Let’s begin with an inquiry from loyal reader Becky:

Do you know why some crosswalk signals automatically turn to “walk,” and some don’t, unless you push the button? I would assume city walks should always turn, especially along bike paths! It’s hard enough trying to get close to the button near the ground when you’re perched on your bike.

Roadguy has always figured that those buttons were designed for thoroughfares where engineers want the flow of vehicles to be as unimpeded as possible; therefore, the cross streets get brief green lights (without walk signals) unless a pedestrian pushes the button. That way, the cars on the busier street don’t have to sit through a long red light unless someone’s actually walking across. But perhaps there’s more to it than that.

(The buttons also create a whole etiquette situation regarding any pedestrians who arrived at the crosswalk before you — do you assume that they’ve already pushed the button and take your chances, or do you push the button right in front of them and convey that you don’t trust them to have done the right thing?)

Our next question comes from Roadguy’s colleague Eddie, whose son recently moved to one of Chicago’s lakeside neighborhoods. Eddie drove down for a visit on the usual route via Rockford, Ill., but he was so exasperated by the backups on I-90 in Chicago’s western suburbs that he asked me whether it might be quicker to take I-94 the whole way, via Milwaukee. I told him that it’s about 20 miles longer that way and that Chicago’s northern suburbs have jams of their own, but he’d only have to pass through two tollbooths instead of four or five. If you’ve been known to road-trip in that general direction, Eddie welcomes your insights.

The final question is from yours truly. I encountered this in front of me the other day:

It’s kind of hard to see in this CrapCam photo (big surprise), but in the upper left of the rear window was the phrase “Am Fam” (presumably for American Family Insurance) and what looked like a seven-digit phone number, all handwritten. As I passed the car, the same info was on one of the side windows, and I think it was on the windshield as well. How convenient, I thought — if this guy crashes into me, can I call that number to file a claim? But I actually had no idea why the writing was there. Got a clue? Fill us in below.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 7th, 2006 at 6:10 am and is filed under Transportation conversations, WUWT?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.