Posted on 11/19/2013 12:47:33 PM PST by Olog-hai
The speed limit on Kelly Drive near Fountain Green Drive is 35 mph, but the average speed of motorists is nearly 55.
In an attempt to slow everybody down, the city has installed sensors in the roadway that determine the speed of vehicles approaching Fountain Green, about a half-mile north of the Girard Avenue Bridge.
If a vehicle passes the sensor going above the speed limit, the light at Fountain Green turns red. …
In another safety measure, the city will add a nonslip surface on Kelly Drive next year to help reduce accidents on rainy days, (acting Streets Commissioner David J.) Perri said. …
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
Interesting concept. Sequenced lights timed to the speed limits would accomplish the same thing.
The unintended consequences of this will be epic.
Sequenced lights timed to the speed limits would accomplish the same thing.
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They do that plenty here in Texas. I have heard that it is even against state law, but whatever.
Using red lights to regulate, slow down, and even stop traffic is common.
Timing them AT the speed limit will result in massive pile-ups (since in reality virtually no one is driving at the limit)
I think they work at other speeds too.
Speed sensors cost more. So the companies which manage the revenue enforcement systems push them.
Philly would be much better off spending time solving their feral youth problem.
Ahhh.... you miss the point, entirely.
Feral youth abatement cost money
Auto speeder lights raise money
They should replace the red lights in Philly with a big red middle finger. That’s their attitude.
True. Philly is beyond help anyway.
Yep... massive T-Bone accidents no doubt.
I suggest the next time they retire a police cruiser, they simply park it on Kelly Drive near Fountain Green Drive and place a mannequin in the driver seat sporting a full policeman's uniform. They could even set up a relay connected to a simple circuit that would randomly flash the lights to achieve the look of a real cop in the cruiser.
Move its location occasionally but I guarantee that the average speed of motorists will be very near or under 35 mph. And it costs the town next to nothing.
Bad concept, imho. It would be much better to use these detectors to sync up the green lights with the flow of traffic, to keep everything running smoothly. Instead, they are going to do the opposite and clog up their streets even more.
Also, the proposed stopping of traffic will increase the emission of CO2.
All traffic enforcement is about revenue.
I live in an area with limited traffic and the most congested area is getting on and off one of the freeway exits. Every so often I see the traffic engineers messing with the timing and when they get it wrong, it is amazing what a bad result they can get.
Worse, this punishes those not speeding
The speeders and non speeders alike are caught at the light.
A few good speed bumps carefully designed to look like pothole would be a better alternative
That said the only time I have been to Philly I was speeding as fast as I could out of town
The street in this article is 35 MPH, but most motorists travel it at 55 MPH. Studies have been done that prove motorists generally travel at speeds that are intuitively comfortable, hence most motorist in this story are NOT going 35. Therefore, the likely appropriate speed is, in fact, probably closer to 55 than it is to 35. But the speed Nazis want ticket money and believe that “for the children” everyone should drive at 10 MPH.
There is a major highway near were I live. This highway speed limit is set at 55 MPH, yet at one section of the highway the road narrows and the shoulders of the road are close to the lanes. At this section of the road most motorists traveling this highway naturally, and always SLOW DOWN. The speed limit is 55. The highway was designed for 55+, but motorists almost always travel at comfortable speeds.
Just yell, “SAFTEY” and you can get almost any road speed limit reduced to stupid speed. I want to travel at ludicrous speed!
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