Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: cordex on February 24, 2013, 10:33:14 PM
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There are two questions that have been bugging me for a while now, so I now put them to the APS collective.
First question is to folks who run on a regular basis: Is there a legitimate reason that running on an otherwise empty sidewalk in a suburban neighborhood is unpleasant or in some way less desirable than running in the street in the same neighborhood? It seems that even when the sidewalks are otherwise empty and there is traffic on the road, our local fitness enthusiasts would prefer to dodge cars than beat feet on a sidewalk. For the life of me I can't figure out why this might be, but as consistently as runners (and powerwalkers) do this, there must be a reason.
Second: Is there a rational safety purpose for drastically slower speed limits on roads surrounding modern schools? I get that at one point there was a desire to protect kids who wandered around and about school areas from speeding cars, but these days kids are kept penned inside fenced areas far from the roads on those rare occasions that they are even allowed outside of the buildings. In my area there is typically a field and parking lot between the road and the school, and kids are kept behind the buildings when they are allowed to see the sky, so it isn't like there is a particular risk of cars losing control and hitting kids. Yet, even when there is a good 100 yards of dirt and grass between the road and the building with nary a kid to be seen during the time the speed restrictions are in effect, there is still a 20mph+ variation in the speed surrounding every single school. Presumably there is a reasonable cause for this. Anyone have any idea why?
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Around here, school zones are just a couple hundred feet on either side of a crosswalk to slow people down where kids are actively crossing the road, and they're only actively school zones during the time before and after school that the crossing is happening.
Re: the speed walkers and runners, I've often wondered the same thing.
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There are two questions that have been bugging me for a while now, so I now put them to the APS collective.
First question is to folks who run on a regular basis: Is there a legitimate reason that running on an otherwise empty sidewalk in a suburban neighborhood is unpleasant or in some way less desirable than running in the street in the same neighborhood? It seems that even when the sidewalks are otherwise empty and there is traffic on the road, our local fitness enthusiasts would prefer to dodge cars than beat feet on a sidewalk. For the life of me I can't figure out why this might be, but as consistently as runners (and powerwalkers) do this, there must be a reason.
My only guess is that they think that asphalt has a bit more give to it than concrete, and so is better to run on. But who freaking knows; we have cyclists that think it's a great idea to ride down a narrow road with ditches and absolutely no shoulder that many drivers treat like a friggin' race track. I still can't explain that one.
Second: Is there a rational safety purpose for drastically slower speed limits on roads surrounding modern schools? I get that at one point there was a desire to protect kids who wandered around and about school areas from speeding cars, but these days kids are kept penned inside fenced areas far from the roads on those rare occasions that they are even allowed outside of the buildings. In my area there is typically a field and parking lot between the road and the school, and kids are kept behind the buildings when they are allowed to see the sky, so it isn't like there is a particular risk of cars losing control and hitting kids. Yet, even when there is a good 100 yards of dirt and grass between the road and the building with nary a kid to be seen during the time the speed restrictions are in effect, there is still a 20mph+ variation in the speed surrounding every single school. Presumably there is a reasonable cause for this. Anyone have any idea why?
Doncha know? Its fer da childrunz!
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but as consistently as runners (and powerwalkers) do this, there must be a reason.
They are idiots who think they have a magical force field surrounding them protecting them from being struck by a car.
Having scraped a guy off the pavement who was hit by a car doing about 40mph...yeah I'd stay the hell out of the road.
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I hardly ever see people doing that here. If they're running in a neighborhood, they're running on the sidewalk. The reason earlier mentioned about surfaces might be why you see it. My bones are too old to run on concrete, so I walk on the sidewalk that leads to the park where I run and start running on dirt there .We have a ton of offroad trails here, which is maybe why I don't see much street running.
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My only guess is that they think that asphalt has a bit more give to it than concrete, and so is better to run on.
Hmm ... interesting. A quick search says you are right on the money (at least as far as theory goes). I've never been much of a runner, but when I did run it was mostly on a mix of an asphalt walking trail and concrete sidewalks. I never noticed a difference. Now, when I ran on the recycled tire track at our local school or on dirt trails I did notice a difference.
I still think I'd rather deal with the possibility of stress fractures than the stress of being totally fractured and having Boomhauer scrape me off the road.
Doncha know? Its fer da childrunz!
That's what I figured, but I can't work out how da childrunz benefit.
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They are idiots who think they have a magical force field surrounding them protecting them from being struck by a car.
Having scraped a guy off the pavement who was hit by a car doing about 40mph...yeah I'd stay the hell out of the road.
Had one last hear in my town, yuppie on bike cruises down the hill (that is also a 90degree turn) on the wrong side. Meets the bumper of a F350 coming up the hill. Truck won.
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They used to "force" kids living less than a certain distance from the school to walk/ride a bike to school, or get mommy to put on a robe and drive with her head still in curlers. Usually it was something like 1 mile.
Now kids who live literally across the street or next door to the school must ride the bus. Aint no kids using no crosswalks any more.
I'd love to see the first day they use public transportation to get to the job and find out the bus does not stop at their driveway. Around here it can be 5 miles (most direct route) to a bus stop. But then the city fathers never expected any but the working poor to ride the bus.
stay safe.
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Around here, school zones are just a couple hundred feet on either side of a crosswalk to slow people down where kids are actively crossing the road, and they're only actively school zones during the time before and after school that the crossing is happening.
Re: the speed walkers and runners, I've often wondered the same thing.
It's that way here in Milwaukee and the surrounding metro area. And often the signs are lighted and only in effect when school is letting in or out, or have the caveat "When Children Are Present" on them.
My four daughter's grade school has no bus service at all. All the kids walk, or are driven there. Although we and most of the parents who drive them there do so because we live about five miles away from it, and we're part of the cadre of families who chose that particular school in our district because of their test scores, teaching methods, technology etc.
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Second: Is there a rational safety purpose for drastically slower speed limits on roads surrounding modern schools? I get that at one point there was a desire to protect kids who wandered around and about school areas from speeding cars, but these days kids are kept penned inside fenced areas far from the roads on those rare occasions that they are even allowed outside of the buildings. In my area there is typically a field and parking lot between the road and the school, and kids are kept behind the buildings when they are allowed to see the sky, so it isn't like there is a particular risk of cars losing control and hitting kids. Yet, even when there is a good 100 yards of dirt and grass between the road and the building with nary a kid to be seen during the time the speed restrictions are in effect, there is still a 20mph+ variation in the speed surrounding every single school. Presumably there is a reasonable cause for this. Anyone have any idea why?
The reason for the 20mph speed limit is one of statistics... The 20 mph speed limit gives drivers (theoretically) more time to react when junior darts out in front of your car. Additionally, a car can stop much faster from 20 mph than 30+...
The most important reason though is one of survivability (at least this is what they taught me in my EMT classes). Statistically, a person's injuries are drastically less severe and much more survivable when hit at 20 mph vs 30+... Kinetic energy is proportional to the square of the speed, so a linear increase in speed causes an exponential increase in KE... At speeds of 20 mph and below, injuries tend to be much more survivable.
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Had one last hear in my town, yuppie on bike cruises down the hill (that is also a 90degree turn) on the wrong side. Meets the bumper of a F350 coming up the hill. Truck won.
Oh at my last job I got the pleasure of scraping a few bicyclists off the pavement too. Some of them were also under the impression that they had a force field surrounding them.
Just because you can ride a bicycle up a very winding, very narrow, road (think a shorter version of the Tail of The Dragon) crowded with lots of traffic and hold up traffic while doing so doesn't mean you should. Yet thousands of dumbasses per year did exactly that.
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So I buy that asphalt isn't as hard as concrete (and just about every running forum post on the subject I've read seems to say that you can run a marathon on asphalt without breaking a sweat but you will fall to pieces the minute you step on concrete), but does that minor difference in hardness really matter given the buffer that shoes provide? It just seems to me that a relatively soft body (i.e., my foot) cushioned by the padding and sole of my shoe would probably squish almost exactly as flat if I were slapping it against concrete or asphalt. Or am I totally wrong on that?
The reason for the 20mph speed limit is one of statistics... The 20 mph speed limit gives drivers (theoretically) more time to react when junior darts out in front of your car. Additionally, a car can stop much faster from 20 mph than 30+...
The most important reason though is one of survivability (at least this is what they taught me in my EMT classes). Statistically, a person's injuries are drastically less severe and much more survivable when hit at 20 mph vs 30+... Kinetic energy is proportional to the square of the speed, so a linear increase in speed causes an exponential increase in KE... At speeds of 20 mph and below, injuries tend to be much more survivable.
I get all that. If kids were wandering out by the road, this would all make sense. But they aren't.
Around here, kids aren't ever allowed anywhere near the road at any time when the school zone is in effect - in my city, that means from 0730 to 1630. The few kids that do walk to the schools nearest to me do so via a sidewalk system that connects their neighborhood with the school without coming near any roads affected by the school zone. Of course, after school zone hours have expired the fields between the roads and parking lots are sometimes used for soccer games and so forth ...
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...or have the caveat "When Children Are Present" on them.
If you have kids in the car, do you have to slow down every time you see a school zone sign?
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I'm ok with school zones if for nothing more than slowing people down when the giant yellow and completely invisible buses are pulling out. People really don't see them. My only problem is one local town I drive through at school dismissal has a zone where Sally soccermom thinks she can pull right outin front of you since you are going slow.
On the sidewalks, I used to run in the city a fair bit, usually the sidewalk. Big drawback is the curb changes at the cross street. I grew up as a CC runner in the hills so that's fine, but some flat ground runners disdain any and all obstacles.
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Second: Is there a rational safety purpose for drastically slower speed limits on roads surrounding modern schools? I get that at one point there was a desire to protect kids who wandered around and about school areas from speeding cars, but these days kids are kept penned inside fenced areas far from the roads on those rare occasions that they are even allowed outside of the buildings. In my area there is typically a field and parking lot between the road and the school, and kids are kept behind the buildings when they are allowed to see the sky, so it isn't like there is a particular risk of cars losing control and hitting kids. Yet, even when there is a good 100 yards of dirt and grass between the road and the building with nary a kid to be seen during the time the speed restrictions are in effect, there is still a 20mph+ variation in the speed surrounding every single school. Presumably there is a reasonable cause for this. Anyone have any idea why?
Several of the schools near my house (there are 5-6 within 2 miles) have kids milling about, walking down sidewalks, etc before, during, and after school hours. Also, during drop-off/pick-up times, there is much more traffic moving through those areas (with many piloted by unpredictable new drivers around the high schools). I don't have a problem with slower speeds in school zones. Given that most are short (1/8th mile or so), going 25 instead of 35-45 (most are 35 if school isn't in session) isn't a huge time suck.
Chris
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My only guess is that they think that asphalt has a bit more give to it than concrete, and so is better to run on.
Ah. Runner logic.
That explains the touristy runners here. Out running at the break of day for their health. Up and down the Strip. That would be that big brown stain you see in the middle of the valley when looking down from the hills. Running on the Strip. For their health. ???
I'd love to see the first day they use public transportation to get to the job and find out the bus does not stop at their driveway.
What I see a lot of is kids who have been trained for years that when they get off the school bus they can dart in front of it and across the street, 'cuz all the traffic stops for the bus. The school bus. Not so much the transit bus. Lotsa squeals and close calls. :O
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I'm ok with school zones if for nothing more than slowing people down when the giant yellow and completely invisible buses are pulling out. People really don't see them. My only problem is one local town I drive through at school dismissal has a zone where Sally soccermom thinks she can pull right outin front of you since you are going slow.
If our local school zones were active when buses were only active they would make more sense.
Several of the schools near my house (there are 5-6 within 2 miles) have kids milling about, walking down sidewalks, etc before, during, and after school hours.
Our schools are quite different. Sure, high schools have their share of milling about (though mostly within the school campus), but our elementary and middle schools - with which they are shotgunning our county with at the moment - are a very different story with children never seen in front of the school except when getting in or out of buses/cars.
Also, during drop-off/pick-up times, there is much more traffic moving through those areas (with many piloted by unpredictable new drivers around the high schools).
Yeah, it makes some sense for those times. Of course, the flip side of that is that the increased traffic typically results in slower speeds regardless of the upper limit.
I don't have a problem with slower speeds in school zones. Given that most are short (1/8th mile or so), going 25 instead of 35-45 (most are 35 if school isn't in session) isn't a huge time suck.
It isn't the time suck that bothers me. These days I drive the limit and take my time. It is the rapidly changing speed limit forcing repeated deceleration and acceleration - combined with French G's inattentive drivers - that make me question whether it does actually make anything safer. I have to imagine there are some adverse effects associated with inconsistent and wildly fluctuating speed limits, but then I'm not a civil engineer.
I'm sure they have their place in some locations, but I don't buy the idea that every school needs a school zone.
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On the sidewalks, I used to run in the city a fair bit, usually the sidewalk. Big drawback is the curb changes at the cross street. I grew up as a CC runner in the hills so that's fine, but some flat ground runners disdain any and all obstacles.
This is what it is for me. I got into serious distance running by running around the road around an airfield. Flat and level. Ups and downs are survivable but in a small town like my home town where traffic is quiet I'll run in the street. Where I am now (big city going to college), yeah I'm on the sidewalk.
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Commuting in the predawn hours out of a small town to a rural area can make for an interesting drive.
If someone wants to run for exercise more power to them, I don't even care if they want to run in the street. But, some of them folks just ain't bright, litteraly. People, it's dark out there is it really a good idea to wear a dark running outfit? A reflective patch or stripe or even a little red light might be a good idea. Sure, the driver of the car or truck that runs you over has a pretty good chance of being found at fault but that won't make you any less run over.
And, as gas prices continue to climb I expect to see another increase in the number of school kids riding the ole grey mare to school. Again, I think that is great but cowboy, when it's dark and foggy you and your horse a freaking invisible. A patch of something reflective or maybe even some kind of light visible from all around might not look cool but it would be much cooler than you and ole paint getting punted across the uncontrolled intersection by the 1 ton dually heading for town.
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I prefer to run on the street, because the sidewalks are bumpy and cracked from being pushed up by tree roots. Also, they are typically covered by junk (acorns, sticks, sap, pinecones) that falls off the trees. I don't wear shoes, and I don't believe in any of the 'running ground should have give' theories. I detest running tracks that are covered with that rubbery stuff. If God had wanted us to run on that he would have...something.
My neighborhood is very quiet, but I go up on the sidewalk when there are cars. I am very afraid of cars.
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There is one school (elementry) that I drive by every morning that definatly should retain the school zone. Huge cross walks, heards of children and parents walking to the school and they have a cop pulling crossing gaurd duty every day.
As for some of the others... When you can't even see the school from the road, I wonder about the need as well.
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The school zones here have flashing lights and are only active when the lights are on, which is morning and afternoon for an hour or so.
Is that not common most places?
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"Is there a legitimate reason that running on an otherwise empty sidewalk in a suburban neighborhood is unpleasant or in some way less desirable than running in the street in the same neighborhood?"
Well, from a purely physical standpoint, concrete has absoultely ZERO impact absorptive qualities. What your shoes don't take up, your body does. Asphalt, while it may seem to be solid, is FAR more relisilliant.
I was an athletic trainer in college, and you could always tell the team members who did their roadwork primarily in town and on sidewalks, instead of on sidestreets and in parks.
They were the ones with shin splints, stress fractures in the feet, plantar fasciatis, and chronic knee issues.
IF you HAVE to run on concrete on a regular basis, skip the thin soled running shoes and go for a shoe with a very shock absorbent sole, and add additional shock absorptive inserts.
We also had a lot of problems with the basketball and indoor track teams. When they built the fieldhouse where I went to college, the contractor screwed up and put the membrane right on top of the concrete. NO resilliant padding at all. By the end of the season, most of the men's and women's basketball teams had leg and foot issues, ranging from annoying to one woman who had to quit the sport in her junior year because she had so many debilitating issues with her one foot.
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. . . But, some of them folks just ain't bright, litteraly. People, it's dark out there is it really a good idea to wear a dark running outfit? A reflective patch or stripe or even a little red light might be a good idea. Sure, the driver of the car or truck that runs you over has a pretty good chance of being found at fault but that won't make you any less run over. . .
Just today, before sunrise, there was a guy jogging in my neighborhood as I was going to work; no light, dressed in black pants and a dark blue sweatshirt. And he's not the only one I've seen doing this - maybe they've watched too many ninja movies?
Bicyclists on highways? See them too. It really doesn't matter what the law says, what the rules of the road are, or who get a ticket - when a cyclist tries to occupy the same place at the same time as a soccer mommy driving a Suburban, he loses. Physics trumps the motor vehicle code, and all the self-rightous indignation in the world won't change that.
As for the existence of school zones today, I have two words: REVENUE ENHANCEMENT. The local schools are well removed from residences and AFAIK, all students ride. Yet there are school speed zones, WELL PATROLLED by the local constabulary. They hand out a LOT of tickets, and make a lot of money for the city.
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Runner here:
Running in the street rather than the sidewalk, for me, happens for two reasons.
#1 - Yes, the asphalt is a bit softer.
#2 - I hate jogging up and down the sidewalk ramps at every intersection and at every merging of the sidewalk with a house driveway. I'd rather run on a more consistently level surface.
So, I run on the left side of the road where I can see oncoming traffic and get out of its way. But, I only run on the road in tiny neighborhood streets. Never on anything that could be construed as an artery, and more often than not there's no cars in front of me at all.
I took a new route for a 5 mile run on Sunday, along some of the irrigation canals we have in Mesa. Concrete sidewalk. My feet HURT from that pounding, and I'm not a stranger to 5 mile runs.
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Now I know, and knowing is half the battle.
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Street vs Sidewalks
1. As has been mentioned, blacktop is much easier on the runner than concrete.
2. Most of my running has been done in the wee hours of the morning, before sunrise. Even with street lights, many of the surface irregularities common on sidewalks are difficult to discern before you end up sprawled out & bleeding.
3. Whenever I run in the dark, at the very least I will don a white t-shirt.
4. Whenever I ride my bike in the dark, I am a regular carnival of reflectors & blinking lights.
School Zones
Live diagonally across the street from a school. Lots of kids walk to school, so there are lots of the buggers about at start/let out times. Also, lots of evening functions, so the kiddos can be seen leaving up until evening time. There is a 4-way stop intersection, but some folks manage to miss the entire school, the stop signs, the signs with flashy lights, and the reflective graphics affixed to the street. Just blow on through if no kids are in the cross walk or skid to a stop.
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4. Whenever I ride my bike in the dark, I am a regular carnival of reflectors & blinking lights.
Thread veer related to biking and blinky lights...
I read an article recently, that I can't find at the moment, that indicated blinky lights actually work against the cyclist by drawing motorists TO them. I haven't started using my tail lights on steady mode, but that's mainly because I haven't done much night cycling recently.
Chris
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I read an article recently, that I can't find at the moment, that indicated blinky lights actually work against the cyclist by drawing motorists TO them. I haven't started using my tail lights on steady mode, but that's mainly because I haven't done much night cycling recently.
That reminds me of a quote from Neal Stephenson's Zodiac. The main character discusses his personal theory of safely riding a bike at night: dress in all black with no reflectors, then pretend there is a million dollar award to the first car to run you down.
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Thread veer related to biking and blinky lights...
I read an article recently, that I can't find at the moment, that indicated blinky lights actually work against the cyclist by drawing motorists TO them. I haven't started using my tail lights on steady mode, but that's mainly because I haven't done much night cycling recently.
Chris
OK, may turn them to constant on. Or replace them with frickin' laser beams. No middle-way, ill-tempered sea bass for me, no sirree!
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Thread veer related to biking and blinky lights...
I read an article recently, that I can't find at the moment, that indicated blinky lights actually work against the cyclist by drawing motorists TO them. I haven't started using my tail lights on steady mode, but that's mainly because I haven't done much night cycling recently.
Chris
It stands to reason. When i used to ride dirt bikes I learned that the surest way to hit a big rock or tree was to look at it. The secret to not hitting it is to look where you want to go.
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Concrete is the worst possible surface to run on. Sidewalks are the worst type of concrete to run on. I walk (not run) to the bus every work day, and I do it in the road not the sidewalk. But that's in a sleepy residential neighborhood. The most annoying part for me is the sloped driveways. 10 feet of flat and level, 10 feet of one leg landing 3 inches lower than the other. Ridiculous.
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Thread veer related to biking and blinky lights...
I read an article recently, that I can't find at the moment, that indicated blinky lights actually work against the cyclist by drawing motorists TO them. I haven't started using my tail lights on steady mode, but that's mainly because I haven't done much night cycling recently.
Chris
I ever tell you about almost hitting a guy on a huffy/pacific/whatever on my morning commute in Utah?
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Thread veer related to biking and blinky lights...
I read an article recently, that I can't find at the moment, that indicated blinky lights actually work against the cyclist by drawing motorists TO them. I haven't started using my tail lights on steady mode, but that's mainly because I haven't done much night cycling recently.
Chris
I'd be interested in reading that since I commute by bike and ride at night sometimes. The bike I normally commute on has two blinkys and lots of reflective tape, I've got a third blinky on my Camelback and more tape on my helmet, along with a reflective jacket.
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I don't wear shoes, and I don't believe in any of the 'running ground should have give' theories.
Barefoot? Or some kind of "minimalist" shoe?
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How can asphalt be softer than concrete for runners? Cars, which have a much higher weight per square inch than runners, aren't leaving depressions in the asphalt. Nor are cyclists.
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RE: Running on concrete vs asphalt
Time for the super geek to come out of me.
Now get this ... there are infinite different types of concrete. It has to do with the mixture with determines the strength (measured in pounds per square inch or psi). There are many types of concrete because of the different applications, in buildings, as sidewalks, used in planters or parking lot bumpers, etc. Asphalt is different in that is is only used for roads, so it's basically residential road, commercial road (high use) or highway. The asphalt on maple drive can be softer than on main street, and main street can be softer than the interstate. Asphalt (400-600 psi) is "softer" than concrete (typically 3000 psi) meaning that it takes compression and then expands back to its original state. Concrete sidewalks and paths are the "softest" concrete to run on, about 3000 or 4000 psi.
Worst concrete substance to run on: Airstrip, typically 8000 - 10000 psi.
This message brought to you by Bill Nye the Science guy.
From... http://forums.runnersworld.com/forums/runner-communities/beginners/running-concrete-vs-asphalt (http://forums.runnersworld.com/forums/runner-communities/beginners/running-concrete-vs-asphalt)
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How can asphalt be softer than concrete for runners? Cars, which have a much higher weight per square inch than runners, aren't leaving depressions in the asphalt. Nor are cyclists.
I still doubt this too, but everyone seems to think it is true. The human body is putting ... what ... maybe 10-20PSI max on a given location when running?
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in Reno, lots of kids walking to school.
They are pretty dumb.
I have to drive 10 mph in the 25mph school zone to avoid them.
Runners? looks like the answers have been provided.
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I still doubt this too, but everyone seems to think it is true. The human body is putting ... what ... maybe 10-20PSI max on a given location when running?
Here's a crazy idea. Try running on asphalt, then try running on concrete.
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Here's a crazy idea. Try running on asphalt, then try running on concrete.
False experiment.
To a non-runner, running is gonna hurt no matter what.
He'd have to get in shape to the point where repeated stress impact of 3+ mile runs aren't a problem in the first place. Then spend a week running every other day on asphalt-only surfaces, and then a week running every other day on concrete-only surfaces.
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Dude, it's a person asking question on an internet forum for his own edification, not an experiement to be published in a peer reviewed journal. I think we can skimp on the rigor just this once. ;/
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Dude, it's a person asking question on an internet forum for his own edification, not an experiement to be published in a peer reviewed journal. I think we can skimp on the rigor just this once. ;/
Never skimp on the rigor. =D
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Never skimp on the rigor. =D
Exactly. But the rigor can be morticed.
The running test would have to be a double blind study.
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Exactly. But the rigor can be morticed.
The running test would have to be a double blind study.
But how can they run if they can't see where they're going? ???
=D
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So how do you runners feel about running on 100+ year old brick streets? my town still has some of that.
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How can asphalt be softer than concrete for runners? Cars, which have a much higher weight per square inch than runners, aren't leaving depressions in the asphalt. Nor are cyclists.
Uhhh... Asphalt has tar. Concrete is dried out hard stuff. The tar makes it a more flexible substance, which can withstand more impact.
Ever been on fresh laid asphalt? When I was a kid, they repaved part of the parking lot of a local school one summer. We had fun. It's bouncy. =)
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I don't wear shoes, and I don't believe in any of the 'running ground should have give' theories.
Yes.
In a different lifetime and 100 lbs ago I ran long distance events in Track. (Mile, 2mile)
The tracks we ran on were asphalt or rubber, or we ran on country roads (not sidewalks). Shoes typically had to be fit the mechanics of your feet and had to be replaced often.
Running in running shoes with their squishiness allows you to run with a longer (and unnatural) stride that you can't maintain barefoot or with 'racing flats'. This longer stride is a lot harder on the knees and can lead to all kinds of problems on harder surfaces.
Counterintuitively, wearing 'minimal' shoes or barefoot, your body will run at its correct stride and your feet will roll correctly which will protect your joints- though you won't be able to run as fast for a sustained distance.*
*sprinters wear thin flat soled shoes.
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I'm a firm believer that blink lights makes the driver toward you or confuses them.
About 10 years ago I almost hit a stopped state trooper in the left lane of rt 78. I was doing full speed (65-70) It was late (10pm)and dark. I thought he was on the right shoulder just prior so I actually moved to the left lane from the middle. Thank god no one took over that space that I had vacated in the middle lane. I swerved and missed that cruiser by inches. Full speed no breaks.
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Just theorizing here re: the school zones:
The school zone guides are set by the school district or state. In order to make it easier for the schools & less confusing for the rabble, all schools in the district/state are treated the same regardless of location. Can't have a "school zone" for one school and not for another. Can you imagine the reaction of the parents around the school that didn't have the "school zone"? They'd be screaming about how the school didn't care about their kids - or they'd have the zone just like the other one!
And, as said earlier, it's a money maker.
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I'm a firm believer that blink lights makes the driver toward you or confuses them.
About 10 years ago I almost hit a stopped state trooper in the left lane of rt 78. I was doing full speed (65-70) It was late (10pm)and dark. I thought he was on the right shoulder just prior so I actually moved to the left lane from the middle. Thank god no one took over that space that I had vacated in the middle lane. I swerved and missed that cruiser by inches. Full speed no breaks.
The lights flashing on/off make it hard to determine size/exact location of vehicle.I theorize that emergency lights at nighttime are too bright (yet they have to be bright enough for daytime use) That plus rubbernecking equals crashes.
I always slow down a good bit when approaching stopped emergency vehicles especially at night.. Why? Because of emergency personnel nearby. Even our reflective clothing is overpowered by the bright strobes and lightbars.
Oh, and DOT determined amber lights are the most attractive to drunks. I forget how the othe colors rank.