ignorance of the law doesn't mean you don't have to follow it

[Listener]

My wife got pulled over yesterday for Improper Use of a Center Turn Lane.  In Georgia, the law is you can only be in the CTL for 300 feet before you turn.

She came home all self-righteous, all "I didn't know that law", and when I told her it's the law, and she broke it, she accused me of being unsupportive, then called her mother who said basically the same thing but I got in trouble for it.

*sigh*

By signing your driver's license, you implicitly agree to obey all traffic laws.  Just because you don't know them doesn't mean they don't affect you.

(Sorry.  Had to rant.)

[FNH]

Over here ithe UK we have a book called "The Highway Code", evryone learns everything in it so they can pass thier test.

The book is updated every year but no one ever buys a new copy, or come to think of it even keeps thier own original copy.

I've often thought that it would be a good idea to make everyone take thier test every few years, just so they stay current on the road signs etc.

[Kurt Faler]

It could also be said that by signing your marriage license, you implicitly agree that your spouse is always right when in a state of agitation

[Listener]

Over here ithe UK we have a book called "The Highway Code", evryone learns everything in it so they can pass thier test.

The book is updated every year but no one ever buys a new copy, or come to think of it even keeps thier own original copy.

I've often thought that it would be a good idea to make everyone take thier test every few years, just so they stay current on the road signs etc.

Yeah, that won't happen over here.  The elderly folks who control the votes would never allow it unless they were exempted.

[Jim]

And then there's unwritten and unspoken laws one is expected to follow, such as "no driving through white neighborhoods by persons identifiable as ethnic or racial minorities."

That's a biggie in Buffalo's suburbs, especially the affluent ones with the McMansions sprouting up like giant, well-manicured, 3-car-garage-sporting weeds.

I'm not trolling... I'm fed up with both bigotry and sprawl.

[Listener]

And then there's unwritten and unspoken laws one is expected to follow, such as "no driving through white neighborhoods by persons identifiable as ethnic or racial minorities."

That's a biggie in Buffalo's suburbs, especially the affluent ones with the McMansions sprouting up like giant, well-manicured, 3-car-garage-sporting weeds.

I'm not trolling... I'm fed up with both bigotry and sprawl.

Three McMansions were just built about 1/4 mile north of me.  They don't affect me any, except that I live 30 miles from downtown.  Who's going to spend $800K on a McMansion that far away when they can get a nice 2000-sqft home for the same price within biking distance from work?

[SFEley]

Three McMansions were just built about 1/4 mile north of me.  They don't affect me any, except that I live 30 miles from downtown.  Who's going to spend $800K on a McMansion that far away when they can get a nice 2000-sqft home for the same price within biking distance from work?

Where do you live, Listener?  I'm within earshot of Stone Mountain.  We've managed to avoid the more ridiculous overdevelopment on this side of town so far, but I'm sure it's coming.

As for the center turn lane...  My big concern with it is just that there are so many oblivious drivers in Georgia, and they're so damn aggressive, that spending too long in the turn lane is an invitation for someone else do head-on you doing the same thing in the other direction.

[ClintMemo]

And then there's unwritten and unspoken laws one is expected to follow, such as "no driving through white neighborhoods by persons identifiable as ethnic or racial minorities."

That's a biggie in Buffalo's suburbs, especially the affluent ones with the McMansions sprouting up like giant, well-manicured, 3-car-garage-sporting weeds.

I'm not trolling... I'm fed up with both bigotry and sprawl.

Three McMansions were just built about 1/4 mile north of me.  They don't affect me any, except that I live 30 miles from downtown.  Who's going to spend $800K on a McMansion that far away when they can get a nice 2000-sqft home for the same price within biking distance from work?

$800,000 for a 2000 sq ft home!!?? 
Please tell me that was a typo.

[Listener]

Three McMansions were just built about 1/4 mile north of me.  They don't affect me any, except that I live 30 miles from downtown.  Who's going to spend $800K on a McMansion that far away when they can get a nice 2000-sqft home for the same price within biking distance from work?

Where do you live, Listener?  I'm within earshot of Stone Mountain.  We've managed to avoid the more ridiculous overdevelopment on this side of town so far, but I'm sure it's coming.

As for the center turn lane...  My big concern with it is just that there are so many oblivious drivers in Georgia, and they're so damn aggressive, that spending too long in the turn lane is an invitation for someone else do head-on you doing the same thing in the other direction.

North Cobb County, almost in Cherokee.  I didn't realize EP was so close to my house.

Center turn lanes are one thing, but if you live near the rock you know about the suicide lanes.  Those things scare the poo out of me.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=suicide+lane&defid=1500995#1500995

$800,000 for a 2000 sq ft home!!?? 
Please tell me that was a typo.

Right near downtown Atlanta.  Maybe they're closer to 2500, I'm not sure, but I've driven through the neighborhood when the idiots on Peachtree won't let me cross the road to turn onto Spring, and they look only slightly larger than my house, which is 1800 sq ft and didn't cost nearly that much.  (I live pretty far from downtown.)

[Mr. Tweedy]

Naive question (from a guy who's been accused of being naive), but are racism and bigotry really extant problems in the USA?

I ask because I always hear them talked about, but I've never seen them.  I'm white and I've been around people of others races at work, at church, at school: My roommate in college was black.  I always hear about racism on TV, but I've never actually witnessed any.  Is it still a problem in certain places?

I consider myself a hard-core-Christian-fundamentalist-Right-Winger and I also think interacial marriages produce really cute kids.  Is that weird?  (Really, it's an honest question!)

[ClintMemo]

Naive question (from a guy who's been accused of being naive), but are racism and bigotry really extant problems in the USA?

Yes, but it's less out in the open than it was fifty years ago.  A lot of it happens behind the scenes. I've seen very few overtly racist public actions but I've seen lots of people make snide comments or do racist things when they thought no one was looking.

I ask because I always hear them talked about, but I've never seen them.  I'm white and I've been around people of others races at work, at church, at school: My roommate in college was black.  I always hear about racism on TV, but I've never actually witnessed any.  Is it still a problem in certain places?

I consider myself a hard-core-Christian-fundamentalist-Right-Winger and I also think interacial marriages produce really cute kids.  Is that weird?  (Really, it's an honest question!)

Well, *I* don't think so.   

[ClintMemo]

As for the center turn lane...  My big concern with it is just that there are so many oblivious drivers in Georgia, and they're so damn aggressive, that spending too long in the turn lane is an invitation for someone else do head-on you doing the same thing in the other direction.

North Cobb County, almost in Cherokee.  I didn't realize EP was so close to my house.

Center turn lanes are one thing, but if you live near the rock you know about the suicide lanes.  Those things scare the poo out of me.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=suicide+lane&defid=1500995#1500995

Center turn lanes? I'd never heard those referred to as suicide lanes. They are pretty much everywhere in Louisville outside of downtown. 

Right near downtown Atlanta.  Maybe they're closer to 2500, I'm not sure, but I've driven through the neighborhood when the idiots on Peachtree won't let me cross the road to turn onto Spring, and they look only slightly larger than my house, which is 1800 sq ft and didn't cost nearly that much.  (I live pretty far from downtown.)

wow.
I live 20 minutes from downtown Louisville.  Until a few years ago, beyond my backyard was undeveloped wilderness.  I have 2900 square feet. Admittedly, my house is 30 years old, but I bought it five years ago for less than $200k.
And I thought Chicago was expensive.
I think the next time I move, I think it it will be via a funeral home.

[DKT]

$800,000 for a 2000 sq ft home!!?? 
Please tell me that was a typo.

Welcome to Southern California

[Listener]

Center turn lanes are one thing, but if you live near the rock you know about the suicide lanes.  Those things scare the poo out of me.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=suicide+lane&defid=1500995#1500995

Center turn lanes? I'd never heard those referred to as suicide lanes. They are pretty much everywhere in Louisville outside of downtown. 

Well, I've never called them suicide lanes.  What I refer to as suicide lanes are the ones that go one way sometimes and the other way other times.  I remember being on one in Maryland where all they had was a sign that said "7am-noon, OK; noon-5pm, do not use" or something.  That scared me.

[SFEley]

Center turn lanes are one thing, but if you live near the rock you know about the suicide lanes.  Those things scare the poo out of me.

Yeah.  I'm used to them and understand them just fine.  The trouble is the very occasional person who doesn't.  Then I get to hear the fire engines and ambulances.  Happens way too often.

Right near downtown Atlanta.  Maybe they're closer to 2500, I'm not sure, but I've driven through the neighborhood when the idiots on Peachtree won't let me cross the road to turn onto Spring, and they look only slightly larger than my house, which is 1800 sq ft and didn't cost nearly that much.  (I live pretty far from downtown.)

Location, location.  It's why I live on the east side of town instead of North Fulton like the rest of geekdom.  We've got a four-bedroom house with a finished basement, on two-thirds of an acre, with lots of trees and a river behind us.  Cost us $175,000.  Same house in the Platinum Triangle would have been two or three times that, just for the privilege of sitting on GA-400 all morning.

[slic]

Naive question (from a guy who's been accused of being naive), but are racism and bigotry really extant problems in the USA?

Let me put it to you this way - I lost $70K when I sold my house in Indianapolis moving back to Canada, mainly because there were black people living in my neighbourhood. 
To the credit of others, the real estate agent was somewhat shocked when a family would see the house and fall totally in love with it - until they realized that two houses down and across the street was a black family.  This was in an expensive neighbourhood with mostly professionals (doctors, engineers, pharmacists, etc.).  This happened at least a half a dozen times, and as I said, the real estate agent had never seen that happen before - granted Brownsburg is a very white town, so mixed neighbourhoods were pretty much a new thing there.

My dealings have been much like ClintMemo's - face to face people are pretty much civil/nice, it's pretty much a "behind-the-back" thing

[SFEley]

Naive question (from a guy who's been accused of being naive), but are racism and bigotry really extant problems in the USA?

Egads, yes.

I ask because I always hear them talked about, but I've never seen them.  I'm white and I've been around people of others races at work, at church, at school: My roommate in college was black.

Yes, but what you're seeing is a self-selected population of people of a certain intelligence, education, income level, etc.  You and your friends and colleagues may be cool people, but how much time do you spend speaking with people outside your circle?

I consider myself a hard-core-Christian-fundamentalist-Right-Winger and I also think interacial marriages produce really cute kids.  Is that weird?  (Really, it's an honest question!)

Weird to whom?  I don't think so, but then I consider myself a soft-core libertarian so that shouldn't surprise you.  As long as your position isn't that all marriages should be interracial for the sake of having cute kids, and as long as you don't attempt to enact legislation to enforce that position, I don't have any issues with it.  >8->

[ClintMemo]

Center turn lanes are one thing, but if you live near the rock you know about the suicide lanes.  Those things scare the poo out of me.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=suicide+lane&defid=1500995#1500995

Center turn lanes? I'd never heard those referred to as suicide lanes. They are pretty much everywhere in Louisville outside of downtown. 

Well, I've never called them suicide lanes.  What I refer to as suicide lanes are the ones that go one way sometimes and the other way other times.  I remember being on one in Maryland where all they had was a sign that said "7am-noon, OK; noon-5pm, do not use" or something.  That scared me.

Sorry. One of the definitions at the link listed the center turn lanes as suicide lanes.  We only have one road that I can think of that changes directions at different times of the day.  It has lights that have green arrows, yellow X's and red X's so it's pretty clear if you are going the wrong way.

Which reminds me...
Many years ago, we had a yellow speed limit sign over an interstate ramp - 35 MPH. It was known as "dead man's curve." Below the sign were two blinking yellow lights and a sign that said "If the lights are blinking, you are going too fast." The lights blinked all the time. It was there for several years until a local news reporter went out in the middle of the night, parked his car on the interstate and took video of the blinking light. 

[FNH]

Which reminds me...
Many years ago, we had a yellow speed limit sign over an interstate ramp - 35 MPH. It was known as "dead man's curve." Below the sign were two blinking yellow lights and a sign that said "If the lights are blinking, you are going too fast." The lights blinked all the time. It was there for several years until a local news reporter went out in the middle of the night, parked his car on the interstate and took video of the blinking light. 

Which reminds me.  I was driving in Wales, loverly green lanes on the side of a valley.  I saw a sign for Sharp-Bend ahead and I slowed down.  Saw the bend ahead and was amazed at the number of sharp-bend signs on both sides of the road. It's normal to just see 1.  There must have been 10 at least.  So amazed I nearly went over the edge  because I was looking at them.

[DKT]

Sorry. One of the definitions at the link listed the center turn lanes as suicide lanes.  We only have one road that I can think of that changes directions at different times of the day.  It has lights that have green arrows, yellow X's and red X's so it's pretty clear if you are going the wrong way.

FWIW, center-turn lanes are referred to as Suicide Lanes in the LA area.  I think it has something to do with the reps of LA drivers.