I haven't read Traffic yet: the piece I quoted was from author's magazine article. Will need to get the book, however--late merging might be more efficient, but article seemed to hint that it's not as safe as early merging. Not sure if DIRECTED late merging limits the rear end collisions. Anyway, there's no living with hubby now that his "more efficient" claim for late merging has support... {:< At least DIRECTED late merging may temper the stifled rage of us law-abiding early mergers? (One can hope!) Haven't seen that traffic strategy yet in our area, though. Marg

inlägg gjort av margd vid 2:16 am (EST) Sep 6, 2008

Jim (drneutron) - thanks for the recommendation of
The Suspicions of Mr. Wichner. I read a few of the reviews and the plot synopsis. It sounds most intriguing and every reader seemed to sing its praises. I've read both The Moonstone and The Woman in White as well as Bleak House this year, so I am well into the Victorian detective story and the likes of Inspector Bucket and Sgt. Cuff. It will be great to continue that trend.

inlägg gjort av orangeena vid 12:08 am (EST) Sep 6, 2008

oh gosh, I could rant and rave about late mergers, it's all we encountered during the evacuation and caused most of the bottle necking. Hi DrNeu, I'm back home in south Louisiana, we have power and sewage (I wasn't coming back until that was up) but I have to say after staying for all of the hurricanes, I'm not sure which is the lesser of two evils. Leaving is something I'm not ready try again. It took 10 hours just to get through New Orleans on the way out. The way back wasn't too bad just a bottle neck in Slidel from late mergers that would zoom past everyone sitting at 10 miles an hour only to force their way in up front. Line crashers I kept yelling. LOL rat bastards! ;)

inlägg gjort av beeg vid 10:39 am (EST) Sep 5, 2008

I think we once discovered that we shared a resentment of late mergers? Though you might enjoy following discussion of relative advantages of early and late merging. From book "Traffic" by Tom Vanderbilt as adapted in his article in 15 August magazine "The Week":

"...Not surprisingly, traffic engineers also can't decide whether an early merge or a late merge generates better traffic flow."

"The Early Merge, as engineers practice it, spreads out a highway merging zone by warning drivers several miles in advance that a lane closing is coming. This strategy seems to encourage drivers to merge sooner and thus produces fewer "traffic conflicts" and rear-end collisions than traditional, more abbreviated merges do. But Early Merge suffers from a critical flaw. One simulation showed that it actually takes vehicles LONGER [emphasis by author] to travel through the narrowed zone when they have advance warning, perhaps because faster-moving cars were being put behind slower-moving cars sooner than they might naturally have gotten there."

"The Late Merge, a strategy first introduced only last decade, warns drivers well in advance that they are approaching a merge but directs them to "USE BOTH LANES TO MERGE POINT" [CAPS author's]. The beauty of the Late Merge system is that it removes the anxiety drivers may feel in choosing lanes as well as their annoyance with a passing "cheating" driver. It also compresses what may be thousands of feet of potential merging maneuvers to a single point. As a result, it produces a 15 PERCENT IMPROVEMENT IN TRAFFIC FLOW [emphasis author's] over conventional merges--at least when traffic is heavy enough to create congestion."

"The lesson is simple. If, like army ants, we each simply adhered to one rule instead of making our own choices, merging would be far less dangerous and stressful."

My late-merging engineering spouse was happy to be vindicated on his practice being more efficient! Not sure from above, though, whether late merging is safer than early merging, when former precipitated by advance directive to "USE BOTH LANES TO MERGE POINT". Another topic for our debate on the road! {;>

Margaret

inlägg gjort av margd vid 8:37 am (EST) Sep 4, 2008

Hey Drneu, I'm here in Nashville hiding out from Gustav. I hope your family made it ok. My house was lucky for the most part, I now have two sheds in my back yard a tree down (missed the house) and one side of the fence that will never play the violin again. Hopefully we'll be heading back tomorrow.

inlägg gjort av beeg vid 9:39 am (EST) Sep 3, 2008

no, I mean I know I read about it in your 75, but it didn't register - too much going on right now in RL, but it must have jogged something so I went looking for it. It's in my TBR, but I want to know if the dead guy comes back - the one with the bionic arm. Ok, don't tell me, but the wait is killing me ;)

inlägg gjort av beeg vid 11:26 pm (EST) Aug 24, 2008

Ooops! I didn't see deLint in your author cloud....

I have read about 30 or so of his books... stellar!

:)

inlägg gjort av mckait vid 12:44 pm (EST) Jul 28, 2008

oh dear!

you seem to have forgotten to read anything by deLint!

Terrible!

k

inlägg gjort av mckait vid 9:48 am (EST) Jul 28, 2008

heh! that profile pic always makes me smile.. you are a cutie!

Just stopped by to say thank you "in person" for the touchstone tip!

kath

inlägg gjort av mckait vid 9:46 am (EST) Jul 28, 2008

Just stopping by to snoop in your library. I'm amazed at the books we share - so eclectic! Have a great day!

inlägg gjort av VictoriaPL vid 2:54 pm (EST) Jul 21, 2008