Day-Dreaming Lessons on the Highway
Who is this imbecile!!
I get on the highway and, as luck would go, I end up behind a vehicle doing barely the speed limit, on rare occasions, but mostly and unmercifully below. The road is hilly and curved and unsafe to pass. I think to myself “What the hell, what are you doing?”. The vehicle is ancient but bright and shiny. Maybe a Cadillac. But before I can get in another thought I hear this roar of a tremendously large mosquito and to my left comes a flash of light which I quickly detect as an orange, 2-litre, Honda Civic, no muffler, music blaring out of the open right window, and some punk poking his head out and shouting something like “Muck Doo” before disappearing in the opposing lane over the next quiet hill. So I move on.
I begin to tap my fingers on the steering rim. What else to do at five kilometers an hour below the speed limit. Who is this imbecile?
As a driving instructor I begin to do the things one should never do. I begin to mind wander. The taillights ahead of me begin to fade away and the image of Socrates’ head appears saying “Know thyself”. And I recall that this is how I began. And then another image appears. It is Sigmund Freud, standing with a flashlight in the darkness and pointing his finger along a dark path that he has illuminated. But once I follow his advice and step on the path, he turns off his flashlight. Then begins a process of numerous stubbings of my toe and curses as I wander along the path in total darkness, encountering another something unexpected. And then the path disappears and the taillights re-emerge. How long was I day-dreaming? Socrates indicated what I should study and Freud showed me the path. Neither were very helpful once I began that journey.
Know Thyself
This day-dreaming is dangerous, and I of all people should know that. But at five kilometres below the speed limit, and a substantial distance to go, this is killing me. Back to taping my fingers on the steering wheel. Music, music might help.
So I turn on the radio. There I encounter The Celebrity making the speech of all speeches. His hippocracy is truly genuine. I’ve seen him before. The tail-lights fade out again as an image appears of the man and his speech. His name is “His excellency, the right-honourable, most-important, knower-of- all-things, Majesty of all things visible and invisible…He wears a tunic or a uniform. It is bespeckled with many shiny things, mostly medals. He has so many medals he even has one on his shoe – it announces his presence like a cowbell. Once again the image fades out and a new one appears. It is of a hippo in a Canadian lake. I wonder what a hippo could be doing in such a cold environment. Then back to the taillights and reality.
I came out on this Corona Virus day to do my essential grocery shopping and this is what I get. Five kilometres an hour below the speed limit. Who is this imbecile? I finally get closer to my destination. A small grocery shop with fancy things and no line-ups. That’s why I came. But to my amazement that Cadillac, or whatever it is, signals into the same parking lot. My God, is this my day or what? There are only two parking spots available, one behind the other. The Caddy pulls into the one closer to store marked “Handicap” and I pull in behind. Handicap, right. It’s probably someone taking advantage of the only parking spot left, and a pull-through at that. So now I get to see this imbecile. This moron who has taken up so much of my precious time. I’m going to sit in my seat until that imbecile comes out. I want to see who this is. And I wait and wait. Give me a break.
Finally a door begins to creak open. Slowly. A foot is seen, and the bottom of a long skirt to the ankle. A grey material. And out comes the rest of the body. Slowly. It is an old and tired frame. It is a grey-haired woman with glasses and a worn grocery bag. Once outside she pauses, looks both ways, as if she thinks she will be run over in the high-speed parking lot. And then my cynical self melts away. Ah, revelation. She is elderly.
Now I understand. She has stepped onto the stage for all to see. I am also near to that stage where I will be standing before a judgmental crowd with nothing important to say. I too will one day be the old man whose past means nothing to the future.
I follow the old woman into the store. I wander for some time then select the essential thing that I came for and then turn to the checkout. And there is that old lady again, in front of me. In the short space of time she has selected a bunch of stuff that weighs down on her frail frame and seems to be uncomfortable. For once she has to wait like I do. The line-up is short but it is still a line-up. I ask “Can I hold that for you?” She turns to me slowly with a small dry smile and nods appreciatively. We begin to talk.
The woman explains that she rarely goes out except when she has to. It’s not the Corona but it’s a fact of old age. Here 85-year-old husband is at home, mostly immobile. She goes out to get groceries once in a while and she gets as much as she can hold but she can’t hold a lot. So she is appreciative for my help. Her eyesight is not good, and her hearing is worse. But her groceries are essential to herself and her husband. They have lived in their home of 60 years. With each word my thoughts wander again as I recall my “imbecile” thoughts. Who is the true imbecile?
When we reach the checkout I help her unload. A large batch of potatoes, a cabbage, a vegetable with a “30% Off” sticker. And her cost is $11.05. She already had it in her hand before being asked.
I then place my item on the belt. It is one bag of “Miss Vickies” potato chips. The old lady looks at the bag. The cashier looks at the bag. I look at the bag. This was my essential item on this Corona day.
I walk with the old lady back to her car and place her purchases in her back seat. She smiles and says thank you before disappearing into the old fancy car. I get in my car and wait. She finally pulls out and I pull out after her. We both pull out together back onto that hilly, curvy highway. I could pass but I won’t. I feel honoured and privileged to be escorted all the long way home at five kilometres an hour below the speed limit.
I just stubbed my toe into something new and it hurt. But it woke me out of my silly day dreams.
Highway 401 Truck Barrier Impact Is Not A Success Story
OPP photo shows a truck engulfed in flames after it struck a construction barrier and rolled over. The impact occurred on Highway 401, reportedly near Winston Churchill Blvd in Mississauga, Ontario on the afternoon of April 12, 2020.
The fact that only minor injuries occurred may seem like a success story, but this is just Russian Roulette. A tractor-trailer struck a construction barrier, rolled over and caught fire on Highway 401 near Winston Churchill Blvd in Mississauga in the afternoon of April 12, 2020. It raised little attention as only Global News covered the story of the OPP Twitter release. In these difficult times of the Corona Virus the comedic response to the news might be that the greatest tragedy was the loss of rolls of paper cargo which were consumed in the fire – perhaps toilet paper. But behind the lack of media attention and sarcastic humour lies a more important issue. This non-incident could have been much more, if not for the luck that a bullet was not in the chamber when we pressed the trigger, only this time.
We spend large sums of money on roadside infrastructure. Not because it is pretty, but because we believe it is functional as it is supposed to reduce costs from damage as well as reducing injuries and deaths. At construction sites concrete barriers are set up to channel vehicular traffic away from work zones so that workers can be safe while also protecting the travelling public from the dangers within the construction zone. The channeling is not just visual, there is a design to those barriers that is supposed to absorb energy as well as to redirect a vehicle’s path while providing a controlled, predictable ride-down. Surely we do not put up just any barrier and cross our fingers that it will do its job. Some scientific study is needed to see how the barrier performs before it is placed in the field. Similarly the arrangement of various notifications must be strictly laid out so drivers approaching a construction site are not surprised by a violation of expectation. When all these matters are done properly vehicles are able to pass through a construction zone with a high degree of success.
Why a truck struck a the construction barrier is unknown. While police have charged the driver with careless driving it is rare that police would examine the layout of the construction site with a reasonable degree of experience and training to come to an accurate understanding whether there was something in that layout that was improper.
Some frames taken from the OPP video of the crash site are shown below.
What is visible in the photos in the aftermath of the crash is that, the truck rode over top of the cushion at the bull-nose of the barrier. This is not uncommon, even though it does nothing to improve the safety of the truck driver. It is also apparent that the truck and trailer became snagged in the barrier system such that the rear wheels and frame of the trailer became detached. What is supposed to happen is that the truck and trailer are to be pressed against the side of the barrier and ride along its length. The friction during this long distance of contact is supposed to bring the vehicle to a gradual and controlled stop. It is apparent that a portion of the truck may have climbed on the concrete barrier and the barrier itself appears to have separated. The truck rotated clockwise and then rolled over to its rest position.
Another concern is that the truck caught fire. Again, this is not a desirable outcome. One can imagine what might happen if the truck was hauling a dangerous cargo that is chemical or explosive. A fire that engulfs the cargo could have huge consequences. While the fire was contained largely at the road tractor this does not mean that all fires will be doused with such success.
In totality, although this collision reportedly resulted in only minor injuries to the truck driver, the consequences could have been much worse. We cannot ignore incidents like these in the belief that they will not come back to haunt us. Persons who like to play Russian Roulette do not live long enough to inform others that it is not a good idea to play will loaded chambers even when some of them are empty.
COVID-19 Effects on Highbury Ave Traffic – Review & Discussion of Data
This article reports on the comparison between traffic prior to the effects of COVID-19 versus after those effects on the Highbury Ave expressway near Commissioners Road in London, Ontario. Data is now available from testing conducted on November 20, 2019 and April 7, 2020. At both times northbound vehicles on Highbury Ave were videotaped passing through a distance of 200 metres approaching the overpass of Commissioners Road, as shown in the figures below.
Overall View of the 200 metre distance on Highbury Ave south of Commissioners Road where vehicle motions were documented.
The view below shows a northbound grey SUV approaching the “Zero” marker at the south edge of the Commissioners Road overpass.
View looking west along the south wall of the Commissioners Road overpass. Red paint on one of the anchor posts of the guardrail is the “zero” point for northbound vehicles approaching the overpass.
View looking west at the “200 metre” marker. As the front end of a vehicle passed by this marker the clock was started until the vehicle reached the “Zero” marker. This enabled an average speed to be calculated over that distance.
View looking south from Camera 1, which was positioned on top of the Commissioners Road overpass. The 200 metre marker can be seen on the right shoulder as vehicles approach the overpass.
This view from Camera 2 , which was also positioned on top of the overpass, documented the vehicle motions as they approached the overpass. It also documented the number of vehicles entering Highbury Ave from the Commissioners Road on-ramp.
In the November 20, 2019 session a total of 565 northbound vehicles were documented in a half hour along this noted 200 metre distance. In contrast, during the April 7, 2020 session, only 296 vehicles were documented in the same half hour duration. The time of the videotaping was similar, commencing at approximately 1215 hours. Simple math indicates that the drop in vehicle traffic was about 47.6%. The Only logical explanation for this decreased traffic is the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The table below provides a comparison of the data taken from the two videotaping sessions. This table indicated the number of vehicles observed to be travelling at certain speed ranges along with the percentage of vehicles travelling within each speed range. Some observations were “unknown” because at several instances the view of vehicles were blocked from view by large trucks. Thus the totals in the table do not coincide exactly with the total number of observations.
The data from the above table has been rearranged in the form of a chart below, showing the percentages of vehicles in each speed range, contrasted between the two videotaping sessions.
What should be clear is that, although the overall number of observed vehicles was reduced in the April 7, 2020 videotaping, the overall speed of those vehicles was increased. In fact, the average speed of all vehicles in the Nov 20, 2019 session was 99.67 kmh, whereas the average speed in the April 7, 2020 session was 105.26 km/h.
The data was broken down further by examining the average speed of vehicles in the right lane versus the left lane. In the November 20, 2019 session the average speed of vehicles in the right lane was 94.75 km/h whereas the average speed in the left lane was 103.19 km/h. In the April 7, 2020 session the average speed in the right lane was 99.16 km/h, whereas the average speed in the left lane was 110.61 km/h.
In summary, the average speed of vehicles would appear to have increased at a time when the number of observed vehicles had decreased between the two sessions. In particular, there was a huge increase in the number of vehicles travelling between 110 and 115 km/h during the April 7, 2020 session. In November 20, 2019, there were only 5.9 % vehicles travelling in this speed range, whereas in April 7, 2020 that percentage rose to 19.59 %. This indicates that, although the effects of the COVID- 19 pandemic may be favourable in reducing the potential number of collisions, this is counteracted by an increase in overall speed of vehicles and this could increase the potential for certain types of collisions.
An example of a potential problem exists at this Highbury Ave site. The City of London has installed signage informing drivers that lanes will be closed, commencing on April 14, 2020, in preparation for rehabilitation work on the bridge crossing the Thames River located a few hundred metres north of the Commissioners Road overpass. Additional factors to consider is that the on-ramp from Commissioners Road onto Highbury Ave contains a large number of vehicles that are entering Highbury to travel northbound toward the bridge. Data indicates that over the half hour of observation on November 20, 2019, 112 vehicles entered Highbury from this on-ramp. Similarly, on April 7, 2020, 90 vehicles were observed to use this on-ramp. This additional traffic causes slowing of traffic in the right lane of Highbury.
This on-ramp is also very short. A measurement from Googlemaps indicates that it ends only about 142 metres north of the Commissioners Road overpass. While the construction of this interchange is rather old, it is slightly newer than similar interchanges along Highway 401 west of London. A selection of the length of these on-ramps is shown below.
Hwy 401 at Union Road = 366 metres
Hwy 401 at Iona Road = 268 metres
Hwy 401 at Furnival Road = 269 metres
Hwy 401 at Orford Road = 273 metres
Hwy 401 at Victoria Road = 381 metres
Hwy 401 at Kent Bridge Road = 411 metres
The average length of on-ramps from these six examples is 328 metres and this is more than double the 142 metre length of the on-ramp on Highbury Ave at the Commissioners Road overpass. This makes it more challenging for drivers to enter the expressway without interference.
Furthermore, while overall traffic volume has diminished by almost 50 % the data indicates that overall northbound truck traffic has not been reduced to the same degree. In the November 20, 2019 session 42 trucks were observed whereas in the April 7, 2020 session 38 trucks were observed. This results in an increased percentage of trucks from 7.43 % in the Nov/19 session to 12.84 % in the Apr/20 session. These trucks drive primarily in the right lane thus they present an additional problem. With the increase in the numbers of long “truck trains” it becomes more difficult for vehicles to enter an expressway when there is a short on-ramp.
Example of the northbound truck train passing the 200 metre marker on Highbury Ave on April 7, 2020. Such long units make it difficult for vehicles to enter the expressway on the short on-ramp of Commissioners Road.
Furthermore, Highbury Ave begins a substantial downgrade northward from Commissioners Road and such downgrades typically result in increased speeds as well as more difficulty in bringing vehicles to a stop. Even on level surfaces it is common for rear-end impacts to occur on the approach to construction zones on high speed expressways. When the City of London closes one northbound lane this will create traffic back-ups. These back-ups are likely to occur along the downgrade and in the vicinity where additional traffic is entering the expressway from the Commissioners Road on-ramp. When these factors are combined with the higher speeds that have been created from the COVID-19 effect, the potential for increased collision rates must be considered. Thus the COVID-19 effect of increasing vehicle speeds may not be a significant problem on its own. However, when it is combined with other factors such as the downgrade and the on-ramp traffic, the combined effect needs to be recognized.
Electronic Sign posted on on April 3, 2020 on Highbury Ave just north of the Thames River Bridge indicating upcoming construction activity.
View on April 7, 2020 looking north just north of the Commissioners Road overpass showing an electronic sign informing drivers that the northbound lanes of Highbury Ave will be reduced in in preparation for work on the Thames River bridge located further in the background.This portion of Highbury Ave contains a significant downgrade.
In summary while the COVID-19 pandemic has likely produced an overall reduction in the potential of collisions, the effect never-the-less needs to be examined and understood since unique problems can be generated.
COVID-19 Effects on Highbury Ave Traffic in London Ontario
View looking south along Highbury Ave in London, Ontario from the overpass on Commissioners Road. This view was taken on April 7, 2020 and shows the minimal traffic. Gorski Consulting is making a comparison to a similar videotaping session conducted on November 20, 2019.
Traffic on Highbury Ave videotaped on November 20, 2019 has been compared with a similar videotaping session on April 7, 2020. This work is being done for a number of reasons. But the obvious fact is that traffic volume has been reduced due to the effects of the lockdown from the worldwide Corona Virus pandemic. This difference in traffic volume should cause differences in the interactions of traffic and the numbers and types of collisions. It may demonstrate what could be achieved in the future if motor vehicle traffic is reduced and active transportation is increased. Stay tuned as we release some of our data from this testing in the next few days.
COVID-19 Virus Effects on Traffic on Clarke Road in London Ontario
This is a southward view of the S-Curve on Clarke Road north of Fanshawe Park Road in London, Ontario. It is a frame taken from videotaping on March 27, 2020. The lack of vehicles was not difficult to show as there were many occurrences where absolutely no vehicles could be seen on the road.
Traffic volume reductions on Clarke Road in north-eastern London, Ontario continue to demonstrate the effect that the Corona Virus has on the functioning of our society. This site has been monitored for the past 10 years and a number of articles have been posted on its characteristics including traffic volumes. The current data was obtained between 1530 and 1730 hours on March 27, 2020.
For the two-hour, videotaping session the total number of observed northbound vehicles was 579, and southbound vehicles were 372, or a total of 951 vehicles for both directions. During this time 24 northbound trucks and 27 southbound trucks were observed, or a total of 51 trucks for both directions. This leads to the observation that the percentage of truck traffic was only 5.36 %.
Comparison to Previous Years
Traffic volume data is available from the years 2009 and 2019 for the half hour between 1600 and 1630 hours. Thus if we select the same time for the March 27, 2020 session we can compare the results to the previous years.
The table below shows the northbound traffic volume results of four videotaping sessions in the fall of 2009 and four videotaping sessions in the fall of 2019. In the last column we have included the results from the latest session in March 27, 2020. As one can see the reduction in traffic volume in the March 27th session is substantial.
A similar table is shown below for all southbound traffic from the same videotaping sessions. Once again the reduction in traffic volume is large.
Next, in the table below, we provide a break-down of just the truck data. This table is for northbound trucks only.
Next is the truck data for southbound trucks.
The data from all nine videotaping sessions are summarized in table below. The cells in this table show, for the half-hour time between 1600 and 1630 hours, the average number of vehicles, both northbound and southbound, that passed through the site. So, for example, in the four sessions from 2009 the average number of non-trucks passing through the site was 234.5 vehicles, in 2019 that average rose to 370.25, but then it dropped in the single 2020 session to just 188 vehicles. A similar comparison is shown for truck traffic.
Thus the total reduction in non-truck traffic between 2019 and 2020 was 49.2%. And for truck traffic the reduction was 56.5%.
Comparison With Highway 401 Sessions At Westminster Drive Overpass
In an article posted earlier this week Gorski Consulting provided data with respect to traffic volume reductions on Highway 401 just south-west of London, Ontario. A summary of that data, collected on March 25, 2020 at the Westminster Drive interchange, in shown in the table below and it is compared to two other sessions conducted in 2018.
Again we see some large reductions in both total traffic and truck traffic compared to the 2018 data.
Discussion
The results from these traffic observations are not surprising given the recent necessity that the general public remain at home and refrain from travelling due to the rapid spread of the Corona virus. Reductions in traffic volume approaching 50%, and perhaps more, seem to exist at the two sites where Gorski Consulting has made observations. It remains to be seen how these changes will affect road safety. With less vehicles on the road one would think that collision numbers should be reduced. Yet a smaller effect might occur when certain drivers, recognizing less interference, increase their vehicle speeds.
Even in this very short period of two or three weeks of social isolation the numbers of serious collisions being reported in the news media in Southern Ontario appear to be reduced. This unofficial observation may be supplemented in the near future with actual, official statistics and then we will see if this observation holds true.
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