NYC Crosswalk Buttons are Inoperative 569
cdneng2 writes "NY Times has an article that New
York crosswalk push buttons are actually ineffective.
Apparently, New York City deactivated most of the pedestrian
buttons long ago with the emergence of computer-controlled
traffic signals. From the article, 'More than 2,500 of the 3,250
walk buttons that still exist function essentially as mechanical
placebos, city figures show.' Well, apparently New York city isn't
the only city like this. I guess the answer lies in the same
reason why people press
the elevator button more than once."
Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:5, Interesting)
However, you can find the 24 most dangerous intersections in NY, as compiled by the NYPD here [transalt.org].
Either way, crossing the street isn't the safest thing in the world.
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:5, Interesting)
That being said, it's still dangerous because the cab drivers can occasionally be reckless due to long hours worked.
See here [golala.com] for more zaniness.
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:5, Insightful)
someone who gets paid (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:5, Funny)
Read the whole definition (Score:5, Informative)
Though to be fair, you're partially right... profession has "at least two meanings," though you conveniently omitted the one that contradicts your little rant. I quote from Websters:
1 a : of, relating to, or characteristic of a profession b : engaged in one of the learned professions c (1) : characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a profession (2) : exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner in the workplace
2 a : participating for gain or livelihood in an activity or field of endeavor often engaged in by amateurs b : having a particular profession as a permanent career c : engaged in by persons receiving financial return
3 : following a line of conduct as though it were a profession
- professionally adverb
As opposed to "job":
b : a specific duty, role, or function c : a regular remunerative position
I'll let you look up remunerative for yourself... but as you can see, you can get paid for either a profession or a job... but as you'll note in the first definition above, a profession often implies far more (specialized knowledge, ethics, etc) than simply getting paid.
But that's OK, I don't take it personally. If you want, you can keep calling your fast-food job a "profession" if it makes you feel better.
Re:No... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:4, Funny)
Yeah... I think I also saw "cabs" in that same sentence, along with "not as many accidents are going to happen"...
I'm sorry... I don't know what to say...
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:4, Funny)
Are you from New York? Cab drivers in this city are *always* reckless and it *isn't* because of the long hours worked.
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:4, Interesting)
If you can understand WTF they're saying, that is.
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:5, Insightful)
Most cabs in NYC are driven 24 hours per day. As one driver gets out the next one takes over. If one damages the cab TWO drivers are out of a job because New York rules are very strict - no taxi can operate with damaged body panels. Few drivers work for taxi companies where they get a replacement if they wreck the cab.
I ride a bicycle most days in Manhattan and I have very few problems with taxi drivers. The most reckless drivers in NYC are far and away Post Office trucks. Next worse are the the SUVs with Jersey plates. Of all the vehicles in Manhattan, taxis are probably the best driven.
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:5, Interesting)
I disagree.
Most people get into car accidents because they lose awareness. On country and sparse suburban roads it's easy to drive without seeing another person or moving motor vehicle for miles. As such, drivers tend to zone out and not notice the pedestrian until after they flip over your hood.
In Manhattan, you're surrounded by people and cars ALL THE TIME, even at 4AM, and at any moment someone could step in front of your car and you could kill them instantly. As such, you drive *very* carefully.
Also, 99% of the intersections in Manhattan have traffic lights. It's either red stop or green go.
If you don't see a green light at an intersection you assume you have to stop. This is reinforced so heavily that when motorists come to intersections in Manhattan with all-way stop signs instead of traffic lights, the motorists end up coming to a stop and waiting for a green light to appear. Eventually it occurs to them that there isn't a red light there either, and they then notice the stop sign and cautiously dart across.
I find driving in Manhattan to be more incident free than anywhere else. The rules-of-intersection engagement are very clear (don't even think of crossing until you see green), the other motorists are just as alert as you are (so cutting them off and being cut off by them is no big deal and traffic flows more smoothly), and above all, assume a pedestrian will decide to cross no matter where they are or what you're doing.
Driving in the rest of NYC is on the other hand a nightmare.
As such, I've become completely incompatible with weekend motorists and fear for my life when I go out on weekends.
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:5, Informative)
That may be true for the visiting tourist who might be taken aback by the sensory overload. But most New Yorkers eventually tune out alot of their surroundings.
Then there is the pressure of the New York buisness day. Everyday I see people trying to smoke/eat/use the phone/change CD's/apply makeup all while driving a moving three thousand pound projectile.
If I had a nickel for every accident I witnessed while my ambulance was parked at a major intersection because the offending driver did something incredibly stupid, I would have had several steak dinners by now.
The funniest thing is that sometimes, I notice right before the "accident", this stupid look on the drivers face --something between being in pain and being constipated-- that instinctively lets you know that they are aware that they're about to commit to something that will cause someone injury and property damage, but think they might get away with it anyway.
My 2 pet peeves:
1.Cab drivers that will stop anywhere, abruptly from any speed, and at all sorts of angle to pick up a fare.
2. People who follow me (light/sirens) down side streets, then when I have to block said street (to narrow for them to get by) they honk and yell as if I should go aroung the block to let them by. But hey, it's not their mom I'm going to treat.
It's actually a moving violation (as per the NYC VTL) to go down a side street when you see a parked ambulance with it's lights on, regardless if there is room for you to go by.
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:4, Interesting)
When you increase the population density I think it is very hard to get an idea of statistical things like accident frequency. Someone might think, say, that there are an exceptional number of homeless people, because they see one every couple minutes. But if they are seeing twice (or more) as many people everywhere, it's only reasonable they'll see more homeless people, and that doesn't mean that there is relatively more in the community. You see lots of traffic, but you notice accidents, and in the same way you might not be aware of the relative frequency of accidents.
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:5, Funny)
Where I lived, deer were far more common. But there were moose, too, and they were, if anything, dumber than the deer...at least the deer would usually run when you laid on the horn, but the moose would just stand there and look at you Make my day, puny tractor-trailer *ssscccrreeeeeeccchh* and you can see the look in the Moose's eyes Heheheheheh. Top of the food chain, sssnnnoooorrt
SB
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:5, Funny)
Well gee thanks, I could've figured out myself that I can get across when there's no cars around...
Even better are the ones with a sensor to see if a pedestrian is waiting. So not only do they pander to any approaching car, but they require the pedestrian to be standing in a particular place otherwise they don't operate at all. Very useful.
So if anyone is reading this story and doesn't have a clue what it means because traffic-light stuff is all greek to you... Bedford city council has jobs waiting for you. Join the ranks of the clueless.
And in Paris... (Score:5, Funny)
Cowardly brits!
In Paris, many pedestrians seems to think it's shameful to cross if there are not cars coming from both directions, the faster the better!
Re:And in Paris... (Score:5, Funny)
So the Frogs play Frogger?
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:5, Interesting)
It's so much more exciting than just a 'walk' sign...
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:5, Insightful)
I live in NYC (wait for the light to change - no point in pushing the button). On my trip to England I was doing the same thing (well, until I figured it out [after a few minutes waiting for the light to change]).
Oh, yeah, and THANKS for the `look ->' signs. If it weren't for those, I'd be road kill. Almost got ran over by a bus when I steped out of the airport.
Explanation (Score:5, Informative)
Most of the crosswalks in London have large block capitals on the road which say either:orWhose function is to inform you of the most probable direction of your impending doom.
Seriously, these things are very useful when everyone is driving on the wrong side of the road.
Re:Explanation (Score:5, Funny)
So why don't they have them in countries where people drive on the wrong side of the road?
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:5, Interesting)
If the pedestrian has crossed when there is a gap in the Traffic the demand from the Push Button is cancelled. If demands are being cancelled incorrectly the detector is badly configured.
Solution
Post the location of the signal crossing and I drop a line to Bedford.
Also ask Bedford to configure the crossing as 'Pre-timed [dft.gov.uk] Max'
Pre-timed Max Solves this problem.Also further reading [dft.gov.uk] on Push Buttons and computerised traffic control.
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:5, Insightful)
(a) the pedestrian sensor looks at the centre of the area where pedestrians would stand. But the buttons are right at the edge of that area. And cyclists can't move sideways.
(b) No mention of how long it takes from pressing a button to getting a green light. My guess is that it's "2 minutes, or when there's no traffic, whichever is earlier"
Which means that yes, the light does indeed fail to stop traffic if it can possibly avoid doing so. Remember that by the time the button is pushed, someone is already waiting
Having lights which take so long to react seems quite dangerous, because people will give up and cross anyway, and almost get hit by a police car
As to 'pre-timed max', surely imposing a "minimum time between stopping cars" doesn't have any effect if the crossing was just waiting there doing nothing for 10 minutes before I arrived? Unless it sets a minimum time for pedestrians to wait, which is just too dumb to even contemplate.
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:4, Interesting)
Rough Outline Of How Pre-timed Max Works
There are a timer for the traffic stage, a min time, a 'max' time and lots of other setting - one of which is the gap length.
A ped crosses the road, then the traffic stage starts. (Green to traffic)
This run for at least the min time.(Normally 7 secs)
Now if there is a low ped flow the traffic can run for say >180 seconds. Greater than the max time and has 'pre-timed out'). If you then press the button the traffic stage will end striaght away, and give you green man in about 5 seconds. Hence the term 'pre-timed' max.
If there is a high pedstrain flow the max timer has to expire before the pedestrain stage will run again. Max timers vary alots ~ ballpark 60 seconds. (Unless there is a gap in the traffic - then it will gap change to the pedestrian stage.
That being said - speak to your Council and your local Traffic Signal Engineer. Drop them a email, you pay there wages (taxes) they will bend over backwards to help you and may not know there is a problem until a (MOP) member of the public reports it.
Most/All of us prefer to here a complaint, than to have badly configured junction.
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:4, Informative)
The next week they completely disabled the sensors and put it in 'don't stop traffic make the buggers wait' mode*, where it's stayed. Nice to know where my council tax is being wasted...
* This mode refuses to change to let pedestrians cross *even if there isn't any traffic for miles*, meaning you cross anyway, then 5-6 minutes later hear the beeps in the distance as it decides to turn red whilst there's nobody actually wanting to cross.
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:5, Interesting)
Something like these [astucia.co.uk]?
The web site sucks ass but the products look pretty damn cool. They also make headlight-activated LED road studs - seen these on the motorway north of Brighton, you can turn your headlights off and drive in total darkness at 85mph, following the LEDs (till you run into the other idiot doing the same thing)...
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:4, Interesting)
In Winnipeg, there are "pedestrian corridors" which have lights that hang over the road and go off the instant the button is pressed. These are not for all intersections and, in fact, they are often not at intersections. They're also relatively uncommon -- places where there are schools, parks, etc. (my guess -- IANACP) The thing is, they pound this into everyone's head when they learn to drive. There are heavy penalties for crossing a lit corridor. They're not like stoplights in that they go off when there is no reason to (I've only ever seen one malfunctioning corridor, and a line of traffic slowing to a stop, looking like mad for the pedestrian, and then only gingerly accelerating through, no doubt covering the brake). And not every crosswalk is a corridor, so people don't get used to only stopping for lights and not still looking for people.
Contrast with Vancouver. New province, new rules. Whoops. That flashing green doesn't mean I can't turn left or right at will? These are "pedestrian controlled intersections". Just what you'd expect, and probably run the risk of the occasional light-runner, since there's no flashing red to tell you that it changed because someone is now crossing the road. Except that some lights will never change unless they are activated. As both a pedestrian in Vancouver (with curiosity), and a motorcycle rider all over, I can assure you that this is the case with many lights. I've annoyed many drives, waiting behind me at stoplights, because the light will not change. Many intersections are still like that for pedestrians (I'll sometimes shout at a pedestrian to push the button). But then Van also has veritable pedestrian paranoia. You can't take one step out on the pavement of a multi-lane street to wait for that one car to pass... because they'll stop. Suddenly you can't Frogger your way through that hold, and more cars stop. Then everybody's stopped, waiting for you to cross, and you were jaywalking in the first place. Mad, I tell you. Mad.
start spreading the news... (Score:5, Informative)
Now on the flip side of things, for those who live in the boroughs, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, SI, if you take a good old trip to city hall and the places where the money is flowing what do you find? Operating buttons, clean streets, subways with bathrooms, and spikes to keep those pigeons from pooping all over the place. The boroughs... What are you kidding?
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:5, Funny)
The dorm was shaped like a U that pointed at the intersection heightening the noise. Several times a day you would hear loud screeching as people locked up their brakes. Always just the screeching. About 3 weeks into the semester, there was another loud screech, this time followed by a loud CRASH. Simultaneously, 50 people stuck their heads out their windows and cheered. It was hilarious.
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:5, Informative)
That list is compiled based upon the dollar amount of State Farm insurance claims for those intersections. I imagine the fleet cabs and busses of NYC are largely self-insured by the operating companies and wouldn't show up as claims to State Farm or any other insurer.
State Farm offers monetary and consultative support to cities with intersections in their top 10 (and a lesser amount to those in their top 100 IIRC) to save themselves money.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
A perennial top 10 intersection is Highway 121 & Preston Road in Plano, TX. There are lots of expensive cars in that area; if everyone there drove 5-year old Hyundai's I doubt it would make the list. Either that or the nearby EDS campus is really a cover for an organized insurance fraud ring.
Re:Most Dangerous Intersections (Score:4, Interesting)
This doesn't surprise me one bit though. My small town (roughly 7,000) paid a great expense to have all the intersections redone with those big red buttons. No one uses them. If that weren't enough, we've got large mobs of unsupervised children on bicycles zipping in front of cars passing through green lights (and kids that stop their bikes in the middle of the lane -during periods of heavy traffic- on purpose). Maybe we should just do away with pedestrian right-of-way?
Just like my gf (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Just like my gf (Score:4, Funny)
If that doesn't work, RTFM. You did get a manual, right?
Re:Just like my gf (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Just like my gf (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Just like my gf (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Just like my gf (Score:4, Funny)
They're not doing it right! (Score:5, Funny)
Ellen Degeneres on elevators (Score:4, Funny)
Re:They're not doing it right! (Score:5, Funny)
Just like the Tube (Score:5, Informative)
Psychology at work... (Score:5, Interesting)
What I find odd are those who hit the 'summon elevator' button more than once - A lift algorithm isn't going to take into account the number of times you press, and I doubt the buttons are pressure-sensitive
Simon
Re:Psychology at work... (Score:5, Insightful)
As for using the open/close buttons or pressing more than once, I think that's a "I'm in a hurry" signal. I don't understand why it's important to communicate this, but if you pay attention people usually signal one way or another whether or not they are in a hurry.
Now as far as the crosswalk signs go, I thought they actually worked and were put there so pedestrians didn't have to wait for a car to trip the signal lights. Downtown areas seem to have these buttons less, which makes sense since there's more likely to be cross traffic or the lights are timed rather than triggered by demand. I'm surpised to hear there are dummy boxes out there.
Re:Psychology at work... (Score:4, Interesting)
and sometimes these even jump into a elevator going upstairs, if anything making their travel to the downstairs slower than if they would have just pressed the damn 'going down' button.
(this happens quite often in the building where I live that has double elevators, and a system where you can't "hijack" an elevator thats going up to go down.)
Re:Just like the Tube (Score:5, Funny)
Heh. (Score:5, Funny)
or... (Score:5, Funny)
What a suprise (Score:5, Funny)
Government is actually trying to save money (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Government is actually trying to save money (Score:5, Interesting)
Just like elevators... (Score:3, Interesting)
Kinda like the "brightness" button on the TV set. (To paraphrase the old joke).
Televatorkinesis (Score:5, Funny)
I know it, and I still do it sometimes. Perhaps it's because I just like pushing buttons... like this button right he NO CARRIER
I had my suspicions (Score:4, Informative)
Then again, the "walk" signals did not have much effect on the pedestrians in Manhattan either.
Re:I had my suspicions (Score:5, Interesting)
Now if only more junction designers could have a look at stuff like that, and see how convenient it is when things "just work"...
why did the chicken cross the road? (Score:5, Funny)
I think (Score:5, Interesting)
pedastrians obey Laws? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:pedastrians obey Laws? (Score:4, Interesting)
And this article (that the buttons do nothing) is extremely common knowledge. My parents told me when I was about six, and I got the sense their parents did the same for them.
Re:pedastrians obey Laws? (Score:5, Informative)
conversley, the easiest way to tell if someone in your city is actually from new york (or has spent a lot of time there) is to watch them jaywalk like nobody's buisiness.
In other news... (Score:5, Funny)
Erm.... and? (Score:5, Interesting)
Computer-controlled traffic lights work a lot better than the old-fashioned timed system. (well, unless the detector screws up, but that's rare) So allowing people to interrupt the sequence would do little good. At the same time, you don't want people standing on one of those 700 crosswalks which will never volunteer a "walk" sign for ages.
So, to make sure that the people use the button in the places they need to, it's easier to leave the buttons on all the intersections. Otherwise, people might not think to use the button when it's necessary, at least not without a lot of time and prompting.
Buttons (Score:5, Informative)
And the same reason people press the reload or submit button more than once... When things don't show any evidence that they're doing what they're supposed to do.
Some elevator buttons actually DO help. (Score:5, Informative)
And the same reason people press the reload or submit button more than once... When things don't show any evidence that they're doing what they're supposed to do.
Some elevator call buttons actually do help.
On many elevators (especially Otis), especially older ones, holding down a button in the car shortens or ends the delay before closing the door to move on to another floor. This was apparently done so that once people had entered the car and selected a floor the elevator wouldn't hang around uselessly.
Older elevators often saved on hardware by wiring the floor call buttons in parallel with the car buttons. So holding down a call button did speed up the car, by making it spend less time at other floors.
Newer, computer-driven, elevators don't usually do the door algorithm properly, even with respect to the buttons in the car. (Apparently the people who wrote some of the programs didn't research the older designs, but wrote it from scratch based on what they thought an elevator should do. Thus the elevators' algorithms are often less effective and more annoying than the older, relay-driven devices.)
Something like BART's railroad car designs. B-)
Placebo Buttons are useful (Score:4, Insightful)
Since you don't get any feedback, it doesn't really satisfy and I'm always left with the feeling that it didn't register the request at all.
Magic (Score:5, Funny)
http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/magic-story.html [catb.org]
Hmm... a better "Sex and the City" ending (Score:5, Funny)
Carrie: "Life... I started thinking about Paris, and how love AAHGHHHRGHH!!!"
-- taxi cab grinds Carrie into the asphalt, and the credits begin to roll ---
Yes, my girl friend made me watch that damn show for an entire year. The demise of that vile, high-priced sitcom has filled me with a joy not felt since childhood.
Re:Hmm... a better "Sex and the City" ending (Score:5, Funny)
I consider it one of the greatest missed opportunities of my life.
Control (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually, it's probably a moot point - I've never met a New Yorker who actually waits for the light.
Operative at some in Toronto (Score:5, Interesting)
Ha! Proven correct after all these years (Score:5, Funny)
"It doesn't do anything, these juntions are automated."
"That is exactly the kind of cynical attitude I'm absolutely fed up with. You have no faith in anything."
She stomped off across the road like an enraged frogger, dodging the still flowing traffic.
They aren't really necessary... (Score:4, Insightful)
A Story (Score:5, Funny)
Could be even worse (Score:5, Interesting)
I love old time mechanical crosswalk setups (Score:5, Funny)
Did you know it's an offence in the UK? (Score:4, Funny)
Around Here... (Score:4, Insightful)
Except for crosswalks (where there is no cross street), all the buttons do is turn on the walk signal when the light turns green. They don't change the timing any. Thanks a lot, public works, I could've figured it out myself.
To make matters more interesting, one of the crosswalks takes so long to change that whoever pressed the button has usually jaywalked by the time it changes.
make them do something (Score:4, Funny)
Straight dope on pedestrian buttons (Score:4, Informative)
On the subject of the second article, I live in downtown San Mateo myself, and am surprised that so many buttons are non-operative. But some that I use do indeed provide a longer time to cross. They also will give you the walk signal, while if you don't press the button, you don't get it. So many of these buttons in downtown San Mateo do actually do something. My guess is that most of the downtown ones don't do anything, but the ones along El Camino Real (one side of downtown) do actually work.
Cleveland, Ohio, and elevators (Score:5, Interesting)
On a related note, ever notice how the "door close" button in most elevators does absolutely nothing? The button in the elevator where I work actually does function properly, letting you send yourself on your way about 6 seconds more quickly than without. If you're standing right by the panel, but you don't push the button - which everyone in the building knows will get you there sooner - everyone else starts shifting around uncomfortably, waiting for you to hurry up and push it. (I've actually seen one professor push the door open in an effort to squeeze another 15ms or so out of it!) But in the next building over, you can pound on the button, hold it in, kick it, or whatever, and the door doesn't close any faster than usual.
What they really do (Score:5, Informative)
If no pedestrian is present at the cross walk and the button is not hit, that plan will not be used and as a result the timing of the lights during the next cycle will be somewhat different than if a pedestrian were present.
There does seem to be an informal sense among pedestrians that pressing the button should cause the ped signal to activate sooner, since they are there and requesting service, but that is not the case. The only thing pressing the button changes is whether that special ped phase cycle is used or not.
The real need for the buttons in the first place is that, while most contemporary vehicle detection schemes are based on the electromagnetic properties of automobiles, most normal pedestrians are not constructed of massive chunks of ferrous metals and so have little effect on these devices. A car announces its presence simply by being there, a human being must make a little extra effort to push a button.
What I get from the headline (I'll read the article after I've submitted my uninformed opinion) is that there may really be no need for those buttons in the first place. A place like New York is likely to have such massive pedestrian activity in the first place, that the buttons themselves are redundant, since nearly every signal cycle is likely to require an active pedestrian phase to serve that volume. Ped crossing buttons may be as useful in NYC as they would be on an interstate highway in the middle of Nevada, but for opposite reasons.
Don't Panic buttons (Score:5, Funny)
If you can't jaywalk like an Olympian, stay out of the street. Take a nice cab, and remember to tip at least 20% for the man who's saving your life with every lane change. Now go home where it's safe.
best roadway invention I've seen (Score:5, Interesting)
In India they're for the cars. No more edging through reds because you don't know when the frig it's gonna change and you wonder if you're hitting the sensor. No, right there in front of you, 15, 14, 13, 12. So also, you can get that thing out of your glove compartment, there's time. Or take a sip of that drink, bite of that sandwich. No surprises. Numbers in red for stops and in white or green for time till the next stop. You still get the yellow, so people don't race -- they have more time to gradually increase speed if they want to make it through.
In Quebec, it's for the pedestrians. Not nearly as useful IMHO. Cars can look crosswise to see how much time the pedestrians have left, but it's aimed at the pedestrians, to tell them how much time they've got. Doesn't stop people from wandering across with no time left, I've noticed.
The Indian version is the best thing I've seen. Cuts out all of the guesswork and most of the tension and cause for accidents at intersections. Genius. Of course, they're only at super busy intersections.
They also have the #2 best thing I've seen. Across the red lense of traffic lights at the busiest intersections is printed the capitals R E L A X. No foolin.
The best reason not to press those buttons.. (Score:4, Interesting)
Stray voltage [nydailynews.com]
Project Greenlight (Score:4, Interesting)
In Minneapolis, most newer signals don't have push buttons (which can be aggravating when there's little traffic), but they will always light up the "walk" sign. However, most older ones which have the push buttons will not light the "walk" sign unless the button was pushed. Usually, this isn't an issue, since people will just walk when the light is green, but certain problems come up.
Pedestrians wishing to cross at "T" intersections that are coming from the top of the T to one of the other corners can get stuck at a "don't walk" sign without being able to see if the traffic light is green or not. Also, there can be problems at intersections with left-turn arrows, since pedestrians get into the habit of going against "don't walk" signs when they see green. In this case they can end up walking right into the path of turning cars. Obviously, people paying attention will either wait or at least make sure no cars have their turn signals on, but I think even people accustomed to such intersections let their minds drift from time to time.
Of course, I think most road and building designers just make awful decisions regarding pedestrians most of the time anyway. I'm sure many college students have cursed their campus's architects since buildings often tend to lie right in the path you want to go. I suppose it's not a big deal in many cases, but some of these buildings are very large and can require quite an excursion to go around. Often, I suppose security is considered to be a big overriding issue, but sometimes things just get to be silly. At least one dorm at the University of Minnesota requires some students to walk about two city blocks inside to get from their rooms to the front doorall other doors are alarmed fire exits. I'm all for promoting exercise, but that's kind of ridiculous, in my opinion.
Bah, I'm wandering off-topic now...
Some intersections don't have those buttons... (Score:4, Funny)
An interesting story... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Umm... (Score:5, Funny)
I also belive that at the gas station, Regular, Plus and Premium Unleaded all go to the same tank underground.
Coke and Pepsi are all made at the same factory, with a little more sugar going into Pepsi.
I also think my dog is trying to control my brain, the way he looks at me I can just tell he wishes to destroy me...
Re:Umm... (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually, sir, according to a very reputable gas supplier that I know, many gas stations do NOT purchase higher octane fuel. It is far from a preposterous notion, in fact it is a reality at many, many gas stations.
Re:Umm... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Umm... (Score:4, Interesting)
I had noticed that often after having tanked at a specific station, I often felt the engine ran worse. So after a while, I mentioned it while paying for the gas, just in a half joking way. To my surprise the guy said that they did not have enough tanks in the ground for it but they were one of the (few) stations required to have the high octane. And since not may people buy it, it was bad economy to have another tank digged down(the stations was in the center of the city).
Of course I had seen all the pamphlets saying that I just should get my engine tuned in to run on lower octane, but I'd rather drive longer to get it filled up than have it adjusted and lose the horsepower.
Re:Umm... (Score:5, Funny)
Of course they work, just press it a few more times....
Re:Like Boston? (Score:5, Funny)
So basically, unless traffic stops for some reason, people will cross at a break in traffic or when there are enough people to significantly outnumber the cars, forcing them to slow down. Likewise, cars will begin to go once most people have crossed.
It's not so much a matter of regulation as it is that the drivers in Boston are really very good, and are willing to drive to the limits of their abilities.
Scares the shit out everyone else though.
Re:Elevator close door buttons (Score:5, Informative)
If you notice in elevators (at least in the U.S.) there is a keyslot where you can switch the elevator from Normal to Off or Fire mode. In Fire mode, the elevator doors don't open until you press the door-open button and they don't close until you press the door-close button.
So, the door close button doesn't normally work, but it's there for a reason.
Dumb chirping signals (Score:5, Funny)
A friend from Vermont came to visit last week. When he heard the signal chirping, he asked me what it was for. I expained that the signal chirps so that blind people will know when the signal changes. He said, "Wow, that's awfully odd. In Vermont, we don't let blind people drive!"