So anyone else have any opinions on 40mm mounted turrets, early merge, self metering follow distance, late merge (zipper merge), ramp meter, merge lane meters, stop and yield signs, suicide lanes which is the most effective to reduce crashes.

IMO, wait times should be transferred to the cars seeking to merge. During low congestion, pacing and early merge with merge lane meters seems to be most effective. During heavy traffic and road closures late merge and ramp meters seem to do the trick when applied. What about new merge signs with a giant zipper on orange during construction? Harsher punishments for merging people that attempt to force their way unsafely into a line? more tickets for following too close?

I think to affect the most effective change we should have cameras at every ramp meter and merge lane meter and give tickets to people that don't obey the signal and those caught on their cell phone. Although I would like to see an autobahn with cars with mounted turrets like the old school arcade game. That's a death race gameshow I'd watch.

(March 3, 2019 at 8:04 pm)Jörmungandr Wrote:

Quote:"They drive too fast" is the cry of many citizens when discussing how people drive on Interstate 81. At times this refrain is directed to the trucking industry and at other times to drivers in general.Consequently, some people have suggested the speed limit should be lowered to 55miles per hour on I-81.

However, research shows that faster travel is not necessarily associated with an increased risk of being involved in a crash.

When vehicles travel at the same speed in the same direction – even high speeds, as on interstates – they are not passing one another and cannot collide as long as they maintain the same speed.

Conversely, when vehicles are traveling at different rates of speed, the frequency of crashes increases, especially crashes involving more than one vehicle. The key factor is speed variance.  The greater the speed variance, or the distribution of speeds, the greater the number of interactions among vehicles. Thus, passing maneuvers and opportunities for collision increase. Speed variance, not necessarily high speed, is associated with an increase in the frequency of crashes.

Interstate highways in Virginia such as I-81 generally are designed to accommodate traffic traveling 70 mph. This is called the design speed. Typically, people drive at or near the design speed because it is comfortable for them. When speed limits are set substantially below the design speed, research and experience show that most drivers will exceed the posted speed limit. In fact, before the rural interstate speed limit was raised to 65 mph in1988, the majority of vehicles were traveling faster than the posted 55 mph.

Research also shows that when the speed limit is below the design speed, there is an increase in speed variance, which is associated with a higher risk of crashes. Vehicles at either end of this speed distribution – the slowest drivers and the fastest drivers – are more likely to be involved in crashes.

Virginia DOT || Variance in Speed, Not the Speed Limit, Poses Greatest Risk on Interstate Roads

Regarding the last two paragraphs of that study: this indeed has been a bit of a nuisance for me. There are some road segments here I drive on that have a speed limit of, say, 60 kph but the segment itself feels like it should be a 70-80 kph instead.

(March 5, 2019 at 8:12 pm)Grandizer Wrote: Regarding the last two paragraphs of that study: this indeed has been a bit of a nuisance for me. There are some road segments here I drive on that have a speed limit of, say, 60 kph but the segment itself feels like it should be a 70-80 kph instead.

Roads are built with the assumption that some people will drive like idiots.