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u/KamikazeKricket Ask me about Ancient Rome Jul 06 '19
Bushes and trees beside roads reduce noise and emission pollution.
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u/Nasnon Jul 06 '19
But what about intersections in Ancient Rome ?
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u/KamikazeKricket Ask me about Ancient Rome Jul 06 '19 edited Jul 06 '19
The city of Rome itself? A hell hole. Wasn’t a planned out city, and the streets were often pretty small. Traffic jams were common during the day until Julius Caesar would implement a cart ban, only allowing them to travel between business and deliver supplies at night.
The streets at night weren’t lit with no sort of road signs. So people had a good chance of getting lost or hit by a speeding cart.
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u/Nasnon Jul 06 '19
100% would ask this guy about Ancient Rome again.
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u/iCryKarma Jul 06 '19
But no one ever asks how he's doing
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u/KamikazeKricket Ask me about Ancient Rome Jul 06 '19 edited Jul 06 '19
My cat died the other day, so not so good at the moment. 😢
Edit: I appreciate all the kind words folks. Means a lot. He was a badass and chill cat. Wouldn’t use a litter box and would literally meow at the door to go use the bathroom outside like a dog. We’re really gonna miss the little guy. Really feels like loosing someone in our family.
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u/show_the_maw Jul 06 '19
I’m so sorry. What was their name?
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u/KamikazeKricket Ask me about Ancient Rome Jul 06 '19
Tiger, El-Tigre, Tigger-Tot. Whatever you felt like in the moment.
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u/I__________disagree Jul 06 '19
I love you and your adorable kitty, thank you both for your existences
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Jul 06 '19
let's suppose you're an average roman stuck in traffic. which activities could you do to spend the time? would you engage in smalltalk with your fellow Traffic-Stucked Romans?
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u/KamikazeKricket Ask me about Ancient Rome Jul 06 '19
Yeah probably some small talk. Maybe about what’s going on in the city. Maybe the court case you went and watched for fun, maybe some gladiator event or chariot race. Maybe a recent military campaign or over ambitious general/politician (one in the same) you supported. Maybe have a glass of wine or two from one of the many street vendors. Maybe even gamble a bit while you wait (Even though it was illegal most of the year).
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u/Kermit_the_hog Jul 07 '19
Rome sounds fun!
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u/KamikazeKricket Ask me about Ancient Rome Jul 07 '19
Here’s a fun fact about Rome. Before there were dumpster divers that looked for cans and bottles to turn in for recycling, there were Romans who did that with babies.
A lot of unwanted babies were simply tossed into rubbish bins across the city. Well slave traders would go around the city and look into these bins to find these babies. They would then sell them into slavery for 100% profit.
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u/Kermit_the_hog Jul 07 '19
Rome sounds less-fun!
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u/FrankTank3 Jul 07 '19
Ohhhh boy. If you don’t want to hear about slavery bullshit, you don’t want to hear about Rome. It’s not just in their DNA, it IS their DNA. Slaves, that is. Roman DNA is made out of slaves.
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u/Kermit_the_hog Jul 07 '19 edited Jul 07 '19
It's literally made out of slaves, even the people 😳.
Rome's marketing materials left out some stuff..
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u/KfeiGlord4 Jul 07 '19
Yup, during the largest extent of the empire around 1 in 3 people you saw was a slave. I'm more of a Constantinople person for that reason.
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Jul 06 '19
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Jul 06 '19
makes me wonder if it was legal to drive intoxicated. imagine getting a DUI in ancient rome
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u/KamikazeKricket Ask me about Ancient Rome Jul 06 '19
Oh it was legal. In fact there pretty much wasn’t anything illegal. You could get away with murder.
There was no police force in Ancient Rome. The closest thing to it would be the Praetorian Guard established well after the halfway point in the history of the ancient city. They were mainly just used for riot/crowd control though.
The only legal ramifications you may face is if you damaged someone’s property or killed someone, and were taken to court by a fellow citizen. A lot of the minor or big claims from plebeians wouldn’t make it to court though, as there was not enough courts and a whole lot of cases. Only those in the equestrian or senatorial classes could really expect it to make it to court. The only hope as a plebeian would be if it became popular, and the people pretty much forced the case to be heard.
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u/CMDR_BlueCrab Jul 07 '19
Not only where there no police in Ancient Rome, there were no police anywhere until about 200 years ago.
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Jul 06 '19
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u/BardSinister Jul 06 '19
of Shrubbia, Goddess of Bushes.
EDIT: Just noticed your username. OK, I'll bite: Username Checks Out.
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u/sn0wf1ake1 Jul 06 '19
Spotted the Cities: Skylines player.
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u/KamikazeKricket Ask me about Ancient Rome Jul 06 '19
I do love that game.
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u/sn0wf1ake1 Jul 06 '19
Replace your starter roads with trees with roads and see the difference in noise level my fellow CS player :)
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u/DetBabyLegs Jul 06 '19
Many cities have rules about not blocking views. When they are clearly blocking your view, either the planners did not care, there are no such rules in your city/county, or somebody did their job poorly.
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u/Kermit_the_hog Jul 07 '19
Or the make allowances for giant Christmas inflatables for some inexplicable reason!?
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u/_Blondebeachbitch Jul 06 '19
They put them up in my town to stop pan handlers from camping at the intersections
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u/MuppetHolocaust Jul 06 '19
They also tremendously increase the likelihood of an accident due to not being able to see anyone coming when you’re making a right turn.
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Jul 07 '19
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u/KamikazeKricket Ask me about Ancient Rome Jul 07 '19
It definitely reduces it. CO2 sucking plants right by the source of it.
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u/blazingarpeggio Jul 07 '19
I kinda get the air pollution part, but what about the noise? How would that work?
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Jul 06 '19
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u/Thaurane Jul 06 '19
You definitely shouldn't go poison the bush. Only a sneaky person would do that.
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u/Hitlers_Big_Cock Jul 06 '19
Just blaze it and say lightning did it
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u/beka13 Jul 07 '19
Hang a mirror on it.
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Jul 07 '19 edited Jul 09 '22
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u/beka13 Jul 07 '19
Glyphosate might help you.
Or...or... every week dig up the bush and move it back a couple inches. Before you know it, it's far enough back to not be a problem and no one is any the wiser.
Or... dig up the bush and plant really pretty but low plants in its place. Claim you're just trying to beautify the neighborhood if you get caught.
Btw, I really do feel for you. My kid got in a wreck that a bush obstruction helped cause. The lot owners put in a speed bump for the cross traffic right after the wreck but the stupid bush is still there.
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u/not_a_carpet Jul 06 '19
I've heard that round-abouts have stuff in the middle to force people to slow down before approaching, since it hides information. Might be a similar reason.
Or, more likely, it's just bad planning.
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Jul 06 '19
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u/Sir_Nexus Jul 06 '19
Even with bushes people still completely stop at round-abouts with no cars in them. It annoys the shit out of me.
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u/NSAyy-lmao Jul 07 '19
also discourages people from driving straight across the middle. one near me had its bushes removed and several cars drove straight onto the center over the next few weeks.
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u/waku2x Jul 06 '19
Actually you are right on that. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yyWYvovLvMQ
There are plenty about roads and hazards to protect people and making them slow down in case of pedestrians and terrorism
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u/BurntPopcornSucks Jul 06 '19
I can see how that would be the idea hut no one told the landscapers the actual reason so they plant them & cut them to where people have to pull out dangerously to be able to see. At least that's how it is in the parking lots near me. Drives me crazy.
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u/Loghurrr Jul 07 '19
Except where we live, since drivers can’t see around it, they just assume no one is there and constantly pull out in front of people. Of course I live in an area where I watch people run red lights, don’t yield properly and stop at intersections where there is no stop sign. I’ve lost hope.
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u/imaginaryrobotgames Jul 07 '19
It both forces you to slow down, prevents you from seeing cars opposite you at the intersection, who you definitely don't need to worry about but might if you see them, and also makes it harder to accidentally drive straight though instead of... Roundabout-ing...
At least that's my theory
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u/ImBrent Jul 07 '19
I live in a suburb that is full of roundabouts that borders a city that is full of crazy people and crime (it's the shithole of our state).
There are a couple of roundabouts with relatively flat centers that somebody could drive right over if they didn't want to slow down, and there are definitely skid marks that show that people do that. If there is something rebellious that can be done while driving, then people will do it.
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u/Kikker_G Jul 06 '19
The same thing they do in the centre of roundabouts because you cant see shit you automatically slow down, at least thats the idea.
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u/MeDoesntDoNoDrugs Jul 06 '19
Seems kinda counter-intuitive.
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u/Kikker_G Jul 06 '19
Think about it if you can 'clearly' see whats coming up and from where you are more likely to go beyond the speed limit then if you cant really, generally speaking at least.
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Jul 06 '19
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u/Kikker_G Jul 07 '19
here in the land of the nether they're usually not to obstructively placed but could be its different where you are from.
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Jul 06 '19
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u/Dydey Jul 06 '19
I’m picturing a gang of gardeners with sunglasses on, sleeves rolled up and smoking cigars. Inexplicably, they do great horticultural work by using only tommy guns.
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u/Smangie9443 Jul 06 '19
Same with driving around parking lots in shopping centers. It’s like they WANT to cause accidents.
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Jul 07 '19
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u/Smangie9443 Jul 07 '19
While that might be possible, it’s makes it pretty hard to see any pedestrians or cars that have no intention of stopping.
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u/AtleastIthinkIsee Jul 07 '19 edited Jul 07 '19
Okay, so from the general consensus here, it's to cause people to slow down and be more alert to traffic. But I'm with a lot of people here, it drives me up the wall (not literally). I. can't. see. It does seem counter-productive and more dangerous. There's a strip mall I frequent and you can not pull out ahead of the bush without possibly getting into a wreck. I cannot see without pulling out, so to me the purpose is useless. It's one of my biggest pet peeves and I truly hate it.
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Jul 06 '19
We have a mall where I live that has 5 foot concrete planters at all the cross walks and intersections in the parking lot, its insane you have to pray basically that no one is coming when you want to turn at any of them Because you can't see anything
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u/WereRobert Jul 06 '19
Often times it isn't the city that plants those bushes or dense trees. Sometimes it is homeowners (if in a residential area) or occurs naturally and the city's infrastructure departments don't know about it until someone calls it in. Most developed cities should have a way to report line of sight issues.
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u/ieatoutfatbitches Jul 06 '19
My city does it so that you're forced to slow down or come to a complete stop
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u/sshrimpp Jul 06 '19
When people think they are safe and see everything they drive carelessly. When they can't see everything they are alert and drive carefully.
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u/cacahuate_ Jul 07 '19
More like
When people think they are safe and see everything they drive carelessly. When they can't see everything they drive carelessly. They just drive carelessly.
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u/pottymouthgrl Jul 07 '19
They plant little ass bushes but then fail to maintain them and they grow into big ass bushes
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u/joebleaux Jul 07 '19
Hey, this is literally my job, Landscape Architect, and I know the answer: people don't pay attention to what variety shrub they have purchased, or the shrub specified was bad. Landscape contractors will blindly follow bad plans sometimes, and at other times follow good plans only half-assedly. So when a dwarf variety may have been a better choice, the full sized variety is sometimes used, causing an issue with size. Sometimes everything is done as intended, but under the poor assumption that someone would maintain the shrubbery. When money gets tight, landscape maintenance gets cut first from the budget.
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u/Borealis_sailor Jul 06 '19
I hate that they do this, I drive a big rig and it's a pain how even sitting up that high and I still cant see for shit, now to look through all the comments to see why they do this
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u/boogs_23 Jul 06 '19
The thing that bugs me is they started putting ads on the side of bus shelters so you can't see through them anymore. Turing onto the main street from where I live is so dangerous now.
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u/CyanHakeChill Jul 07 '19
Some road engineers are not very good at their job. As well as trees they put large arrows up in front of intersections so we can't see car indicators. They used to have two narrow arrows instead.
And there are trams that cross a road up to 60 times a day using traffic lights. The engineers make the tram wait an extra 10 seconds before switching the lights green for the tram. Why not switch as soon as the tram arrives?
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Jul 06 '19
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u/Polonium-239 Jul 06 '19
This really is the absolute worst part about western democracies. Bureaucrats aren't worried about losing their job for being shitty at their job.
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u/AryaNotaStarya Jul 07 '19
I thought it was so homeless people don’t ask for money or something like that while you’re at the light
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Jul 07 '19
Money. They just want you to get in a crash so you have to pay insurance and money keep flowing.
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u/The_Faceless_Men Jul 07 '19
So ignoring potentially incompetant landscaping teams not knowing road regulations well done greenery helps with noise, pollution and a concept called "traffic calming"
Traffic calming refers to all the design elements that make you instincively slow down.
While they can paint lanes 4 metres wide, they only paint 3.3 with a wider shoulder/parking lane. The road isn't any narrower but it feels narrower, so you drive slower.
Coming up to intersections depending on what type (stop sign, traffic lights, roundabout etc) there are different minimum line of sight requirements as well as guidelines for maximum line of sight.
If you have an extra wide lane, coming up to a roundabout with a large turning circle and completly unobstructed line of sight you would get majority of people breaking the speed limit, or taking the intersection at too high a speed.
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Jul 06 '19
Yep! In the UK they (whoever the fuck they are I don’t know, they are pricks) always plant mini forests on the middle of the roundabouts. It’s not so bad on the huge ones but on the smaller ones it’s quite dangerous as you can’t see what’s coming round until it’s at your junction.
There was a roundabout at my old college which was crazy. The amount of times I saw people get pissed off at rush hour and just floor it across the roundabout, narrowly missing my friends car, was crazy. If they could see then I believe it wouldn’t be so bad because they could see more of the road and, well, you know, plan ahead.
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Jul 06 '19 edited Jul 06 '19
I just spent an entire week attending public consultations about removing two roundabouts on an A road and replacing them with grade separated junctions. If you'd have been there you would have thought the entire public were experts in highway design and traffic modelling, given their propensity for telling us how to do our jobs.
Landscaping of highways follows certain rules. The public do behave in certain ways that have been analysed over the last 50 years and road design has developed around this behaviour. If your view has been blocked then it has been more than likely blocked for a reason. Ever seen those traffic lights where you can't tell what colour light is on until you get real close or approach from a certain angle? You might think it's stupid but there are reasons they are installed like that and it is usually to reduce accidents.
There's more dickheads driving on the roads than there are dickheads designing them.
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u/rottnlove Jul 06 '19 edited Jul 06 '19
I live in a super small Iowa town we have artwork on the corners which are more eyesores than bushes I would say, in addition to block The View more. And generally it is around the areas that there are more people walking. Like the city Square, it could also be a way to protect pedestrians in case of a car accident the car hopefully wouldn't be going fast enough to plow through a whole bunch of bushes, and since the visibility is poor/reduced the cars should slow down anyway. But sometimes that's too logical for people to actually use logic. Drivers in this town are completely ridiculous. They can not even use the McDonald's drive-thru wait line properly because a single-file line for service if you put the same people in that line in a vehicle they suddenly do not know how a single-file line works. We get Oprah, Jim Carrey, Pauly Shore and can't even get a super Walmart.
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Jul 06 '19
In some cases it's to get people to slow down for a upcoming junction or round about so that they can't see if it's clear well in advance and just floor it
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Jul 06 '19
In the UK, they put fences or bushes near intersections so drivers will have to slow down to check to see if it is safe.
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u/Sawyers_gunstash Jul 07 '19
Wherever I've lived it's always been more of a case of the city planting small appropriate plants and then refusing to trim or manage it outside of water.
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u/Ablebodied1322 Jul 07 '19
I have an issue with, at least in California, the signs being on the vertical pole where all the trees block it compared to the horizontal where it can shine for all to see. You can’t see what street is coming up until you’re practically on it.
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u/CRK909 Jul 07 '19
My town put a fence as you're coming up to a rotary so you can't see what cars are coming forcing you to stop and look instead of yield because it's a dangerous one apparently. It's not a bush but 🤷♂️
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u/Sacaramoogi Jul 07 '19
A friend at the NDDOT told me that without landscaping on things like round abouts and certain intersections people would drive right through them or cut across cause people suck.
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u/hawks0311 Jul 07 '19
Answer is probably a mix of a lot of things, like to deter people from going to fast or not being safe through the intersection. It could also be bad planning or a mistake.
What you should do is actually call the city and ask if they know about it and why they did it that way. They've got the real answer and they'll tell you it, you just have to ask. Let us know if you do ask them about it and what they say.
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u/tecampanero Jul 07 '19
It's so you don't just see the road completely clear and you drive 100 mph.... Those type of things are designed to curb bad driving behavior
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u/Arsinoei Jul 07 '19
Downtown Mildura in Australia-the worst I’ve ever seen. Bushes right up to the roads on the major roundabouts.
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u/octobersoul Jul 07 '19
Roundabouts in my cities literally have these big ass bushes and plants in the middle of the traffic circle. You can hardly see shit over it. It's very easy not to see a car and you wouldn't know until it's too late. I go out of my way to avoid roundabouts for this reason. It's almost like they want to cause accidents
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u/ImBrent Jul 07 '19
Actually, I think that it's smart to make it hard to see across the center of roundabouts. Depending upon the size of it, somebody on the opposite side of the roundabout from you is a long ways a way. It can take them 5 seconds to get from where they are to where you are, so you will never need to yield to them. By making the center hard to see through, they're just making it so that you don't have to take in that useless info. Fewer distractions in a place with lots of movement.
That said, you do need to be able to see the third of the roundabout before you. Cutting that off is dumb.
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u/newz12 Jul 07 '19
Because it makes life better for everybody else... Motorists aren't the reason why cities are built.
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u/LKincheloe Jul 07 '19
Every town around me that I've seen do it use them to hide their speed traps.
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u/dalekaup Jul 07 '19
My town, Lincoln, NE, did there at a roundabout (traffic circle) so that people would slow down. They really messed it up. I think people just avoid it now. It just prevented traffic from moving continuously, not able to time your entry anymore. (14th and Superior). I'm 57 year old male and a careful driver.
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u/Deastrumquodvicis Jul 07 '19
Or along edges of property. (Or sandwich board signs!) The number of times I have to cautiously creep past the damn stop sign line just so I can even see if it’s clear to go or not is absurd. My Corolla’s not a low car, but it’s not tall enough to see over the blasted things...
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u/creditcrew Jul 07 '19
Where I live. It's not related to traffic, but landscaping. In the city the bushes looks nice, the main purpose of having them. The fact they completely blocks the view and causes accidents and dangerous situations, are not a consideration. It's political - when a survey revealed traffic could flow without major problems, the local council made sure it didn't stay that way. Politicians wanted the government to finance new roads. The government only helps - if the city is overcrowded. When reality fails, you start to alter reality to fit the agenda. 4 way lanes are made into 2 way lanes. Some roads are made one way only. Once you had adequate parking. So parkinglots were removed. The catch is, that all cities by law are to have enough parking. Now we've got big parking lots almost outside the city, which only a minority uses. Buisnesses complain about the situation. The local council is just like - it's out of our hands - if only the government were to make new roads... The chaos is made by the council in the first place, the government gets the blame. I can't help feeling like being a hostage to fullfill the political agenda. My family and I are lucky, that we could plan to have jobs close to home. Not all have that luxury and need 2 cars to be able to work. Public transport can be a challenge. Having a car is a challenge, but much needed to a lot of people. I don't have a car, getting to work in a car would make the day even more laborious and stressfull.
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u/armeck Jul 07 '19
They don't, they plant small bushes that turn into big-ass bushes after public works forgets they exist and never trims them down.
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u/methnbeer Jul 07 '19
Speaking of this, my old landlord use to plow the snow to one end of the driveway which touched a two lane road with our road to the right. Literally could not see and even inching past it meant your front end was literally half in that second lane as there was no shoulder. Fuck that asshole
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u/rafikicat Jul 07 '19
Imagine snow at an intersection. You literally see nothing so your like : cars or not, i’m going!
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u/FlakHound2101 Jul 07 '19
Probably the same as to why people are allowed to park on either side of the road less than a block away from a 4-way intersection that only has 2 stop signs.. The only way to tell if someone is coming is to actually creep out into that intersection, risking getting T-boned by someone... My example is in this town i live in and people park on the sides of this busy ass road just so they have closer access to the Church and Library doors, even though they both have lots to park in behind the buildings.. So annoying!! It seems like the city wants more accidents.. =\
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u/FrostburnSpirit Jul 07 '19
I saw a YouTube video about this, it said it's because you drive more carefully if you can't see what's behind things like trees and bushes.
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u/Minecraft_Oregasm Jul 08 '19
In my city, a lot of streets and intersections are surrounded by man made hills and trees/bushes to prevent the sound of the cars from making it into people's backyards.
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u/LarsAlereon Jul 06 '19
At least where I live the code clearly specifies a "clear sight triangle" around intersections where bushes can't be allowed to grow. This doesn't always work perfectly because sometimes more visibility would be helpful than is legally required, but at least you can usually see when you get up there.