Path: utzoo!mnetor!motto!ecijmm!jmm
From: jmm@ecijmm.UUCP
Newsgroups: ont.general
Subject: Re: Highway Driving Rules
Message-ID: <274@ecijmm.UUCP>
Date: 20 Apr 89 04:25:41 GMT
References: <8904061731.AA21685@ellesmere.csri.toronto.edu> <9111@watcgl.waterloo.edu> <1647@dciem.dciem.dnd.ca> <5822@watdcsu.waterloo.edu> <3098@looking.UUCP> <273@ecijmm.UUCP> <8904181609.AA02831@harbord.csri.toronto.edu>
Reply-To: jmm@ecijmm.UUCP (John Macdonald)
Distribution: ont
Organization: R. H. Lathwell Associates, Elegant Communications, Inc.
Lines: 40

In article <8904181609.AA02831@harbord.csri.toronto.edu> clarke@csri.toronto.edu (Jim Clarke) writes:
>
>...
>
>People in cars seem to view each other as irresponsible idiots more than they
>do in any other situation.  I've always thought that was because the means of
>communication between drivers were so few.  ...
>

It should not be so unexpected.  Traffic laws and traffic design in general
seem to be based upon an assumption of incompetence on the part of drivers.

For example, consider right of way.  A yield sign, a stop sign, and a red
traffic each indicate that a driver does not have right of way.  A competent
driver who does not have right of way would proceed at a rate that ensure
that he is able to stop until such time as he can determine that there is
no opposing traffic that has right of way over him.  At that time, he would
carry out his desired action at a reasonable speed.  Why then would a traffic
designer choose to use a stop sign instead of a yield sign?  If you assume
that drivers are competent, then a stop sign should be an indication of
non-obvious danger and a yield sign should be used in almost all cases.

Instead, we have the situation where yield signs are only used in merge-
but-you-do-not-have-right-of-way situations where it is safer to maintain
speed unless the opposing traffic is too heavy to allow a safe entry.
Traffic flow desginers assume that the average driver is not competent
to handle a yield sign safely.  In additiona, a red traffic light prohibits
any activity, no matter how obvious it is that there is no opposing traffic
to take precedence.  The coders of the traffic law assume that the average
driver is not competent to determine whether it is safe to proceed at any
time - even if the driver can see that there is no oncoming traffic for miles
in either direction.

I do not claim that either the law or the traffic designers are wrong in
their beliefs.  I presume that many of these choices have been made after
studies of the consequences of the alternatives.  I certainly agree that
a large number of drivers are incompetent - (-: in my judgement, of course;
I am certain I would be classed as incompetent by other drivers :-).
-- 
John Macdonald