Comments on: Sign of Confusion

By: Tom Vanderbilt

Tom Vanderbilt — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:23:43 +0000

You do have wonder whether it was willful ignorance. Another interesting question is the presence of “normative” behavior — if other people were also doing, it’s easy to simply see that and not even notice the signs. But yes, the defense would have been a bit more innocent if there were not that big queue of drivers waiting to turn right; there should be a bit of common sense at work as well that intersections tend not to have two different places at which you can make a right turn.

By: Sean Brown

Sean Brown — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:43:29 +0000

Well, now that I read the article…I can understand that someone at the intersection for the first, or maybe the second time would see the sign and act according. They may see the second sign, the island and the right-turn lane but perhaps because of the initial sign they are caught off-guard and, pass up the right-turn lane, and instead make the illegal right. BUT…this lady claims to have turned right from the intersection on a regular basis for an entire year…I’m not sure if that’s excusable.

By: Sean Brown

Sean Brown — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:37:17 +0000

This intersection is a few miles from my parents’ house and I have made this turn a few times. I don’t remember the misleading sign but likely I just didn’t pay attention to it (and evidently neither did the traffic cops…unless they purposefully picked an intersection with a misleading sign to “poach” at!). However, there is definitely “signage overload” here in Austin and most drivers have no idea about the existence of unmarked crosswalks. Basically, more Austinites should read your book!

By: jack

jack — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:34:54 +0000

It appears that she was taking an unwise route around the traffic in the right turn-only lane. She should have been heavily fined so the judge was wrong in reducing the amount to $5. Her desire to save time could create deathly consequences for others. Drivers need to have some common sense and using signs as an excuse for driving incorrectly is a poor excuse. Austin drivers are road hogs.