4 ms·
That's exactly the problem—vehicles may exist anywhere at any time and block arbitrary parts of your line-of-sight. That's why you have to learn to deal with it
by Mawr 11mo ago
That's exactly the problem—vehicles may exist anywhere at any time and block arbitrary parts of your line-of-sight. That's why you have to learn to deal with it as a driver.
That said, obviously care should be taken to limit occurrences of view limiting obstacles whenever possible, especially in areas frequented by unskilled traffic participants—so pedestrians, really. A straightforward example would be disallowing street parking within a few tens of metres of pedestrian crossings. Street parking in general is horrible, especially on quiet residential streets—kids may dart around them onto the street at full speed.
The problem is not limited to large vehicles either.
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Anyways, here are some examples of what I'm talking about:
- Self-inflicted LOS issues by passing/filtering (motor)cyclists: https://youtu.be/qi6ithdYA_8?t=861 https://youtu.be/qi6ithdYA_8?t=861, https://youtu.be/TRPYfHzQSFw?t=644 https://youtu.be/TRPYfHzQSFw?t=644, https://youtu.be/WgaWwWUYX64?t=200 https://youtu.be/WgaWwWUYX64?t=200, https://youtu.be/WgaWwWUYX64?t=209 https://youtu.be/WgaWwWUYX64?t=209, https://youtu.be/vYrxbdhLEN0?t=1083 https://youtu.be/vYrxbdhLEN0?t=1083
- Cars obstructing view of an intersection: https://youtu.be/swmt44N9DJc?t=307 https://youtu.be/swmt44N9DJc?t=307, https://youtu.be/ejqpeFyqNz0?t=258 https://youtu.be/ejqpeFyqNz0?t=258, https://youtu.be/veLDLUXLrdQ?t=8 https://youtu.be/veLDLUXLrdQ?t=8, https://youtu.be/q46XoynHTpM?t=109 https://youtu.be/q46XoynHTpM?t=109, https://youtu.be/q46XoynHTpM?t=1016 https://youtu.be/q46XoynHTpM?t=1016, https://youtu.be/m8jk2H7a-BI?t=70 https://youtu.be/m8jk2H7a-BI?t=70, https://youtu.be/9tgMe3CurNE?t=558 https://youtu.be/9tgMe3CurNE?t=558,
https://youtu.be/QCALZbDC_i0?t=172 https://youtu.be/QCALZbDC_i0?t=172
- Cars obstructing view of a pedestrian/cyclist crossing: https://youtu.be/axCAi7Cjh2g?t=12 https://youtu.be/axCAi7Cjh2g?t=12, https://youtu.be/MReD5mieJ1c?t=1071 https://youtu.be/MReD5mieJ1c?t=1071, https://youtu.be/14c-iwZUh9M?t=5 https://youtu.be/14c-iwZUh9M?t=5, https://youtu.be/Mzs0izUSoFo?t=14 https://youtu.be/Mzs0izUSoFo?t=14, https://youtu.be/vT7uI6EBQRM?t=238 https://youtu.be/vT7uI6EBQRM?t=238, https://youtu.be/O7UIACa35KY?t=366 https://youtu.be/O7UIACa35KY?t=366, https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IQHWUEPEwcg https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IQHWUEPEwcg, https://youtu.be/vYrxbdhLEN0?t=551 https://youtu.be/vYrxbdhLEN0?t=551 (watch the whole video, it's very instructive)
- Pedestrian behavior around buses: https://youtu.be/oxN0tqO9cSk?t=8 https://youtu.be/oxN0tqO9cSk?t=8, https://youtu.be/03qTXV4aQKE?t=709 https://youtu.be/03qTXV4aQKE?t=709
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And counterexamples, showing proper driving:
- Obstructed pedestrian crossing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OThBjk-oFmk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OThBjk-oFmk (I said proper driving, not proper cycling)
- Around a blind turn: https://youtu.be/86-qjb_m43A?t=294 https://youtu.be/86-qjb_m43A?t=294
- And to top it off, obstructed pedestrian crossing plus a bus: https://youtu.be/RpB4bx63qmg?t=439 https://youtu.be/RpB4bx63qmg?t=439
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As you can see, LOS issues can pop up anywhere and there is no way to "fix" it. You have to adjust your behavior accordingly. You can't drive "optimistically", assuming nothing's there just because you can't see it. That's like closing your eyes and flooring it. Can't see nothing, therefore nothing is there!