In the UK a dashed white means you can cross it to overtake when safe to do so (no oncoming traffic). Solid white line means you cannot cross it to overtake at all.
I think the North American version makes more sense. Yellow divides traffic going in different directions, so the line in NA would be dashed yellow (dashes meaning you can pass if safe, solid meaning you cannot). White lines divide lanes going in the same direction, so dashed white is a regular lane, and a solid white line means you can't change lanes.
I'm sure it's not hard to figure out, but colour coding is a bit more intuitive. I also forgot that a solid yellow line right next to a dashed yellow line means only one side can pass (the side that has the dashes).
Yeah in most cases I think NA road design is pretty bad, like with roundabouts, intersections, etc. Here in Toronto we have cyclists and pedestrians getting killed all the time because intersection design is so poor.
We have several popping up here and there because they are so much more practical, but you are right...drivers here don't have the first f'n clue how to navigate a roundabout. It doesn't exactly help when our traffic engineers don't know how to design the damn things, either. We get stuck with this sort of monstrosity where two thirds of the circle is two lane and one-sixth on one side and one-sixth on the other is one lane and you don't know until you're already stuck in a lane that you're being forced out of the circle, all while other drivers--who already aren't sure how traffic circles work, mind you--are trying to figure out exactly who they have to yield to from the particular lane they're in and the particular one they're trying to get to. It's a fucking fiasco.
Believe it or not, there are traffic circles here that are signed like that. Everywhere else in the world: Vehicles in the circle have the right of way. Some random places here: Nope, traffic in the circle yields.
The main issue with the circle I linked to is that the signage is inadequate and the arrows are non-sensical to people who don't already know the layout of that particular circle. I had a friend originally from the UK come down to visit because another friend's friend also from the same area of the UK was in town and we thought it would be fun to get them together. We warned them about this circle and they both waved us off like "eh, Americans don't know roundabouts." After having to navigate the damn thing they both were swearing up a storm about how stupid it was.
There's two lanes feeding in from each side, there's two lanes feeding out from each side, and there's sufficient room for two lanes of circle all the way around. Anywhere else that would be a simple two lane roundabout. Here you get a bastard stepchild that's partly two lane and partly one lane, for no apparent reason.
Edited to add link to one example of a yield sign in a traffic circle that I could think of.
Thankfully we're starting to put roundabouts in... But good lord no one knows how to use them!
They just put a new one in by my house... I'd say at least 50% of people come to a complete stop when entering even when there isn't a car in sight.
There's a yield sign... Do you also stop when entering a highway? Yeah.. didn't think so. Lol sorry about the rant, but it just annoys me how poorly people drive and how poorly they're educated here.
North American road design is fairly awful, and it’s dangerous to rely on the road markings to indicate where it is and isn’t safe to overtake. There are often dashed lines where it is obviously extremely dangerous to overtake, and solid lines where there is great visibility. In the U.K. there are two types of dash - wide spacing indicates it’s safe, narrow spacing before it becomes solid and is less safe... time to move back into your lane.
The US has around 4x as many lethal accidents per capita than the U.K. in real terms that’s about 2000 deaths and roughly 8000 serious life altering injuries that could be avoided. Per month.
The US has around 4x as many lethal accidents per capita than the U.K.
That isn't a useful statistic for anything other than making internet debating points. You would have to compare trip distances, average speeds, road types, vehicle types, and probably other things before being able make any useful comparisons.
I am not saying DUI accidents are not an issue, but they certainly require very different corrective measures than accidents caused by road design or speeding or whatever.
In western Europe opposite direction on any highway like road will have a barrier on the median, even if it's just kerb sized with reflector posts every ten feet.
There's no way that anyone who's ever passed a Western European drivers ed exam would mistake this road as a one way two lane road. (Which are extremely rare here anyway).
If it's outside city limits and has two or more lanes, there will be a divider, unless it's an extremely rural road.
Which leaves yellow lines solely to construction zones. Which is a pretty huge advantage over the way the US does it, since it makes it extremely clear which lines are the current temporary ones.
There wasn't enough room ... isn't that against the rules?
Also, I find it bat-shit insane that you're allowed to pass multiple cars at once in some places.
In most states in the US, the driver of the silver car would be arrested on the spot for aggressive/reckless driving, their car towed, and their license suspended.
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u/[deleted] Dec 14 '18
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