Why are Stop Lines (in the US, at least) often set too far back to see any crossing traffic?
Why are Stop Lines (in the US, at least) often set too far back to see any crossing traffic?
I've seen them called "Stop Lines", "Balk Line", etc. The thick line painted on the road at a Stop Sign.
You're supposed to stop before the line, but a lot of the time there's a bush or other obstruction so you can't see any crossing traffic. You have to creep forward until you can see anything.
Is there a reason for this? Is it done on purpose? It makes sense if there's a crosswalk or something, but I see it a lot where there shouldn't be any pedestrian activity.
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Because each state has different regulations for what’s acceptable for road design, and a lot of them are lousy.
My favorite trend is the “right turn on ramp” where you’re angled in such a way that you can’t turn your head far enough to see oncoming traffic, and you can’t see it in your rear view mirrors either. And if you are sideswiped or rear ended, you’re going to break your neck from straining to see if the coast is clear.
Around me in these situations there's usually a lane dedicated to the merging traffic. So like turning right onto a ramp to get on the interstate, you stay in your lane without risk of getting sideswiped, then once you're up to speed it merges with the interstate traffic. Is that not the case for you?
We have some of those, but that’s not what I’m referring to. We also have these right turn lanes that curve off at the intersection, but don’t have a parallel ramp to get up to speed. They just throw you into oncoming traffic. It’s dumb.
Damn, that's really stupid
Can you link to a satellite view or diagram of what you're talking about? The description sounds strange.
If you can’t turn your head far enough to see the blind spot not covered by your mirrors, you should not be driving.
I think he's explaining Florida merges where the oncoming ramp is about 35 degrees from the HWY, where turning up and back is too far and the rear view mirror will show you the ramp, not oncoming traffic until you're in a 100ft merge lane.
Oh you mean a vertical angle? Like you can’t see the traffic because it’s occluded by the ground between on-ramp and travel lane?
Yes, that's one issue. The other is a merging lane entering a HWY is not parallel to the HWY Making rear view mirrors look at the road behind and not at the HWY where one's merging
Okay so that second issue you just mentioned is the one I’m responding to. That angle where your mirrors don’t reach to is called a “blind spot”. It’s not just a problem in that one situation; it’s a problem any time you switch lanes.
The correct way to handle a blind spot is to turn your head and look into the blind spot. If you can’t turn your head to that angle, you should not be driving. Having a blind spot that you cannot check is not okay.
Your mirrors are set wrong then.
No there's literally no angle you can set your mirrors and still see. And if you find an angle you can see at that mirror will be useless 99% of the time you're driving