So slowhand53 and I were playing Project Gotham Racing on Xbox the other day and were wondering about the road markings in the London tracks.
What the hell do those squiggly lines on the road mean?
If it’s what I think it is, pedestrian crossing.
I’ve not played the game, but if they represent real road markings, they may be one of several things:
Zigzag lines running along the sides of the road are usually adjacent to pedestrian crossings or school entrances.
Yellow cross-hatched boxes at junctions (‘box’ junctions) indicate that the driver should not drive into the junction unless the way out is clear (i.e. a slow moving or stopped queue should leave the boxed area empty).
These links might help:
http://www.roads.dtlr.gov.uk/roadsafety/hc/images/page78.jpg
http://www.roads.dtlr.gov.uk/roadsafety/hc/images/page79.jpg
http://www.roads.dtlr.gov.uk/roadsafety/hc/images/page80.jpg
We could use these in the US.
we sorta have them in NYC, It’s called 4 big signs that say “Don’t block the Box” with a listing of the punishment (I think it’s 2 points and ~$125)
In California (bay area, at least), the ‘KEEP CLEAR’ marking (usually set off by two horizontal white lines ) is usually used to keep long lines of traffic out of a space (either where another road intersects or in front of a fire/police station). What is the ‘KEEP CLEAR’ shown in the manual used for in the U.K. – is it similar to the diagonal cross-hatch, or am I not understanding these ‘box junctions’?
“Oh dear, the lorry’s al-u-mi-ni-um caravan has a puncture on the dual-carriage motorway just past the sliproad towards the roundabout before the box junction after the zebra-crossing. Oh look, the Queen!”
or
“Oh sh*t! That truck’s a-lu-mi-num trailer has a flat on the highway past the entrance ramp towards the traffic circle before the intersection after the crosswalk. Hey look, Elvis!”
You may as well take ours, since the average driver seems to pay no heed to them…
The KEEP CLEAR road markings tend to be used at minor junctions (often ‘T’ junctions) where there are no traffic lights, or adjacent to entrances to private roads/driveways/hospitals/fire stations, also on parts of roundabouts (road circles) where stationary traffic could cause a gridlock.
Hatched box junctions tend to be used at major junctions where there are traffic lights (but by no means all junctions with traffic lights have them).
Mangetout : Thanks for the links. Unfortunately I don’t see the markings in question.
to narrow this down a bit, the lines look like a sine wave painted in white in the middle of the roadway for what appears to be 5 to 10 meters long.
If the sine wave is made of straight lines, then it means no passing; you find them on the lead-in to zebra crossings.
I think the OP may be describing pavement markings that look like this, if I’m not mistaken …
===============/////\
I don’t think we have anything like a sine wave in the real world.
Triangle wave; yes, that’s the zig zag thing on the lead-up to pedestrian crossings and schools.
Paired lines with chevrons/diagonal lines between; yes, that is to separate two opposing lanes.
Sine wave; errrrrr, can’t recall having seen it.
I believe we are talking about zig-zag lines on either side of pedestrian crossings. These go up the side of the road, and sometimes up the middle as well, particularly if the road is wide or has a central reservation.
As has been said, you also get them outside schools. Not only do they serve to help warn drivers of the crossing, but also mean “don’t park here”. They differ from double yellow lines in that if you are caught parking there you don’t just get a parking ticket, you get points on your licence as well. Many UK drivers seem to be unaware of this. Apparently ‘don’t park here’ actually means “unless you’re really in a hurry and maybe put your hazard warning lights on and you’re only nipping into the shop for two minutes, so that’s ok then.” Then you get the ones who avoid the zigzags by parking on the crossing itself… [fades away into a rant…]
Yes, the lines are similar to this. And they are usually along the edges of the road ways. They are also found on those bad driving shows where the cops are chasing people. I see them alot on the roads there as well. Always drove me nuts though…
Those zig-zag lines do not mean ‘No overtaking’ at all.
They mean that you must not pass the lead vehicle in a queue of traffic, you can still overtake any other vehicle behind that first one, which is particularly useful for motorbikes, scooters, and in London, pedestrians who seem to move faster than four wheeled traffic.
They also mean ‘no parking’ and some traffic wardens can be particulalry zealous in enforcing this.
Allow me to translate into the vernacular of ordinary British folk.
" Oh f*@~k!!That poxy artic trailer has blown a tyre right in the worst place on earth just on the sliproad off the motorway that only leads to the busiest f*#@kin roundabout in London and to make it even worse the f*#@ck@n idiots in the town council stuck a zebra crossing there too so the traffic’ll be stuck for F#@%kin ages, and bugger me if they haven’t stopped everything moving to let the Queens bleedin convoy to go past,s’alright for some, and the tax they take off us just cause the motorist is an easy target, its about time they spent some of it on the roads instead of some poxy F*%#@in dome!!!"
The first two times I was in a country that drove on the left, the idea scared me to death and we used taxis and narrow boats to get around. Then 1-1/2 years ago we visited Guernsey and rented a car. Much to my delight they only had one round about on the island, but they had several “filters”. Is that what is being called a “junction box” on this thread. I never entirely understood a filter and more or less passed thru them using the seat of my pants as a guide.
We just returned from the Bahamas. There they have many round-abouts, but there was always a sign saying “Give Way” going into them. So, for awhile I thought that was their term for a round-about. I noticed those triangles painted on the pavement and figured they meant “yield”, which is our term for “Give Way”.
The driving was easier there than on Guernsey, despite the fact that not many of the cars (including our rental) had the steering wheel on the proper side.