manshimajin Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 After my wife had stopped laughing about 'DOT and the Tesco roundabout' she asked me a question I could not answer (one of many). "Why is the DOT not focusing on painting more white lines on the sides of roads to make them safer at night rather than worrying about a roundabout that is doing noone any physical harm? " I suspect that she is not very impressed with their priorities when she drives back to the South from Douglas in the dark. Does anyone know why the DOT seem averse to painting these truly life saving lines on a road littered with solid, dark grey, nearly invisible in the dark, stone walls? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcCann Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 They used all of the white paint budget for the year painting round the oak tree on Braddan Bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triskelion Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Perhaps your wife (and others) should drive slower? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x-in-man Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 White lines on the edge of the road are a good idea. However - you miss one vital flaw in the plan. The roads have to an edge to them, to allow them to be painted. Most I drive along have a series of dips, stone in-filling, cracked edges - or indeed - none at all. The idea is useless over here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manshimajin Posted May 5, 2008 Author Share Posted May 5, 2008 Perhaps your wife (and others) should drive slower? I think it is the 'others' who need to drive slower - tailgaiting is a national sport. I enjoy slowing down when some wally does this to me but the wife gets a bit nervous with having an idiot driving a few metres from her brake lights. x-in-man - one hesitates to suggest that the DOT should also fix up the edge of the road to improve safety...maybe if they can't paint the lines they could use coloured 'cats' eyes' along the edge as is done in some countries. Road safety ought to be a higher priority than the Tesco roundabout See in another thread that some poor kid has been killed driving into a wall at night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Has your wife has had a recent eye test ? - dark adaptation times increase significantly with age (and other factors), maybe this is one cause. You could also get a smaller car - these tend to fit between any central line and the edge of the road somewhat better than many I've seen on Manx roads - if she needs to drive down narrow lanes at night then possibly buy her a lh drive car ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xbones Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Must admit, it's not my biggest problem with what's wrong with Manx roads, there's plenty I'd rather they spent money on than painting the edges of roads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manshimajin Posted May 5, 2008 Author Share Posted May 5, 2008 Has your wife has had a recent eye test ? - dark adaptation times increase significantly with age (and other factors), maybe this is one cause. You could also get a smaller car - these tend to fit between any central line and the edge of the road somewhat better than many I've seen on Manx roads - if she needs to drive down narrow lanes at night then possibly buy her a lh drive car ? Thanks for your post. I think her point was aimed at the priorities of the DOT as commented on elsewhere in ManxForums i.e. rather than worrying about details of rush hour traffic flow maybe their first priority could be to do some practical, relatively inexpensive, things that would make the roads safer. If dark-adaptation increases with age, then given the age profile of the Island maybe this is a further reason for doing something about road edge white lines. Your comment on LH drive is interesting. We actually have a LH drive car which, like you imply, is good for Manx lanes and for bends turning to the right!!!! It's not one of those large Panzerwagens either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DjDan Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Perhaps your wife (and others) should drive slower? I think it is the 'others' who need to drive slower - tailgaiting is a national sport. On reading that, I have to go a little off topic, bit of a rant really... I was driving along the Castletown Road this morning, on my way to Castletown. On driving in the 50 mile an hour area, at 50 miles an hour (being the max!!) I noticed a black BMW X5 cruise up behind me. I say cruise, cause' he was a long distance behind when I noticed him, and quickly enough, he was right behind me... which means he must have been driving over 60 miles an hour. That wasn't really what got me, but I did 'have an eye on him' from then on. Anyway, approaching the airport, you have the two lanes, the left lane turning into airport, the other continuing ahead at the roundabout. I was in the right lane, but ahead of me, noticed a car in the left lane with it's right indicator on. Clearly, the driver was driving in the wrong lane, and so I slowed a little and ensured he/she had enough space and time to pull over. He/she didn't, but continued ahead anyway at the roundabout. By this time, I had caught up just behind the driver, and expected the driver to continue on in the left lane (after the roundabout and pick up speed.. as we he/she was clearly at 30 mph). Anyway, at this point, the BMW behind me decided he was clearly too much in a hurry and decided to overtake. As he was pulling out from behind me, the car in front at the same time went into the right lane. Again, a clear mistake!! But one that as the driver behind, you have to watch, be alert and deal with. However - the BMW behind me overtook me in the right lane, and seeing the car ahead (in the right lane) drove up right behind it! and I mean RIGHT behind it!!! no space hardly at all.... purposely to seem threatening. The car in front didn't move, so the BMW drove even closer and was trying to force the other car off the lane.... and at this point was waving his hands at the car in front. The car did pull over, back into my lane.... and the BMW continued... ha, and got caught directly ahead behind another car (this time when the lanes had merged). The maneuver was incredibly dangerous and pointless. The BMW got no further ahead on his journey, but could easily have caused an accident. The driver of the other car made mistakes, but in any case, the reaction of the BMW was threatening and dangerous. If the other driver had panicked and braked or swerved, the BMW would have hit it, I tell you.... there was no space between the two cars!! I took a note in my head of the numberplate with the intention of reporting it, but forgot 5 mins later.... dang it! I still have a vague recollection, but not a definate image... so nothing to do about it now. That was excessive tailgaiting.... by a total jerk no doubt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
localyokel Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 That was excessive tailgaiting.... by a total jerk no doubt! You've already said he owns an X5, no further qualification is necessary. He has to be a jerk / dick / arsehole (delete as applicable) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amadeus Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 That was excessive tailgaiting.... by a total jerk no doubt! You've already said he owns an X5, no further qualification is necessary. He has to be a jerk / dick / arsehole (delete as applicable) and why would that be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snaipyr Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 That was excessive tailgaiting.... by a total jerk no doubt! You've already said he owns an X5, no further qualification is necessary. He has to be a jerk / dick / arsehole (delete as applicable) and why would that be? Because it was man? Seriously though, anyone know if there has ever been any serious research about size of car in relation to dick size - or is it just heresay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Seriously though, anyone know if there has ever been any serious research about size of car in relation to dick size - or is it just heresay? well I own a Smart - thus so far your hypothesis looks dodgy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladys Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Why dodgy? Unless it should be 'Francis'? I don't think it is so much the size of the car, but its BHP - there are X number of BHPs to each inch you wish you had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amadeus Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 On topic: Tbh, one of the first things I noticed when first driving around the island was how dark the roads appear at night. Always wondered why that was, until I realised that in ze heimatland every road outside towns has these on both sides: Reflective posts, similar to the ones on sections on the mountain road - just that we have them on virtually all country lanes / bigger roads outside towns - one every 50 to 150 meters, depending on the kind of road you're on. Makes a huge difference at night. BMW even developed and tested an interactive version that was connected to traffic control - they would have a little green light on them if all was clear, yellow if there was a potential hazard (fog, wet road, etc..) and red if there was an incident ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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