It takes an app for us to catch up with the 3rd world :)

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Sangoma
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It takes an app for us to catch up with the 3rd world :)

Unread post by Sangoma »

Saw this https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-englan ... birmingham


and thought that this is a far better idea
r1.jpg
r2.jpg
I took those in Cagayan de Oro in 2008, and they weren't new then.

Poor quality, as there are screen shots from a video, and cameras have moved a long way since then, it was a Pentax Optio Z10, very handy if you don't want to look like a yank tourist)
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G0BHD
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Re: It takes an app for us to catch up with the 3rd world :)

Unread post by G0BHD »

Personally, I think this yet another complete pointless overuse of technology.
And as "apps" go, high on the useless scale.
I always approach traffic light junctions with caution and reduced speed, you never know when they might change, or traffic conditions mean you can not successfully complete the crossing.
Also, if you are stopped at traffic lights, you need to be aware of far more things that might be going on around you, than simply "when they are about to change " one way or the other.
Lets say you are at the front of a RED light stopped line of traffic, just knowing when it is turning "green" means nothing, you still need to constantly keep an eye on the "cross flow" traffic, cos RED light "jumpers" are very common, besides just also keeping an eye on the change of lights in your own direction and blindly venturing forth.
Then there is your "Exit junction" to consider, especially at multi junction traffic light controlled intersections, which may have well filled right "up to the line" with exit traffic to the point you can't proceed across the junction anyway even though your lights now show GREEN to go!, cos you will simply end up stuck in the middle of the busy traffic light controlled junction, and be very popular I am sure, when they change again in short order.
If you are a car or two "behind the one at the front", you still need to be very aware, as the first few ahead of you "crossing the junction", might well end up stuck in the jam the other side, and again you end up stuck in no mans land!
I can just see it now, accidents happening at traffic light controlled junctions, and when questioned the driver saying in court, "BUT your honor!.... the smart phone I was staring at, glued to my dashboard, told me it was time to go!"
USE your God damned given eyes, and a bit of common sense of course, and yes I do know that common sense is in short supply these days! :roll:
BUT...an "App" will not replace it.
Sangoma
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Re: It takes an app for us to catch up with the 3rd world :)

Unread post by Sangoma »

Agreed Dave, everything you say there is normal driving practice as taught and as is usually carried out.
The law I believe used to state a max speed of 15mph to approach lights, and I'm sure still does say that green only says go if safe to do so.

The only time I may look at the screen of the satnav is if going slowly round a complex roundabout.
It so quickly recalculates if you make a wrong turn, it doesn't matter in most cases if you do take a wrong turn.

I can see a practical purpose for the count down on the light itself. some times people waiting at light think it is stuck and go anyway. We used to have two sets on lights in Coventry that did get stuck often, and I have quite often come across Siemens temporary lights that get stuck all on red.
(In the Philippines, taking any notice of the lights at all seem optional, so it does help there)

The amber between red and green is also dangerous, I'm surprised it is still used here.
(though I suppose without it many people would be retuning the radio, starting the engine and putting it in gear on green, so it gives them chance to wake up)
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M0XXQ
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Re: It takes an app for us to catch up with the 3rd world :)

Unread post by M0XXQ »

They have similar systems in Amsterdam and Gothenburg, usually accompanied by a sound like a metronome which gets faster as the clock runs out.
I just wish the UK would introduce the American system of allowing drivers to turn right on a red light (would be left in our case), that works really well but I wasn't aware of until I was being honked at from furious drivers behind - I thought who are the basratds forcing me to go through a red light! :D
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G0BHD
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Re: It takes an app for us to catch up with the 3rd world :)

Unread post by G0BHD »

:D
Although I do use a Sat Nav, I often take its advice with a relative pinch of common sense salt, I have lost count of the times my one, has told me to "KEEP LEFT"....when in reality you personally realise it means take the lane you have just moved over out of, ie left, NOT left left! :lol:
There is a slip road turning locally for a shopping center, on a three lane section of road, so that slip road is in effect a fourth lane, that fools sat nav followers all the time, and U turns abound! :D
Also I have been given directions by mine, that I personally know there are far better, shorter, and more direct route ones, but as a "heads up" in areas you do not know at all, very useful of course.
Another example, there is a "foot ferry" near here, pedestrian passengers only, and even then only in summer months, but despite the Sat Nav companies being told numerous times, it still appears on some Sat Nav route planners as a "ferry short cut" from one side of the river to the other, often with huge lorries turning down there, only to find they have to reverse all the way back up the very narrow lane! :D
The council have now erected a large sign on the main road saying, "SAT NAV ERROR, there is NO vehicle crossing available at the end of this lane"!
I personally still carry road maps and local area A to Z's to be honest, I guess I am just old school. ;)
Bottom line, apps and electronic aids do not "cover" a lack of road awareness, and driving sense.
I guess they will never be happy until we are all just sat as impartial passengers inside fully autonomous vehicles, and when the accidents still continue, and they will, who gets the "blame" then? ;)
VK5TM
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Re: It takes an app for us to catch up with the 3rd world :)

Unread post by VK5TM »

Don't use your phone while your driving.

Big fines for even touching your phone while driving.

Oh, wait, here is a stupid app to make you take your eyes off the road and cause more accidents - F_____G DICKHEADS.
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M0VMT
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Re: It takes an app for us to catch up with the 3rd world :)

Unread post by M0VMT »

Smart phones and smart people right hmmmmm lol freaking morons half of em.
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Sangoma
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Re: It takes an app for us to catch up with the 3rd world :)

Unread post by Sangoma »

In the late 60s early 70s, I was taught how to use a sextant and Loran C, and LW/MW DF.

That was technology in its day :)
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