp and am on the horn to try and avoid dropping below 80, the minimum highway speed. Somewhere around there your hazard lights are required and I don't really feel like having to hit my hazards every time I exit the highway.
6. Side note - all traffic arrows should occur after the green light. Think about it, what do people do when they're waiting to turn left on the solid green? They hang out in the intersection until it goes red and then they turn. They think, "Well, since I'm too stupid to keep myself out of dangerous situations, I'm going to use the defense that it's legal for me to complete my turn." No asshole, try waiting your turn back behind the line so you don't end up in that situation. So what I think is the blinking arrow should occur after the solid green, that way the vehicles waiting in the intersection to turn can do so safely after the green has gone to red. They now have the arrow. I see no benefit to having the blinking arrow before the solid green, this is how it's done to get onto the Langevin Bridge downtown and I think it works great.
7. Only the adjacent lane should slow down for emergency vehicles (as far as I know). If there's a cop or tow truck pulled over on the side of the road with lights flashing, only the adjacent lane needs to slow to 50, DO NOT SLOW DOWN IN OTHER LANES! Every other lane should still be doing 100, you will cause an accident if you hit the brakes. Too many people don't know what the law is and they're so afraid they'll get a ticket, they do what they think is the safe thing to do and they slow down just in case. No, it's not safe, it's dangerous and unnecessary.
Cliff Notes: Don't brake on the highway. Ever. There's no need for it.