You Know What Really Grinds My Gears? Now with 3x more gears...

[GirlySports]

how do people not know there's a sensor?

Ever see a green turning light flashing and you're gunning it to get on the tailend of the turning cars only to come up short and the light immediately goes yellow?

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

how do people not know there's a sensor?

Ever see a green turning light flashing and you're gunning it to get on the tailend of the turning cars only to come up short and the light immediately goes yellow?

I don't believe the in ground sensors monitor when the row of cars end, they are just to trigger the indexed green arrow. It should be on a timer once it begins.
There are some camera's however that monitor lanes at intersections and can change trigger lights based on that, but not too common.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Brake checking! Also insane. People who brake check other drivers should lose their license. A completely illogical thought, given the difficulty of proving it was intentional brake checking, but still.

My neighbour, who is great unless he's driving, used to brag about brake checking people. He got rear ended last year, I think he's stopped that practice now.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I've noticed a proliferation of people who can't make a turn correctly. Left or right, they'll turn, and instead of entering the appropriate lane, then signalling and lane changing, they just wander over to whatever lane they want to be in. Super dangerous and unpredictable, yet so many people do it these days. These same people often turn left from near the curb side, instead of being at the centre, so the block right turners, or vice versa.

Originally Posted by Fuzz

The only exception to the left turn on red is if there is another lane, like 7th st and 5th ave. You can not turn across a traffic lane that has a straight through option(in this case, it's a bike lane). Took me a couple years of almost getting killed there before I finally convinced the roads dept to put up a sign.

Thanks Fuzz, I did not know this. I don't think I would make that turn anyway, it just wouldn't feel right but I did not know bike lanes are considered the same as vehicle lanes in this case. Makes sense though.

[bc-chris]

Originally Posted by Old Yeller

That surprises me, I thought that was pretty common knowledge.

Are there also some sort of sensors on the top of stop lights? Or are they usually traffic cameras?

i know years ago in kelowna there were sensors on top of the lights for emergency vehicles - they picked up the flashing/strobing of the activated emergency light bars and would give that direction "green". knowing this came in handy late at night when approaching certain intersections - flash your high beams a bunch and get greens!! ha!

unfortunately, that has changed and now the emergency vehicles have a transmitter that sends a out a signal when they have their emergency lights/sirens activated. the street lights receive the signal and change the lights to green for the emergency vehicle. i know this is definitely the case for fire trucks - not sure about ambulance or rcmp.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

I don't believe the in ground sensors monitor when the row of cars end, they are just to trigger the indexed green arrow. It should be on a timer once it begins.
There are some camera's however that monitor lanes at intersections and can change trigger lights based on that, but not too common.

hmmm it always seems to turn yellow when the cars end. I've latched onto the row of cars before and gone through.

[Weitz]

There are definitely lights that sense when cars are going and when they are done.

[BlackArcher101]

And yet it always turns yellow and cuts me off when I'm part of the pack. Either I've pissed off a programmer or my luck continues lol.

edit: And don't even get me started how none of our traffic equipment is suited for motorcycles. If I notice I'm going to be first at a light, I'll stop just before and wave a car to sneak by me just so the light is triggered. And then there's the big beef about the "new and improved" cable barrier systems that would make swiss cheese of a motorcyclist.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

And yet it always turns yellow and cuts me off when I'm part of the pack. Either I've pissed off a programmer or my luck continues lol.

You know...I've been thinking about this at times.

Because a lot of our life is routine, but could you imagine if you just thought about someone's routine, even in just the abstract sense, and had the power to make it just a little bit worse?

For instance, I listen to the radio on the way home from work because I live so close to work I havent been making new playlists.

Fine. No problem. But what if a Radio DJ decided, just on a whim, to play the same songs every single day from 4-4:15.

So every day when I go home from work I would only listen to the same songs. Over. And over. And over.

Most people wouldnt even notice. But I would.

I think if I had a friend who was a Radio DJ they would do that to me. If I were a Radio DJ I certainly would do that. Maybe just to see who noticed.

[timun]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

The only exception to the left turn on red is if there is another lane, like 7th st and 5th ave. You can not turn across a traffic lane that has a straight through option(in this case, it's a bike lane). Took me a couple years of almost getting killed there before I finally convinced the roads dept to put up a sign.

Right, and I'm pretty sure all along 7th Street there are no-left-on-red signs. I know for sure there are signs at SB 7th to EB 5th and WB 4th Ave to SB 7th, as I drive through these intersections often.

That left turn light at 7th and 5th Ave is still problematic because the light cycle on 7th Street gives through traffic on 7th a green, and only after given pedestrians and cyclists priority for about 10 seconds will the turn light go to a protected green. I still see lots of drivers cruise through that left turn on a red...

EDIT: And in fact more than once I've been honked at for NOT turning against that red light.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

And yet it always turns yellow and cuts me off when I'm part of the pack. Either I've pissed off a programmer or my luck continues lol.

edit: And don't even get me started how none of our traffic equipment is suited for motorcycles. If I notice I'm going to be first at a light, I'll stop just before and wave a car to sneak by me just so the light is triggered. And then there's the big beef about the "new and improved" cable barrier systems that would make swiss cheese of a motorcyclist.

https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/7cba...lists-htcb.pdf

Good news bad news situation. The type of barrier used doesn’t really matter in terms of injury. You are likely to die either way.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by timun

...

... Another common occurrence: a driver stops mid-block to let a pedestrian jaywalk across the road. It puts the pedestrian at risk of getting hit by a car coming from the opposite direction, or another car in an adjacent lane on a four-lane road. Drivers should never, ever do it but in Calgary, sometimes, they do! They think they're being nice!

...

A few months ago I was behind someone that did this so a police officer could jaywalk across the road from a coffee shop to their vehicle parked on the opposite side of the road.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Locke

You know...I've been thinking about this at times.

Because a lot of our life is routine, but could you imagine if you just thought about someone's routine, even in just the abstract sense, and had the power to make it just a little bit worse?

For instance, I listen to the radio on the way home from work because I live so close to work I havent been making new playlists.

Fine. No problem. But what if a Radio DJ decided, just on a whim, to play the same songs every single day from 4-4:15.

So every day when I go home from work I would only listen to the same songs. Over. And over. And over.

Most people wouldnt even notice. But I would.

I think if I had a friend who was a Radio DJ they would do that to me. If I were a Radio DJ I certainly would do that. Maybe just to see who noticed.

Paging troutman!

[Regulator75]

Originally Posted by Locke

Fine. No problem. But what if a Radio DJ decided, just on a whim, to play the same songs every single day from 4-4:15.

It's not a whim, it's what their corporate overlords demand!

Spoiler!

Radio is garbage.

[81MC]

93.7
88.1
90.9
All legit.

[nieuwy-89]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

I don't believe the in ground sensors monitor when the row of cars end, they are just to trigger the indexed green arrow. It should be on a timer once it begins.
There are some camera's however that monitor lanes at intersections and can change trigger lights based on that, but not too common.

The sensors measure do the gap between vehicles and when the gap gets long enough the controller will end the turn phase.

[CroFlames]

I know this is hypocritical, but reading about driving gear grinders is boring and thus grinds my gears.

I like hearing about greedy bosses, cheating spouses and slimy contractors. However the best GG are the rare instances where a GG backfires on a poster and the GG is deemed invalid.

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by nieuwy-89

The sensors measure do the gap between vehicles and when the gap gets long enough the controller will end the turn phase.

Surely only at specific intersections then, but there still has to be a max time limit. Tons of left turn queues in this city where it takes 2 or 3 light cycles to get through em.

[you&me]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

Surely only at specific intersections then, but there still has to be a max time limit. Tons of left turn queues in this city where it takes 2 or 3 light cycles to get through em.

And on the flip side, I can think of several intersections where the advanced green lasts far longer than necessary, so the other lanes are stuck waiting for it to end.

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by you&me

And on the flip side, I can think of several intersections where the advanced green lasts far longer than necessary, so the other lanes are stuck waiting for it to end.

^^this guy Bow/Strathcona's