Difference in highway centreline markings

Stokstert said:
Solid..dashed..solid lines are used to keep opposing trafic further apart. This is for those guys who can't keep in the centre of the lanes and/or the lanes are quite narrow.
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You're right...I have seen that. In passes & areas with hectic inclines & drops. Not so much in GP though...more in the south east of SA.

Fudzy said:
If a road is serious enough to warrant these lines they should use concrete barriers rather.
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Dunno hey...kilometer of concrete barriers aren't exactly cheap. I'd prefer road lights first. Or fixed potholes. Or a wicked cat-eye setup. Cat-eyes (reflectors?) are a solid substitute for lights...if set up correctly....some areas have dodgy colour schemes.
 
MKFrost said:
Agree, some people seems to think that you have to try and keep your right hand wheels on the line or as close as possible...
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Depends. I do this intentionally if there are motorbikes on my left. Come what may...I'm not hitting a motorbike rider - I'll rather risk a (partial) scrap with oncoming traffic. Admittedly not so keen on a head-on collision with oncoming traffic though.

idk I feel weird about motorbike riders...I'll go to extreme lengths to "protect" them...but I have very little empathy for them if it goes sideways anyways. They took a risk, I did what I can...if they still paint the road red...tough luck. So far so good though. Plus I get a kick out of motorbike riders thanking me for moving out of the way.
 
supersunbird said:

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It's obviously a lane designed to entrap cyclists and motorcyclists :p
 
HavocXphere said:
You're right...I have seen that. In passes & areas with hectic inclines & drops. Not so much in GP though...more in the south east of SA.


Dunno hey...kilometer of concrete barriers aren't exactly cheap. I'd prefer road lights first. Or fixed potholes. Or a wicked cat-eye setup. Cat-eyes (reflectors?) are a solid substitute for lights...if set up correctly....some areas have dodgy colour schemes.
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We have awesome LED cats eyes going up the now infamous, Fields Hill. It doesn't have to be concrete I guess, I've seen a lot of barriers up the N2 made from high tensile steel cables.
 
Fudzy said:
We have awesome LED cats eyes going up the now infamous, Fields Hill. It doesn't have to be concrete I guess, I've seen a lot of barriers up the N2 made from high tensile steel cables.
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I'm fine with the cable thing. Realistically you just want to prevent a head on collision. Anything else is an acceptable risk imo. Not ideal, but acceptable.

As a reference point for all reader - NCAP tests are performed at <=60kmh. Beyond that survival is hit & miss. Now take a head on collision of 2x cars going at 120. Thats equivalent to a 240kmh collision...versus the 60 NCAP reckons is a good benchmark. So yeah...avoiding head on collisions is the name of the game. Avoiding solid oak trees is good too.

Fudzy said:
We have awesome LED cats eyes going up the now infamous, Fields Hill. It doesn't have to be concrete I guess, I've seen a lot of barriers up the N2 made from high tensile steel cables.
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LEDs? Haven't seen that tbh - aside from the nasty flashing ones in GP. tbh I think those are worse than cat eyes because they flash too slowly. If you're wide awake then you'll be "re-evaluating" the situation faster than the LEDs flash. Dunno about that Fields Hill...if they don't flash then I'm all for it.

My personal favorite is LEDs with consistent colour scheme & super short spacing. Combine that with a car that has xenons that tend to be a bit lower angled than is comfortable (bmw 3 series) & you've got a wicked trade-off between safety & not blindly oncoming drivers.

By short enough spacing I mean that if the road splits you can see the split cleanly. Else you've suddenly got white reflectors both on your left and right & you're wondering wtf the road is....until you hit the barrier that represents the split.
 
supersunbird said:
Just regularly cleaned cats eyes would be cool, and they can have the LED solar ones every 50m or so, would be nice.
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They're self cleaning. One of the few respectable SA inventions actually. Requires rain though afaik...so might be sketchy in winter.
 
HavocXphere said:
As a reference point for all reader - NCAP tests are performed at <=60kmh. Beyond that survival is hit & miss. Now take a head on collision of 2x cars going at 120. Thats equivalent to a 240kmh collision...versus the 60 NCAP reckons is a good benchmark. So yeah...avoiding head on collisions is the name of the game. Avoiding solid oak trees is good too.
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No, it's not. Go look at Newton's third law.
 
HavocXphere said:
I don't recall seeing one of those? Solid - cat eye - solid sure but not that.
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Let me post an example (random image from Google):

road_marking_1.jpg


Stokstert said:
Solid..dashed..solid lines are used to keep opposing trafic further apart. This is for those guys who can't keep in the centre of the lanes and/or the lanes are quite narrow.
Click to expand...

No dude, double solid line (with or without the dashed line in the middle) means no crossing - i.e. if there's a T junction where the top of the T is the road with the double solid line you can't turn right into the road as you'd be crossing the double white line. Single white line means you can do so. No overtaking is allowed in either circumstance.
 
supersunbird said:
And if its dashed in the middle and solid on both the sides like the OP asks? Get it on N1 north of Polokwane for example.

From what I understand it means do not cross under any circumstances.
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Yes it means you cannot cross at that point in time, but it's also probably an indication that a section will be open for you to cross further down the way.

Like someone else said it's also an easy way to separate the lanes somewhat, although I'm sure that's not directly by intention.
 
HavocXphere said:
I'm fine with the cable thing. Realistically you just want to prevent a head on collision. Anything else is an acceptable risk imo. Not ideal, but acceptable.

As a reference point for all reader - NCAP tests are performed at <=60kmh. Beyond that survival is hit & miss. Now take a head on collision of 2x cars going at 120. Thats equivalent to a 240kmh collision...versus the 60 NCAP reckons is a good benchmark. So yeah...avoiding head on collisions is the name of the game. Avoiding solid oak trees is good too.


LEDs? Haven't seen that tbh - aside from the nasty flashing ones in GP. tbh I think those are worse than cat eyes because they flash too slowly. If you're wide awake then you'll be "re-evaluating" the situation faster than the LEDs flash. Dunno about that Fields Hill...if they don't flash then I'm all for it.

My personal favorite is LEDs with consistent colour scheme & super short spacing. Combine that with a car that has xenons that tend to be a bit lower angled than is comfortable (bmw 3 series) & you've got a wicked trade-off between safety & not blindly oncoming drivers.

By short enough spacing I mean that if the road splits you can see the split cleanly. Else you've suddenly got white reflectors both on your left and right & you're wondering wtf the road is....until you hit the barrier that represents the split.
Click to expand...

If you ever drive to Durban at night, take the M13 turn off before the last toll booth. They start at Hillcrest and end at the bottom of fields hill. Don't have a photo unfortunately but they look awesome.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Yes it means you cannot cross at that point in time, but it's also probably an indication that a section will be open for you to cross further down the way.

Like someone else said it's also an easy way to separate the lanes somewhat, although I'm sure that's not directly by intention.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the brain doesn't care about lines on the road when you fall asleep, hitting something is more effective.
 
Oj0 said:
Let me post an example (random image from Google):
Click to expand...
I take it back. I have seen those before & like them. Apologies to all/anyone.

Fudzy said:
...
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Do they flash though? I've never seen them not flash & would be delighted to hear that some don't. I'm in GP not Durbs though so unlikely to see that place anytime soon. (And generally if I'm outside of GP I'm focused something fierce so I'd be OK in absolute darkness too). That being said, I will keep an eye out for it...would I hit it on a standard GP/Durbs run?...not to familiar with that tbh.
 
HavocXphere said:
I take it back. I have seen those before & like them. Apologies to all/anyone.


Do they flash though? I've never seen them not flash & would be delighted to hear that some don't. I'm in GP not Durbs though so unlikely to see that place anytime soon. (And generally if I'm outside of GP I'm focused something fierce so I'd be OK in absolute darkness too). That being said, I will keep an eye out for it...would I hit it on a standard GP/Durbs run?...not to familiar with that tbh.
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Nope they're a solid colour. There is quite a bit of mist in the area and they certainly do help.
 
Oj0 said:
Let me post an example (random image from Google):

road_marking_1.jpg




No dude, double solid line (with or without the dashed line in the middle) means no crossing - i.e. if there's a T junction where the top of the T is the road with the double solid line you can't turn right into the road as you'd be crossing the double white line. Single white line means you can do so. No overtaking is allowed in either circumstance.
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That's the first sensible explanation of these lines that I've heard. Similarly then I imagine you're not permitted to turn right into a road marked like this if you're approaching from the vertical of the T?

But why the dash in the middle?
 
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