tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post3420369968582549900..comments2024-03-28T18:25:51.357+00:00Comments on The Ranty Highwayman: Map Signs Are UsefulThe Ranty Highwaymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17361350433158148025noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-46698500190288168222016-09-26T01:20:56.308+01:002016-09-26T01:20:56.308+01:00Sustainable Safety helps with this. Predictability...Sustainable Safety helps with this. Predictability is the key aspect. You can predict what you are going to be driving or cycling on or whatever other information often from just looking at the road itself. <br /><br />For example at a roundabout, they are usually single lane roundabouts to begin with and I support David Hembrow and Mark Treasure's decision, cyclists shouldn't have priority over cars there, so it's very easy to understand. Multi lane roundabouts have raised ridges to prevent lane changes and it's easy to understand. At most standard junctions where one or more arms have a give way sign facing them, usually on the main road there will be a thru and right turn (left in the UK) lane and a left turn (UK right) lane, and on the side road, usually a single lane with a median divider if possible, especially in the countryside. <br /><br />Traffic signs are also much less wordy, and especially if they impose a speed limit, it's understandable what kind of road you're on. Motorways have at least two lanes per direction, a raised barrier in the middle, a hard shoulder and solid edge lines. The rural distributor roads have a broken white edge line and a centre line or a median, rural countryside roads have just a broken edge line. Urban distributors are like the rural ones in physical appearance although there is a transition between urban and countryside, same for access roads. Access roads in the urban area means usually brick paving and parking on street. Bus stops are often in specific bays, parking too. It's much simpler than a British street. <br /><br />Traffic lights have specific signals for each user and often divide the turn phases, at least the left turn (right in the UK), from the other modes, often pedestrians and cyclists too from conflicting traffic. They look like the direction and mode that they are governing, arrow shapes for turning traffic and cycling aspects for cycle signals. <br /><br />By making roads smaller too, it's easier to understand. They like to keep roads as narrow as possible. It's not that often that they will have 2 lanes per direction on roads other than exressways (autowegen) or motorways, although increasingly there are some in Noord and Zuid Holland, but even this is mostly restricted to countryside 80 km/h roads. <br /><br />It`s much simpler to understand how the Dutch will organize their roads than it is to decipher the meaning of a speed limit sign in the UK. Oh, and they use the metric system, as such, they have earned an award for having joined the 18th century, the UK has to do that before it can get the award for joining the 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. Multiparty Democracy Todayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13359081992141220593noreply@blogger.com