Posts by John Brown (no body)

Re: Lane keeping = lane hogging?

I learned some years ago that some people call Lane 1 the "lorry lane". It's taken hold so well now that some people seem to think lane 1 is only for lorries and so some car drivers don't or won't use it. I see it frequently, driving down lane 1 at 70mph then having to move over the lane 3 to pass the moron in lane 2 doing 60-65mph, then indicating back to lane 1. Even that doesn't seem to give them a hint.

Re: 37 MPH...

"Now imagine you've got a car doing 37 MPH in the first lane, this means you'll have trucks coming up quickly and then needing to over take it or slow down, causing congestion."

Much of the A1/A1(M) is only two lanes wide and lorries passing other lorries is already an issue when one speed limiter is set slight different to another one. Just today, on the way home, I sat behind a lorry for well over a mile as he tried to overtake another on a slight incline. He never made it. By the time we crested the hill, the "slower" one started to pick up speed again and it took another mile or so before the "quicker" lorry eventually pulled back in behind the one he tried to over take. There was a line of vehicles behind me as far as I could see in my mirrors. Probably 5 mins delay caused by just one lorry and maybe 50 or more vehicles delayed. This can happen multiple times on the two lane stretches. There are two areas going north with an extra "crawler" lane and Southbound has two areas with 7am to 7pm curfews on the out lane for anything over 7.5t (that latter has made a good difference to journey times)

Re: Thought experiment

...and then start trying to avoid it. The human brain can react surprisingly quickly, almost, dare I say it, by instinct, at times of great stress.

Re: Thought experiment

The (original) Batmobile had laser headlamps!!

(and once was old enough and I found out what lasers actually were and how the worked, realised what a stupid idea that was!!)

Re: Cruise control / License minder

You're probably right, but I find it disconcerting to have my foot on the floor and nothing happening to the speed of the car. I also find cruise control a little uncomfortable too. I find I keep my foot hovering over the accelerator, which leads to more aches in the ankle. I have to consciously rest my foot on the floor and then feel nervous that I'm not in proper control.

Re: US Driving

"Luckily in UK it's difficult to get above 70mph for more than a feew miles, in fact let's be honest, the distance between towns is so short and the motorways so crowded, you are luck if you can get up 50 mph on most motorways, most days of the week, or even in the middle of the night if you use the M6."

Living North of the M62, I don't see a problem with maintaining 70mph for long periods on the motorway. The M62 itself, west of the junction with the A1 isn't fun, neither are the motorways around Manchester and up to maybe as far as Blackpool. North of there, no problem. Likewise heading into Humberside and North Linc motorways.

Maybe if WFH catches on permanently, the more rural areas might get a little busier as people from Darn; Sarf realise they can move to Northern countryside for much nicer housing and cheaper than a cupboard in the Big City.

Re: Naysayer

To be fair, with aircraft speeds, 1000's of metres IS a near miss. Closing speed could easily be in excess of 1200mph so 1000's of metres might only be seconds apart. But of course, that is an incredibly rare occurrence and most aircraft autopilots don't take evasive action anyway. They just blare out alarms so the highly trained pilots can take over and take action.

Re: The technology could create around 38,000 new jobs...

"The notion that computer technology in its current state can safely steer a vehicle in any but the most carefully controlled situations is nuts."

Yes, there's not all that many roads where you want a car to be partially self-driving at only 37mph for any real distance. If they were prepared to certify it (and mucho testing!!) at 70mph for motorways, I might be a tad more comfortable with the idea.

Re: The technology could create around 38,000 new jobs...

"Could" is a versatile word.

True. It's not going to be in the car industry. These systems are not going to be after-market installed, leading to jobs. They'll be factory fitted, probably by robots, leading to...erm...fewer not more jobs as they automate as much of the manufacturing as possible.

Re: Idiocy

Interesting stats. Sadly, meaningless without stating some absolutes like miles drive and/or numbers of Teslas on the roads in each country.

Re: 37MPH

Despite your downvotes, it's a point I and probably many others also noticed. It seems odd to specify a speed limit that is clearly a conversion from a "round" number of kph in an unusual mph figure. Especially when the UK has been putting of converting road signs to kph speed limits and km distance for years and is likely to keep kicking that can down the road for many years to come,

I suspect the downvotes were from people sick of hearing about Brexit, despite it affecting all our live now and for the foreseeable future.

Re: 37MPH

Driving at 37mph on main trunk road or motorway with 50-70mph speed limits would almost certainly be classed as causing an obstruction. Interesting times ahead :-)

Exactly. Most people park facing into a parking bay because they are crap at reversing in. They often don't seem to realise that reversing out is more dangerous because, depending on what is parked next to you, you might be half-way or out of the space before you can see other traffic or pedestrians.

"I don't advocate the use of LSD at all but I do think it has it's merits and probably needs some proper research."

I'm pretty sure the US government, especially the CIA, did some serious long term testing of LSD and various other drugs of that type. There doesn't seem to be any public recommended uses for any of them coming from official circles.

..which was really a very stupid thing to do. Clearly the "micro-dose" of LSD blurred his judgement. LSD is still illegal, no matter the dose size. A secret is no longer a secret if you tell someone.

Maybe next time he could just try holding his breath. Some people claim a certain level of hypoxia can clarify thinking too. On the other hand, some also claim the same for "shots" or pure oxygen have the same effect.

Personally, I think most of these claims rely more on the person trying it out believing in the hype rather than an actual effect.

Re: Windmill blade delivery

Me too!!!!! Looks like a very special adjustable mount point on that trailer so they could lower and raise the "load". Wow! Just...wow!

Re: Great Idea BUT sh*t implementation

A1(M) closed after A167.

Not helpful when the A167 has FOUR junctions with the A1 about 20 miles apart (Newton Aycliffe, Chester-le-Street, Gateshead (The Angel) and Newcastle)

Admittedly, it could only really be one of the first two, since by Gateshead and Newcastle, it's just the A1, not the A1(M). (For those who don't know, much of the A167 used to be called the A1 many years ago, winding through all the towns and villages of the North East, including crossing the Tyne bridge right through the city centre, hence the multiple junctions with the "new" A1.)

Re: Signs ...

"Other signs are placed on approaches to junctions to tell you that you should have changed lanes some time ago, and it's now far too late to do anything about it."

York outer ring road on the northern side used to be like that. They widened the road so there was two lanes approaching the roundabout. It was pot luck whether the left lane was left only of left/straight on and/or the right lane might be right only or right/straight on. Only the left OR the right would allow straight on but the signage was well down the two lane stretch and if you didn't already know then you could be stuffed during rush hour when buses and lorries blocked the view of the sign in the distance. It took a few years, but they did eventually put signs up at the point the single lane split into two.

Re: Yankees and roundabouts

"During the Civil War the term evolved again to loosely define anyone from the Northern US fighting for the Union side of the conflict. Today, Southerners still refer to Americans from the Northern States as Yankees.[*]"

And when you look at a map of which States were Confederate and Union, even using the terms "northern" and "southern" becomes a bit of a misnomer when labelling the sides.

Re: Yankees and roundabouts

But they do have their own special crossings with the button box raised to height where the rider can easily reach it. They're called Pegasus Crossing for some unfathomable reason. After all, if Pegasus needed to cross a road he#d just piggen' well FLY.

There are also crossroads in London marked No Right Turn, but those who are keeping an eye on the signs will see a left/right/right sign at the junction before so where the No Right Turn is, you already took the earlier Left then went right-right and go straight over to the right turn you wanted. Clear?

Re: Hemel Hempstead

"As for the video, it clearly shows people driving on both the left and the right sides of the road, presumably in contravention of USA road regulations,"

It is marked "how NOT..." and it was produced by the construction company. It even looks like it's not finished yet. Markings and road signs don't seem to be in place yet.

Re: Have the worst fo both

"Here in the NE* we have a penchant for roundabouts with lights that always operate. 5am on a Sunday? Yep, you can be stuck at two sets on a single roundabout."

That's one of the few things the US seem to have done right. During quiet periods, traffic lights flash amber, meaning proceed with caution.

One of the few things we get right here in the UK is the use of "part time" traffic lights on certain roundabouts. They only operate during rush hour, outside those times they switch off and it's back to normal roundabout rules. It's be nice if that, or the flashing amber for "normal" light controlled junctions, could be introduced here (although I'm not sure how since we already have flasjing amber on Pelican(??) crossings with a subtly different meaning.

"i don't mind roundabouts at least they can keep the traffic flowing."

Depends on the traffic flows. If you put a roundabout in and the predominant flow is straight over, the traffic coming from the sides can't get on when it's busy. A well flowing roundabout, especially during busy periods, relies on reasonable numbers of vehicles wanting to go right to break up the "straight over" flow. It also requires drivers to indicate properly thus giving joiners a chance to get on when they see a leaver coming around and turning off at "their" entry point. And drivers who know how to watch for said exiter instead of just watching the traffic from the right!!!

Why, yes, funny you should ask, it IS one of my bug bears. :-)

Re: Bunch of wusses

I'm not sure where it was now, somewhere in NE England, there was a weird split 4 way junction. Split in that the road crossing the main road didn't line up on left and right. The answer? Two pained mini-roundabouts. But they were so close together that there was on a single lane between them. If you got two vehicles coming from opposite directions both turning to their right, there was no room for them leading to the inevitable shouting, horns blaring, bumps, scrapes and out right head-on collisions. I think they eventually painted the two roundabouts into one elongated blob-like shape.

Re: I question these stats too

Yes, I know it well, from many years ago. I think roundabouts were seen as the panacea to all things congestion related when the "new towns" were being created. Washington is nearly as bad. (remember when Washington was all marked out as numbers, District x, y z instead of places having names? The numbers of people getting lost was just hilarious!)

Re: French Roundabouts are useless

"Hemel Hempstead's magic roundabout"

I remember the first time I came across that. It was a little confusing, but I played it safe, being still a little inexperienced, and went the long way around, just treating it more or less as a big roundabout. That monstrosity at Swindon on the other hand, is enough to give the heebee geebies to even the most experienced driver on first coming across it!

Re: Er ...

"France isn't much liked by the rest of the EU..."

I think you Paris isn't much liked by the rest of the EU, including the French. (Parisians don't count, as far the rest of France is concerned Parisians aren't French, they're Parisians :-)

Re: Er ...

"It's not even as big as Texas."

Why do people always go on about how big Texas is? They lost the crown years ago when Alaska became the biggest US State. And lets not have any of that whataboutery saying things like the "lower 48" or "the contiguous US States".

Re: Covid 19 and hot desks

"And many offices are distinctly relaxed about hygiene."

And then there's the places which have appointed a "COVID monitor" who likely gets paid extra to invent and implement all the new procedures. As things are looking better and all the processes are in place, said Covid monitor doesn't really have much to do now to justify the extra pay and responsibility. S/He is now creating new procedures and rules to justify the extra pay and making life harder in a situation where the risks are decreasing.

Re: "Maybe a handful of people can work remotely"

"thanks to knowledgable network admins, obviously"

The forgotten heroes of the pandemic. They rarely get noticed because most of the time, everything "Just Works(tm). When WFH started, there were some hiccups, but again, everything mostly "Just worked(tm)" again. 1st line, and maybe 2nd line support are the visible heroes to the users, and often not seen as heroes, but someone to moan to to when things don't "Just Work(tm)", often because it's the users home WiFi or internet connection, which 1st line now have to "support" as best they can.

Re: Awesome

Well, obviously the landing pad would have to be higher than everything else (and act as a sun shade) and the downwash would have been useful on Spirit and Opportunity :-)

Re: Awesome

I suppose being mainly CO₂ means the air is heavier than on earth, but at 1% density, how big would a balloon have to be? Not to mention the heavy tank of He required to fill it.

I wonder if a flight deck on top of a future rover with charging pads where the legs touch down, or wireless charging, might be better and more efficient than having the extra mass of solar panels on the drone for self charging in the drone might be better.

Re: Third-party app store

"Are users so inert that it's impossible to be successful without paying the tax?"

Yes. (I'm assuming you meant to type "inept" and autocorrect whacked you)

Re: Patchwork laws?

This! And not only that. Both Google and Apple know where you are to within a few metres, when you make the purchase. At worst, within a few hundred metres. They can easily apply whatever local laws relate to your location. Even if GPS is switched off. Of course, that would mean admitting that they do actually track you at all times, even when you've changed any and all settings you can find to "don't track me"