I wonder what the field of study is called that prepares people for this kind of traffic management/design job and whether is includes average driver/distracted driver/lowest common denominator design considerations. Putting new concrete barriers out without bright paint and reflectors surprises me; people driving their cars right up on them does not.

When my hometown put in their first traffic circle, they incorporated a pedestrian tunnel under one of the entry/exit points. Within the first two weeks, a driver got confused going around the circle for the first time, went over the edge, and dropped their car 8+ feet into the pedestrian tunnel. Fortunately, there were no pedestrians in the tunnel at the time and the driver was ok. They added a guardrail along that edge of the circle.

There were also people going the opposite direction around the circle from the intended flow. And drivers ping ponging between lanes as they went around the circle unsure what lane they should be in, including a cop car I personally witnessed doing it multiple days in a row. And cars that would just plow straight through the middle of the circle until they packed it with brick planters, flowers, and an art installation.

Even if 99.9% of drivers are attentive and safe, 0.1% is a lot of chaos and accidents. I would hope designing for that 0.1% gets a disproportionally weighty amount of attention.

This will honestly be some guys excuse to get a lifted truck. Why can't they just put in jersey barriers like normal civil engineers. Even crazier idea, actually design bike infrastructure instead of some awkward mini barrier in the middle of a road

The article got it right:

Painted bike lanes offer absolutely no physical protection for cyclists if a distracted driver drifts over the white line. While a car climbing a concrete divider looks like an infrastructure failure, it is actually the barrier successfully absorbing an impact that otherwise would have struck whoever was riding in the bike lane.

I just hope that anybody found on top of one of those barriers has their license revoked. Give them the option to go to court to try to get it back. Maybe a kid ran into the street and they chose to hit the barrier rather than the kid. But, the presumption should be that if you're up on that barrier you're not a safe driver and shouldn't have a license.

"we need better visibility of where we will face consequences for our traffic violations and where we can keep doing it"

Mario Kart shortcut users IRL.

Because the concrete barriers sit extremely low to the ground, neighbors argue that aggressively driving or distracted motorists simply cannot see them until it is too late.

Those are not "extremely low". People just aren't watching where they're driving.

These need a 1m vertical section where the top is rn

Or something

That car got kinda far across

Manc classic from when Youtube was actually a place to share videos https://youtu.be/i_Cw0QJU8ro

Good for the economy and good for the automotive repair industry.

The driver of the car in the photo should lose their license... (Unless they were just swerving to avoid some other reckless driver or similar 😅)

!youcantparktheremate@feddit.uk

I’m of the opinion that if this is a problem for a driver, they have no business behind the wheel.

Based on my short visit to Atlanta several years ago, this includes a lot of Atlanta drivers.

In a statement provided to WSB-TV, ATL DOT engineers stopped short of blaming the barriers, explicitly stating that the available evidence points to simple driver error. In the city’s view, the infrastructure isn’t the problem—motorists simply need to pay better attention and stay in their designated lanes.

Based ATLDOT

Can't park there, mate

Next they are gonna ask the city to send a message to their phone whenever they get close to any road obstacle.

These deadly low driving standards should mandate the use of more barriers. Knowing the way things work, the big truck makers will create a bigger deadlier vehicle to cope with this.

Comment thread on original page:

Get off your phone!

You cannot “get off your phone” if you need it for direction to your destination.

How under-30s actually think.