Cost of a Traffic Signal ??

In news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com (Spehro Pefhany):

I've seen this all too often... as cruel as it may sound, perhaps these types of situations are simply ode to Darwinisim. If you are speeding along an unknown roadway, which is obviously not a highway you are supposed to be speeding on, at night, in poor visibility, in heavy fog, and impale the car onto a seemingly positioned concrete slab, then perhaps the Earth is better off without you. Think of it this way, if every street were sunk into the ground 9 feet and each lane were divided by strong, solid metal dividers, then everyone could drive as fast and sloppily as they want and not worry about getting killed. But would that be a good thing, since the roadways would be littered with bumbling idiots with no respect for anything, no driving skills, no fear, no care? If we haven't noticed, a lot of things in our world are looking that way lately. Too much of a good thing *is* a bad thing... we keep making it easier and easier for the underdogs of the world be Jo Average, all the while postulating those who excel. The bar just keeps dropping lower and lower and lower... we know where it is going to end up. And in our reality, there ain't no Neo to save us but ourselves...

Regards, Mark

Yes. I'd be willing to bet that drugs or alcohol were involved in some of that, and single-car accidents caused by sloppy or impaired drivers are kind of like impaired private pilots- a self-eliminating problem. Shame about their passengers though, especially if they didn't have much choice about getting into the car.

Bad merges and intersections can work out the other way where the at-fault SOB in an SUV survives with minor scratches and the geek in the Jetta gets to take a dirt nap.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

do it. I

it would

Well, "most" of the fatalities, just not the demise of the guy with the flag....

Regards Ian

"Outta my way, dood!"

;-)

And I got to shag all the girlies as well. What the f*ck are you doing in my hangover?

In article , snipped-for-privacy@invalid.invalid mentioned...

To "Off Topic" Jim:

Around So Cal, the cities bitch that a new signal costs somewhere in the $25,000 to $75,000 range. Much of that is in labor, but I think the higher price is for putting in the traffic sensors and upgrading the controller to the higher sophistication. There are other variables, like in your case there are only three corners, hence fewer lights.

We just had an incident in the news where a kid was killed when he ran out into the busy street in front of his house. The driver wasn't cited because the kid ran out and there was nothing she could do to stop in time. So the solution may be to put no parking signs along that section of street, to give more visibility to the drivers. But then you have people complaining about lack of parking. :-(

Why sue the city 100X the cost of lights? Hey why not sue for

Didn't the woman stop at the intersection or was the other car speeding, if so there is the problem.

In article , Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, Dark Remover" mentioned...

Oops, I mean only three lights at the intersection.

The main problem here might be a legal maximum on the amount that can be awarded because it is a government entity. Do you know if Arizona has such a law- it might not be much- usually

On Thu, 4 Dec 2003 10:47:57 -0000, "Genome" Gave us:

You obviously didn't see that I said RETARD, not recall.

When I saw you were asking the question, Jim, I expected that you were going to go out and install the traffic light on your own dime :-)

Determining "the cost" may prove difficult. If the city/state hires contractors to do the engineering and installation, you can probably in the public records the costs of doing similar installations. If the city/ state has their own department that does this work, the number will be much murkier, and realistically you'll never get a straight answer for the full effort involved.

Tim.

In news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com (Spehro Pefhany):

Indeed, that is so true, like when you hear about a carful of teenagers out partying and they drive off the road. So okay, the driver is a dipshit. But his 16-year old girlfriend asked him twice to hand over the keys, and he wouldn't... so sometimes you just have to take a stand.

About a mile away, there is a 2-lane major street in a residential area with no crosswalks or traffic light. The speed limit is 35 but most people do 45+. I've seen many tributes there to pedestrians who were killed crossing the road, and that's a truly pathetic way to go. But were those deaths necessary? It's compelling to say "No, they could have been prevented, by lights or crosswalks or..." but maybe that's just not the case. It is SO easy to cross a street without being killed... why did it happen to those people specifically? What were they thinking?

Drive (and walk) safe. :)

p.s. I recall seeing some statistic about the number of people killed each year due to falling tree branches. You'd think that would be a non-existant problem, but the number was startling, something like 5000 people a year.

I remember hearing statistics which implied that traffic lights contributed significantly to road deaths. Usually through inattention or even color blindness traffic lights are often jumped with dire consequences since both think they have right of way. While side junctions may appear dangerous, it this perception of danger which saves lives. The fact that this lady was T-boned suggests she didn't look or she crossed the road at a snails pace. One other solution you might find the city makes is to make the junction a right turn only forcing you to make a U turn or similar in a safer place.

Younger kids wouldn't even have that much choice about it.

As an accomplished big-city jaywalker, I tend to agree. Then there are idjits (and there's always one or two a year around here who fail) who think they can safely cross 16 lanes of 70-80mph traffic on foot. The motorists that hit them should sue their estates for mental distress..

Never thought about it, but that makes sense. If you walk through bush after a big storm there are some pretty massive limbs that fall across trails. This is the time of year when I hate trees anyway. Each one on our property will probably have a life-cycle cost of $2,000.+, not even counting getting all their dead leaves to the curb.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Accident scenario:

(1) Blind approach from the west.

(2) Car ahead of victim pulled out to swing across intersection, no opposing cars in view.

(3) Victim's car follows first car.

(4) First car, once out there in dead-man's zone sees car approaching from west and stops straddling median.

(5) Victim is trapped straddling a traffic lane.

(6) Car from *east* T-bones victim.

The whole issue (to me) is lack of visibility to the west... i.e. a poorly conceived uncontrolled intersection.

U-turn? Next available turn-around is *two miles* to the west (roadway is divided by a median).

...Jim Thompson

Since the reason the city didn't put in a light is most likely budgetary, all you will accomplish is to make it that much more difficult to get a light the next time, since the city will still be paying off the 100-light-equivalent law suit. Americans are SO stupid with this suing crap.

Furthermore, take responsibility for the consequences of your actions. If the intersection is that unsafe, you are under a personal obligation to protect yourself by turning right and going to some place where it IS safe to turn and go the other direction. Failure to take simple self-protection measures does not make it someone else's fault when you get killed, it is simply evolution in action.

Speaking of Darwin, here's a solution to the stupid driver problem:

Cheers! Rich

Spehro Pefhany wrote:

Lessee ... Asked him twice, he refused, and the stupid airhead gets in the car with the moron anyway?

Two for the price of one!

Cheers! Rich

Mark J>

I like it! Put some spikes attached to a weight behind his seat while you're at it so he won't want to slam on his brakes too fast..

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

There's your answer.

Stupidity in action.

Victim, no. Negligent stupid person, yes.

No, it's lack of safe driving skill, or just plain stupidity. And maybe a little arrogance.

Throw a little chlorine in the gene pool!

Cheers! Rich