Road rules
Spotless driving record tough to maintain
ERIN REITZ is a senior the
ater performance major
and a Daily Nebraskan
columnist
I’m frustrated. I mean, really frus
trated. I think I’m failing one of die
most basic courses life has to offer.
Dfiving.
I am beginning to wonder if I’m
cut out for it at all
The driving gods have been send
ing me a series of signs recently. You’d
think I’d pay attention to them at some
point, wouldn’tcha?
They’ve been telling me I should
take my car away permanently (far, far
away from any Lincoln roads, UNL
lots, meters, buildings, cliffs, etc.). I
should ship my beloved Toyota back
home to North Platte and let my 17
year-old sister have some fun for
awhile.
But I don’t pay attention. I don’t
neea meir warnings, l continue to
anger all of the nasty drivers on die
road. They must love me.
At one time, I was thoroughly con
vinced I was one of the best drivers
around and I’d never incur any tickets
or have any accidents. (You’re really
laughing hand now, aren’t you?)
Just about the time I was saying
that to myself, I got my first speeding
ticket I was 17.1 was blessed with
another three months later. My reign of
skill-less driving had begun.
I slowly but surety progressed into
acquiring a not-so-rare form of I.D.S.
(Idiot Driving Syndrome) that so many
teen-agers possess. I loved to do things
like put on lipstick, reach for random
objects in die back seat and attempt to
change my oil while going 45 mph.
Somehow, I was able to narrowly
avoid a series of what could have been
pretty serious accidents for a few
years. I don’t know how. I still cannot
explain how I could have been such a
stupid driver and not have wrecked my
car. It was miraculous.
The miraculousness became
clouded when I was a sophomore here.
I hit a pillar in the Gateway parking
garage as I was backing out Hey, it
came out of nowhere, all right? It did
some minor damage to my bumper,
but not really enough to freak out
about Little did I know, there would
soon be something to freak out about.
The miracle that had been my
(practically) accident-free driving
ended last summer.
One sunny, beautiful day in June, I
decided to drive around in order to de
stress myself. I took a turn, and my
frosty beverage flew off of the seat
next to me. I was reaching down to the
floor to rescue it, it being one of those
highly-illegal drinks not allowed on
campus (you know, a Coca
Cola), when I scraped
the entire side of my car
along the bumper cor
ner of a Bronco.
The Bronco’s taillight
cover was broken. My dam
in
life funny?
I couldn’t believe it I
was in shock. How could
such a good driver, like
myself, have gotten into
such a snafu?
In all of my ponder
ing, I did develop a
theory: I was
drinking a
Coke that
day. The
University
of
Nebraska
Lincoln has
an alliance
with Pepsi.
Was it merely
a coincidence
that the other
driver looked a
little too much
like die chancel
lor? I think not
The point to my ramblings, howev
er, is not that the administration is out
to get me. I know that already. The
point is that I, as a driver, had become
tarnished and blackened I was no
longer an accident virgin. I had joined
the despicable ranks of Lincoln dri
vers.
Lincoln drivers are absolutely
awful, and I fear that I have turned into
one of than.
I’m actually surprised I haven’t
gotten killed on our roadways. Outside
of New York, I’m not sure I’ve ever
seen such disgusting displays of asi
nine behavior on the road.
Lincoln drivers are constantly run
ning red lights, speeding through stop
signs, going SO mph in parking lots,
jumping medians, forgetting there are
turn signals on their cars and hitting lit
tle old
ladies.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but
didn’t we learn in (your favorite high
school class and mine) driver’s ed to be
defensive drivers? This town is full of
offensive drivers, and it’s realty starting
to get to me.
Personalty, I don’t think I should be
getting flipped off and sworn at by the
driver behind me for trying to make a
left turn. I don’t feel I should be sitting
at intersections for two minutes wait
ing for people to finish running the red
light
I don’t think I should have to bow
down to the bad drivers of Lincoln.
Unfortunately, if I want to get any
where in this town, I have to drive.
Walking is more dangerous, anyway.
I’ve become apart of the malicious
gang that is Lincoln traffic, and I hate
it But I’m learning to cope.
I’vejoined
the ‘Trustrated and Pissed-Off Lincoln
Drivers Anonymous” support group at!
my local YMCA and am taking steps §
to be patient with my fellow road war-1
riots.
I’m actually trying to drive less,
but then I have to worry about parking
services and all of their little toadies, i
The few. The vengeful. The UNL *
parking patrol
(Quit ruining my life, dammit! I s
have a blue permit, and I’m not afraid
to use it!). *
All I can really do now is wait for
that day. You know, the day when I’m
many miles away from Lincoln, and 11
have my own personal hmo driver tak
ing me everywhere.
Sigh.
Until then, it seems... hey! Hey!
Dammit, that’s my car you’re towing!
Ready, set... STOP
Changing intersection light order would decrease number of accidents
GRAHAM EVAN JOHN
SON is a graduate student
in German and environ
mental social studies and is
a Daily Nebraskan colum
nist
Do you spend a lot of time thinking
about commonly accepted norms and
habits? I do, because nothing is ever
static. Everything is always flowing,
changing, like energy, or a river, or
your mind.
Now ponder for a moment How
could every driving society virtually
eliminate the occurrence of accidents
and (kadis caused fay inconsiderate dri
vers who run red lights?
The fact that gnd-shaped, intersect
ing streets are the worst layout for dri
■ ving efficiency and pedestrian and "
bicycle safety shouldn’t be a reason for
planners to ignore the fundamentals of
traffic flow.
This is beside the fact that Lincoln
needs to better time its stop lights,
adjust diem for motion sensing around
town, especially downtown, and better
wire and maintain pedestrian-initiated
stop lights.
It is much easier to alter behavior
than to reroute streets, and there is one
seemingly insignificant change that, if
pursued, would virtually eliminate the
dangers of cross-shaped intersections.
There is no room for mistakes in
matters of life and death, and this one
overlooked, deadly mistake is accepted
by this and many other countries.
No need to think too much longer
about this one, the answer is right in
front of our feces: Change the order of
intersection lights.
Change the order of intersection
lights from green... yellow, red to yel
low, green... red. Why does this make
a difference? Let me explain.
Our current light pattern is uncon
sciously dangerous and perpetuates
red-light “running.” A driver sees a yel
low light feat is turning red and usually
speedup to get through it, rather than
stopping as the law says.
I just took my driver’s test,and the
first intersection I encountered, I ran a
yellow light Oops. Why did I run this
light? Because the yellow light wasn’t
enough of a deterrent to make me stop
coasting downhill.
If the light would have turned
immediately red from green, I would
have stopped, because subconsciously,
red means stop, and fee subconscious
perpetually directs one’s actions.
But I told fee tester feat I don’t
understand the current light order and
therefore am not obligated to abide by
its rules, so I passed tiie test.
How many people told you when
you were learning to drive, or still tell
you, that yellow means “hurry up” or
“stop,” as well as “caution?” We have
been indoctrinated to think of a yellow
ligjht in this way.
Furthermore, what do we do when
we are tiie first car in line at an inter
section? We look at the cross-lights to
see when their red light comes, and
begin creeping into the intersection.
We have learned the behavior that
when we approach a yellow light at an
intersection we should speed up to get
through, and we anticipate the light Is
change to green. Both of these are
results of inefficient traffic flow and
frustration with this inefficient system.
The same is true for pedestrians.
How many people run across the cross
walk when the “don’t walk” is blink
ing, or when no cars are crossing?
Everybody does, because the Winking
light doesn’t mean “stop” or “don’t
go,” it means ‘hurry up” or “look
around and proceed at your own risk.”
Follow my points?
These are deadly mixed signals tha
cause thousands of accidents every *
year and can be remedied by making
one simple, obvious change: Changing
tiie light order to yellow, green ... red.
We are already conditioned to
anticipate movement into the intersec
tion and have connected the yellow
light with a hurried quality. For this
reason, having the yellow light precede
the green “go” light is logical and
therefore, safer
We do not say “ready, set, stop” we
say, “ready, set, go.”
It would be very easy, to implement
this change, and the resulting reduction
in intersection related accidents would
be astounding.
The only negative results of such a
change would be: 1) people encounter
ing a red light would slam to a halt and
possibly be rear-ended by absentmind
ed followers, and 2) those encountering
yellow lights would slow down, but
then foe light would turn green and
they would proceed. Neither are realty
negative, are they?
Yellow, green... red light order
works like this. The line of cars waiting
at an intersection would see both sides
come to a complete stop before their
light turns yellow.
The yellow light then initiates
movement into an intersection that is
clear from red-light “runners” because
of the immediate red and time delay.
The yellow light then persists for two
or three seconds and then turns fully
green.
t For those approaching the intersec
tion, the light would turn from green
immediately to red. No hesitation, no
questioning, no thought of what to do,
the red light means: “stop now!” The
only reason people are running red
lights is the hesitation and questioning
involved with encountering a yellow
light
Nobody in his or her right mind
runs red lights that are solid red. With
an immediate, red light “stop/* the traf
fic is stopped in its tracks and cross
traffic flow is safely initiated.
If a driver encounters a red light
that then turns to yellow, the driver
could proceed without worry as the
light would then turn green and the
cross-traffic would already be stopped.
These concepts are applicable to
pedestrian lights as well The light
should not turn from “walk” (white) to
“maybe don’t walk” (blinking red) to
“don’t walk” (solid red). It should turn
from “walk” (white) to “maybe walk”
(blinking white) to “don’t walk” (solid
red).
The walk sign shouldn’t be white
either - it should be green, because
green means “go.” Maybe the white
light really means “walk on top of the
repressed classes.” .
Putting speed bumps on 25-45
mph streets also will decrease acci
dents and increase awareness, but I
think the Lincoln Police Department
would rather continue ticketing speed
era to buffer their already ejqploding
budget than promote responsible dri
ving by the use of speed bumps.
Does this all sound too easy to be
true? Well, it is, and streetlights already
work in this onto in some countries.
We may very well see this change
coming, because it is easy to observe
the benefits of a yellow, green... red
intersection light order; the primary
one being the virtual elimination of
intersection accidents and fatalities.
Convinced?