It just seems to be disproportionate to the activity sometimes... I'm all for keeping people safe, but 100 of meters of cones, barriers trucks with flashing arrows, people with STOP/ GO /SLOW signs, I even saw traffic directors with illuminated fluro green light sabers last night...... self perpetuating industry...
I can fully understand the protection overload. Having work as a 'flagman' on roadworks for 6 months and getting tired of idiots trying to hit me, I snapped, had enough, one bogan had been trying to see how close he could get to me and as f**khead came at me again suddenly his vision was interupted by shattered windscreen.
Foreman luckily saw the whole thing but I hurridly said my byebyes to the team and dissapeared.
I now create stink around roadworks cause I really do sit on 25k get horns and couple of times gentle touch ups the rear but I dont friggin care.
Unfortunately there are some drivers who believe their skill level is such that they are able
1. Drive faster than the posted speed limit safely
2. Don't need to use indicators when changing lanes or passing cars
3. Don't need to indicate on round-abouts
4. Tail gate the car in front because their reaction time when breaking is required is some much better than the average driver
5. Are able to dirive above the posted speed limits when going through road works because those speed sign are meant for inexperienced drivers.
6. Mobile phone rules don't apply to someone of their driving skill level.
These are the pricks responsible for your 100m of cones. Don't winge about the guys at the road works. Have a good look at yourself and see how you measure up. Maybe it is you who is the problem.
It's gone way too far, there are cones and other dangerous objects placed on the road when the works are not even on the same street or any street. I've seen cones out for work done off the road in the bushland nowhere to be seen from the road. No to mention they are placed across the cycle lane forcing the cyclist out onto the roadway and now blocking the cars behind as they can't get past.
My beef is the signs that are left after all work is finished, I've no objection at all to slowing down when work is going on, but doing 50km/hr (in an otherwise 110km/hr zone,) for 10km when there isn't anything happening at all is a tad frustrating. Also very dangerous because it breeds contempt for the signs, (the boy who cried wolf syndrome). For years I drove to and fro Denmark on weekend nights. The Albany highway usually has roadworks somewhere along the way, so for years I went through the "roadworks ahead slow to 50" signs with nothing going on. Eventually I just slowed down a bit and kept my eyes open, good job to because once I came over a hill and the buggers were working late, I had to apply brakes rather heavily.
It's gone way too far, there are cones and other dangerous objects placed on the road when the works are not even on the same street or any street. I've seen cones out for work done off the road in the bushland nowhere to be seen from the road. No to mention they are placed across the cycle lane forcing the cyclist out onto the roadway and now blocking the cars behind as they can't get past.
You have to wonder if these people have actually studied road safety, and what the results of their actions create?
I agree.
If there is 60 zone on a freeway, with cones everywhere for MONTHS on end but no work being undertaken, of course people get slack and disregard it.
The crews really do themselves a bit of a dis-service at times. Boy who cried wolf kinda deal. And often the signs are just wrong / contradictory.
There is one bit of Perth freeway for many months now where the works are 30m away and a concrete wall separates the work from the traffic. The concrete wall that was always there, so nothing has changed. It is 80 (down from 100) 24/7 and nobody slows anymore. It would be amazing if you saw a worker there (I never have)
Bloody stupid.
But I can see the converse like Tonz point of view. If you had almost been cleaned up so many times you would get sick of it.
Maybe the safety mob needs to do a national standard matrix to assess what works need what restrictions - cos it is clear you don't need some of the ones we see. Less restrictions - and then more enforcement of the ones they do have
EDIT - Decrepit - jinx
totally agree with the objection to the laziness of leaving roadwork signs out, after the work has been completed - i reckon this is what lead to drivers ignoring roadworks signs from the beginning
state to state - i'd never experienced unnecessary signage in victoria, but in se-queensland it seemed to be everywhere around the year 2000 - 2010, i think they've finally woken up to it being a problem and it's not happening as often now. it seems there is also a higher police presence on the road now than what there used to be on the GC and Bris
My cycling club paid for me to do a 2 day course so I could set out the signs for a big bike race. most of the people on the course were complete FW's.
even the course content as suspect.
come race day the TMP (traffic management plan ) was useless, so I had to completely alter it. logged all trhe changes in the diary for next year, yet Main roads approved the useless TMP the next year. . Of the 42 pages in the Document that i get for the job I only need 2 pages and the data on those pages is wrong!
go figure
On California freeways, the goal is to limit speed restrictions when practical: whole interchanges, extra lanes, bridges etc all get constructed with no speed reductions. When making new overpasses, part of the freeway will be closed to put in steel beams say 2-4am one day then similarly taken away at the end of the project. Otherwise, no changes to traffic speed. Shoulders are wide enough to do vegetation trimming without speed restrictions. It's such a nanny state here.
Ho ho ho. Y'all are whining like little bitches.
My drive to work a few years back was 50% "city" and "country" driving, 17km. Averaged a set of traffic lights every 120m. Lights here are sited by the cops, who set them up to ensure the traffic moves as slow as possible which keeps the severity of crashes down and makes their reports look good. Seriously.
There are no give way signs. We even have intersections with Stop signs on every corner. Those are fun. There's one roundabout in this state, that's a test case, but you guessed it--there's stop signs on every entry road.
Go back to NZ and drive in the nanny state is a breath of fresh air. From the in-laws house to the beach on the other side of the city, there's 6 traffic lights. The same 17km, but it takes 1/2 the time.
And no Asian drivers.
I've noticed Main Roads WA have only recently started using the trucks with the impact absorbing trailer mounted crash barriers (farked if I know what they're actually called) for short term freeway maintenance, given WA drivers complete inability to merge on freeways if I was a road worker I'd refuse to work without one.
Yeah its a bit over the top on the sunny coast there alot of roadworks all signage stays out over weekends the majority of people don't slow down
Go back to NZ and drive in the nanny state is a breath of fresh air. From the in-laws house to the beach on the other side of the city, there's 6 traffic lights. The same 17km, but it takes 1/2 the time.
And no Asian drivers.
What part of NZ are you on about, they are like bloody flies. Have a look at NZ road statistics over last 2 years and see what percentage of deaths or related to death was Asians
Go back to NZ and drive in the nanny state is a breath of fresh air. From the in-laws house to the beach on the other side of the city, there's 6 traffic lights. The same 17km, but it takes 1/2 the time.
And no Asian drivers.
What part of NZ are you on about, they are like bloody flies. Have a look at NZ road statistics over last 2 years and see what percentage of deaths or related to death was Asians
I'll bet you dollars to donuts we got more Asian drivers here per capita than anywhere in NZ