this summer they are doing road work downtown. traffic in one direction follows the regular route, traffic in the other direction has to take a parallel detour.
the detour has many many many signs, telling drivers where to go and what to do. but this has lead to a few problems-
#1. at 3 intersections, they took out the stop signs, and put in new stop signs at the side street where there wasn’t one. people still stop where they used to and don’t have to now, and wave through people who have a stop sign.
#2. even though the 2 new routes are one way, people are constantly going the wrong way. they have to go past about 6 signs on barriers across half the road that say one way, do not enter, etc.
#3. tractor trailers have to take an alternate route instead of the detour, there are many of the giant electric message boards on every road into town warning them about this. but they still try to take the car detour, and end up getting stuck and getting flat tires and bent rims.
seriously, what is wrong with these idiots? is it that hard to do what the signs tell you to do? i know things are different, but just do what the fucking signs tell you to do! and if you don’t have a stop sign, then don’t stop! the state paid untold thousands of dollars to some traffic engineering wizard who probably has 12 years of college to figure out how to best route the traffic. and you think you’re smarter than him and can fuck up the flow of traffic to be nice?
yeah, that’s why i’m honking at you to keep going, so stop giving me the middle finger and do what the signs say! if it’s now a one way with lots of signs and i come around the curve on the left side and we have an accident because you’re going the wrong way, try to explain to the police and our insurance companies that you’re confused because things have changed.
You weren’t in Boston by any chance, were you?
The other night I was in the Back Bay trying to get on Storrow Drive westbound. The entrance from Berkeley was closed. The detour took me west, then south on Mass. Ave., right on Boylston, follow the curve around to Charlesgate, down the ramp and right on Beacon, then right on Mass. Ave.
A full circle. Idiots.
Have you considered that, if driving with GPS guidance, the unit may be giving contradictory advice?
I’ve run into exactly the situation you describe, except that I was unfamiliar with the area. All I knew was that the GPS was telling me go left, while the signs are saying something else. Now I know the GPS database can be wrong, so of course I follow the signs. But it is confusing, and there’s a lot of sensory input going on.
I hate GPS with a fiery passion for exactly that reason. I work in a rural area and at least twice a week I get stopped by people asking me to give them directions because the GPS is telling them to go places that DONT EXIST. Roads that don’t intersect, or don’t run where it says they should. Sometimes several miles wrong… people please, don’t depend on GPS in a rural area.
They used to say there was a LAKE about 2 doors down my street, which really surprised my neighbors.
Billy has a GPS that says continue east on Rt. 11, when he comes face to face with 4 “ROAD CLOSED , DO NOT ENTER” signs, and a giant orange wall in front of him. What does Billy do? Follow the GPS, of course.
I can understand being confused, but damn, this is way past confusion!
I love the part too where the wrong-wayers get to the point where the bridge is closed, and correct traffic has a road a little wider than one lane. The wrong-wayers still try to keep going against traffic and squeeze through.
I was that confused guy one time. Went to Florida when they were adding a few ramps at my intended exit. I was reading the old overhead signs instead of the street level detour signs.
I got stuck between the freeway and the new on ramp, knocked out a few cones, and got a ticket. The cop was mad as hell, reaming me out for being “from Michigan, ruining our state”.
But the rental car had Michigan plates and my driver’s license is from out west. So when he saw that he apologized and let me off. I didn’t mention that I had spent most of my life in Michigan. Not sure what he had against it.