Comments on: Why We Think White Stripes on the Highway Are Shorter Than They Really Are http://www.howwedrive.com/2009/02/03/why-we-think-white-stripes-on-the-highway-are-shorter-than-they-really-are/ Just another WordPress weblog Mon, 21 May 2012 18:16:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Alan MacHett http://www.howwedrive.com/2009/02/03/why-we-think-white-stripes-on-the-highway-are-shorter-than-they-really-are/#comment-6799 Alan MacHett Sat, 04 Apr 2009 06:43:48 +0000 http://www.howwedrive.com/?p=572#comment-6799 When I first read this passage in the book, I estimated the lines to be about 5 feet long. I completely disbelieved that they were 10 feet. Reading it here again, I still utterly disbelieved; surely they are 3-5 feet long! ...so I jogged, tape-measure in hand, the few blocks to the nearby highway to see for myself! (It's 2:30am here in Chapel Hill, and the traffic is all but absent; so this was a relatively safe thing to do.) Lo and behold! the lines really are 10 feet long!! Perhaps the general estimate of 2 feet speaks also of a general inability to judge distance; I believe you mentioned something to that effect in the book. I say this because, even standing on the line just now, I still didn't imagine it was 10 feet. Or perhaps it is only I who sucks at measurements...? ;-) When I first read this passage in the book, I estimated the lines to be about 5 feet long. I completely disbelieved that they were 10 feet. Reading it here again, I still utterly disbelieved; surely they are 3-5 feet long! …so I jogged, tape-measure in hand, the few blocks to the nearby highway to see for myself! (It’s 2:30am here in Chapel Hill, and the traffic is all but absent; so this was a relatively safe thing to do.) Lo and behold! the lines really are 10 feet long!!

Perhaps the general estimate of 2 feet speaks also of a general inability to judge distance; I believe you mentioned something to that effect in the book. I say this because, even standing on the line just now, I still didn’t imagine it was 10 feet. Or perhaps it is only I who sucks at measurements…? ;-)

]]> By: Bossi http://www.howwedrive.com/2009/02/03/why-we-think-white-stripes-on-the-highway-are-shorter-than-they-really-are/#comment-5782 Bossi Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:57:17 +0000 http://www.howwedrive.com/?p=572#comment-5782 Just a quick addition (though it may already be on your mind) -- the effect is also quite profound for signing, be it along the side of the road or overhead. I had never known how large those directional signs are above a freeway until I walked up beside one and discovered it was twice as tall as I. ...Some are 3x taller, with each letter being about my height. I suppose that would mean that billboards are "supersized". Just a quick addition (though it may already be on your mind) — the effect is also quite profound for signing, be it along the side of the road or overhead. I had never known how large those directional signs are above a freeway until I walked up beside one and discovered it was twice as tall as I. …Some are 3x taller, with each letter being about my height. I suppose that would mean that billboards are “supersized”.

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