07-13-2010, 06:55 PM
So well before the bottleneck where traffic has to merge? I'll give this a rest soon because the thread has run its length I think, but I do want to take issue with the point that you and Kathy say this is tradition, and certainly with DaVinci's claim that it's harmless.
For me the word tradition means it's been going on for decades. This is not the case here. In general, I have no problem with sign waving and agree it has gone on long enough to be traditional, but not at the Keaau bottleneck. It's only been there a few years, certainly much less than a decade, so campaigning there is not something I'd call traditional. You may think differently of course.
As for harmless, if it causes a backup, and in my experience it does, I don't think you can really call that harmless. I've seen enough aggressive driving at the bottleneck, especially when the traffic is backed up, to know tempers are being raised. Even when there isn't a backup I see drivers flooring the gas pedal to get ahead of others (only to slow down when they catch up with the traffic in front - what's the point?). Combine that with a bunch of people trying to distract drivers at the point where two lanes merge to one, well, it isn't harmless in my view and is a major cause of backups.
I don't think I should even mention the amount of money spent on gas and lost time in a traffic jam...
Tom
For me the word tradition means it's been going on for decades. This is not the case here. In general, I have no problem with sign waving and agree it has gone on long enough to be traditional, but not at the Keaau bottleneck. It's only been there a few years, certainly much less than a decade, so campaigning there is not something I'd call traditional. You may think differently of course.
As for harmless, if it causes a backup, and in my experience it does, I don't think you can really call that harmless. I've seen enough aggressive driving at the bottleneck, especially when the traffic is backed up, to know tempers are being raised. Even when there isn't a backup I see drivers flooring the gas pedal to get ahead of others (only to slow down when they catch up with the traffic in front - what's the point?). Combine that with a bunch of people trying to distract drivers at the point where two lanes merge to one, well, it isn't harmless in my view and is a major cause of backups.
I don't think I should even mention the amount of money spent on gas and lost time in a traffic jam...
Tom