Washington DOT dots get the boot...
08-15-2006, 01:44 AM
#1
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Washington DOT dots get the boot...
Not the most up-to-date on King5's website since they just reported that the program is deemed a failure and they are shutting it down but I thought of those who went through the Nisqually mess this weekend!
I-5 anti-tailgating strategy backfires
08:45 AM PDT on Monday, August 14, 2006
Associated Press
The 2 Dots 2 Safety program is aimed at tailgating drivers.
LACEY, Wash. - An anti-tailgating strategy on Interstate 5 backfired in the form of unexpected traffic jams, state transportation officials have discovered.
Officials from the state Transportation Department and Washington State Patrol planned to meet Monday to reassess the $35,000 Two Dots To Safety pilot program on a two-mile stretch of the freeway north of this Thurston County town. Similar programs are in use in Maryland, Minnesota and Pennsylvania.
Road crews painted dots 80 feet apart and posted signs telling drivers to stay at least two dots -- 160 feet -- from the vehicle ahead, based on the traffic safety principle of being at least two seconds behind another vehicle when going 60 mph.
Long backups developed Saturday, the day after the program began, when drivers slowed down because of heavy traffic and continued to maintain the two-dot separation, although that much distance was not necessary at slower speeds, said Lisa Mordock, a Transportation Department spokeswoman.
Road crews covered the signs later Saturday pending reconsideration of the program, including the wording on the signs, Mordock said.
I-5 anti-tailgating strategy backfires
08:45 AM PDT on Monday, August 14, 2006
Associated Press
The 2 Dots 2 Safety program is aimed at tailgating drivers.
LACEY, Wash. - An anti-tailgating strategy on Interstate 5 backfired in the form of unexpected traffic jams, state transportation officials have discovered.
Officials from the state Transportation Department and Washington State Patrol planned to meet Monday to reassess the $35,000 Two Dots To Safety pilot program on a two-mile stretch of the freeway north of this Thurston County town. Similar programs are in use in Maryland, Minnesota and Pennsylvania.
Road crews painted dots 80 feet apart and posted signs telling drivers to stay at least two dots -- 160 feet -- from the vehicle ahead, based on the traffic safety principle of being at least two seconds behind another vehicle when going 60 mph.
Long backups developed Saturday, the day after the program began, when drivers slowed down because of heavy traffic and continued to maintain the two-dot separation, although that much distance was not necessary at slower speeds, said Lisa Mordock, a Transportation Department spokeswoman.
Road crews covered the signs later Saturday pending reconsideration of the program, including the wording on the signs, Mordock said.
08-15-2006, 04:53 AM
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160 feet apart? If they did that on I-5 in LA the traffic would be backed up from Tijuana to Sacramento. 
I once drove on business with a guy from Pitsburgh. He would actually stop at any sort of a yellow light. I kept thinking we would get rear ended. I know we would have in LA.
I once drove on business with a guy from Pitsburgh. He would actually stop at any sort of a yellow light. I kept thinking we would get rear ended. I know we would have in LA.
08-15-2006, 05:57 PM
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Apparently they said that people were confused and didn't understand that if one was going under the speed limit they didn't need to worry about the 2 dots but so many people thought that even when going 30 mph that they had to leave the distance.
08-15-2006, 08:28 PM
#10
Yeah, the fixed dots painted on the roadway really apply to only one speed.
What they were trying to do, of course, was to make it easier for people to apply the "two second rule" to follow at a safe distance. What would help more is to properly train people to understand how to determine and use a safe following distance.
The way I was taught was to every now and then check one's distance by watching the car ahead pass over something identifiable on the road - a pavement patch, a crack, a blemish, even a lane marker, then count out two seconds (one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two, one-thousand-three).
If your car reached that 'mark' before you started on 'one-thousand-three', you were too close.
(The company I worked for for 25 years had a THREE second rule if you were driving a company vehicle - following distance was 'OK' if you were a full three seconds behind the vehicle in front of you...)*
Oddly enough, after nearly 40 years of having that rule pounded in (along with seatbelt use, mirror checking, and speed limits), it is simply habit for me to allow adequate distance - and even to occasionally check myself with a count out.
Now if we could just get more than 5% of the drivers out there to drive sensibly...
Tomas
* The three second rule for the company vehicles was promulgated on the fact that many of the company's vehicles were trucks, sometimes heavily loaded. They needed a little more time to stop, so the rule was set with more space for ALL company vehicles.
T
What they were trying to do, of course, was to make it easier for people to apply the "two second rule" to follow at a safe distance. What would help more is to properly train people to understand how to determine and use a safe following distance.
The way I was taught was to every now and then check one's distance by watching the car ahead pass over something identifiable on the road - a pavement patch, a crack, a blemish, even a lane marker, then count out two seconds (one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two, one-thousand-three).
If your car reached that 'mark' before you started on 'one-thousand-three', you were too close.
(The company I worked for for 25 years had a THREE second rule if you were driving a company vehicle - following distance was 'OK' if you were a full three seconds behind the vehicle in front of you...)*
Oddly enough, after nearly 40 years of having that rule pounded in (along with seatbelt use, mirror checking, and speed limits), it is simply habit for me to allow adequate distance - and even to occasionally check myself with a count out.
Now if we could just get more than 5% of the drivers out there to drive sensibly...
Tomas
* The three second rule for the company vehicles was promulgated on the fact that many of the company's vehicles were trucks, sometimes heavily loaded. They needed a little more time to stop, so the rule was set with more space for ALL company vehicles.
T
08-15-2006, 09:01 PM
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thats how i interperted the 2 second rule...same as Tomas....
tho i'll admit i violate that rule if people are goin 40 in 60 (ie I-5 under convention center) for no reason... no 1 infront of them... no 1 tryin to merge over.. they just goin slow
tho i'll admit i violate that rule if people are goin 40 in 60 (ie I-5 under convention center) for no reason... no 1 infront of them... no 1 tryin to merge over.. they just goin slow
08-16-2006, 01:55 AM
#16
Sometimes having a few LAWs would help - an M-72 heat-seeking anti-tank would be about right... especially against the 90-100 MPH ricers threading through traffic... (LAW = Light Anti-armor Weapon)
(LAW = Light Anti-armor Weapon)
08-16-2006, 04:20 PM
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yea it sucked i was in that ____ saturday...the dots are annoying hwen driving because they distract the eyes. or maybe its just me. i hope they just get rid of them...
08-17-2006, 12:48 AM
#20
I agree, Baldwin, except for the 3 seconds to protect the box windshield...nothing will protect that... 
The only one I've lost 'on-the-road' was from an ONCOMING truck...and that one shattered both layers of glass. 
The only one I've lost 'on-the-road' was from an ONCOMING truck...and that one shattered both layers of glass.