Current mood:

Suicidal

It's not rocket surgery.
Msnbc.com has a recurring feature, "Ads of the Weird". This week's column discusses an Australian PSA which implies that men who speed are deficient in the sausage department. (I know, I know, a clever idea that no one ever thought of before!)

The comments are full of everyone's Personal Philosophy of Driving, which (like driving itself) turns wanky and obnoxious immediately:

Or maybe people just like to drive fast and it has nothing to do with being macho or manly. Driving fast doesn't mean you have to drive stupid, and I think it's just as likely that people driving BELOW the speed limit cause an equal number of accidents as SOBER drivers driving ABOVE the speed limit. If you don't like someone driving fast behind you, GET OUT OF THE WAY. Especially if you're in the left lane people c'mon, learn how to drive.

John B

Aaaaand they're off. After wading through a couple pages of this, it's enough to make me want to give up driving forever and dust off my trusty old bicycle, rather than chance sharing the road with some of these people.

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	smo 2007-07-19 05:52 pm UTC (link)
	Could be a combination of factors. There were a lot of people from New York and Jersey at my college. (Also: LOL 'Novans.) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

shaysdays
2007-07-20 03:33 pm UTC (link)

My theory for years has been that it's impossible to drive legally in Philly- it's not just that there are crazy drivers, but the streets are practically a maze with crappy signage*. The key is just to drive less illegally than everyone else.

It's like the driver who runs the least amount of ripped-down stop signs and goes straight on the least amount of rubbed-off turning lanes wins.

I'm not sure what you win, though.

*I know once you learn the history and get the system the layout makes sense.

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	smo 2007-07-20 05:00 pm UTC (link)
	it's not just that there are crazy drivers, but the streets are practically a maze with crappy signage.* Oh, were they based on cow paths, like Boston's streets? Because that would explain a whole hell of a lot. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

shaysdays
2007-07-20 05:27 pm UTC (link)

No- they were a nearly-perfect grid for horses and buggies laid out by Franklin waaaaay back when. And they made perfect sense at the time- he planned out the center city (known as, oddly enough, Center City). It had (for the time) nice wide avenues and public squares- I think it's actually the first planned city in America. All the numbered streets run North-South, all the named streets ran East-West. And City Hall was the showpiece- so Broad and Market go around it in a square for a central point- an elegant touch, especially considering at the time City Hall was the highest point in the city.

However, once cars entered the equation, then there wasn't enough room for two cars to pass in opposite directions on all but the avenues- so now it's basically one way streets everywhere. Usually it's alternating one-ways, but since buildings have been knocked down, blocks have been subdivided, and streets have been added or turned into alleys or overpasses, it doesn't always work.

Add in 95 cutting the entire city off from the waterfront (Really- I swear if 95 was under the city or on the other side Philly would be a MAJOR tourist destination) and it's insane trying to find your way around for someone driving. Walking, biking, or otherwise on small wheels you're fine- there's little pedestrian maps everywhere- it's just impossible to read them from a car and you really can't park and look at them.

To give you an idea of the sheer amount of crazy one-ways:
http://maps.yahoo.com/index.php#mvt=m&q1=philadelphia%2C+PA%2C+us&trf=1&lon=-75.163779&lat=39.951547&mag=2

I just looked at Boston and it's basically the same thing. And from what I've read, Boston was almost completely unplanned. Just goes to show, eh?

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	smo 2007-07-20 05:30 pm UTC (link)
	Wow, the more you know! The one-way streets in Boston make ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE. One goes one way, the next two in a row go the other. Southie is the worst in that respect, but the "street" "layout" in general is a complete clusterfuck. (Reply to this)(Parent)

panthea
2007-07-26 04:02 pm UTC (link)

Boston streets are a bitch and a half. I've lived here for six years now, and generally I don't start finding my way around where I live very well until I'm about to leave the area.

As an added bonus, where I live now is just on the corner of a major street that goes all the way through Cambridge-- a street which is divided by a median, and where you can't make a U-turn anywhere along the way. If I miss the turn to my street, I'm screwed.

My college roommate said it best: "In Boston, three rights don't make a left, they make a wormhole."

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