One of two reasons, I imagine:
* Because it's simpler. An international "No Turn" sign incorporates two
simple concepts - "No" and "turn". It's becoming increasingly evident
that that is approaching the limit of the capacity of the average driver
to conceptualize. "No Turn On Red" (all words, no simple icons) adds a
third concept - "on Red" - to assemble to the other two. Start adding
"8AM-6PM", and "Mon-Fri", and a general public that is fast on its way
to making the movie "Idiocracy" a documentary is in way over its
collective head. As long as the average driver is busy closing a deal or
ordering burritos on her/his phone, or distracted thinking about who's
going to win on "Idol" tonight, that's not going to change. It's an
appeal to the lowest common denominator.
-- and/or --
* Because, as India suggests, it's "new". Those electronic signs really
do stand out, especially against all the other distractions (there's
that word again...) encountered by the driver. Alas, if this is the more
significant reason, it won't last. Before long, the signs will blend in,
and won't be any more meaningful to the driver's vision than the
marginally-clad woman on the nearby billboard or the poor fellow risking
his neck working on a pothole in the next lane.
On 2013/09/18 20:50, India Viola wrote:
Paul et al,
I'm asking this because I'm legitimately curious.
It would be interesting to pose this to a behavioral psychologist as well.
Why do you think that the "No Right Turn" LED sign at the Dunning
intersection is particularly effective? If it were commonplace would it be
ignored by our brains just like all the other repeated signs we see?
If not, why not? It does seem particularly visible, but I do wonder how
much of that is the effect of the novelty.
-india
WeAreAllMechanics.com
[email protected]
Stay connected- Follow WAAM on
Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/We.Are.All.Mechanics>
On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 7:25 PM, Paul T. O'Leary<[email protected]>wrote:
The electronic expression of the No Turn on Red implemented down the
street at the Harmony Bar intersection is one of the best things to come
out of that project. Before seeing this, stewing on how NTOR violations
have reached pandemic proportions and seeing some sobering close calls
related thereto, I had in my mind a proposal, that the law be changed so
that EVERY intersection that is NOT "NTOR" should have a sign indicating
right-on-red is allowed, and that unless otherwise indicated, it's
prohibited. The electronic sign trumps that idea. The State should make
this the standard for EVERY NTOR intersection. Even those based on
time-of-day could easily be programmed using an on-board clock.
On 2013/09/18 13:01, India Viola wrote:
Anyone else find this intersection problematic?
If so, I ask that you send your comments to the city via the link below.
https://www.cityofmadison.com/**reportAProblem/<https://www.cityofmadison.com/reportAProblem/>
Here's what I wrote:
Category: Traffic Enforcement Concern
Type of Violation: Stop Light Violation
Day of Violation: All
Time of Violation: All pm
Location: The intersection of Division St. at Atwood Avenue heading North
(Car driving on Division St. turing right onto Atwood Ave heading east).
Message: Right on red from Division St. onto Atwood. Signage indicates "no
right on red". The sign is placed too far back in the intersection to be
seen properly by cars that are stopped at a red light. A sign should be
placed across Atwood so that it is clearly visible by a car that has come
to a stop at the intersection. This creates an extremely dangerous
situation for cyclists and others crossing the Capital City Path. A friend
of mine was nearly struck by a car at this intersection last night.
--
Paul T. O'Leary
Chronic Nuisance
Madison, WI USA
______________________________**_________________
Bikies mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.danenet.org/**listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.**org<http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org>
--
Paul T. O'Leary
Chronic Nuisance
Madison, WI USA
_______________________________________________
Bikies mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
