Quote:
Originally Posted by ard
This actually brings up an arcane and hypertechnical issue about laws and highway engineering and signage ....
Published National standards state that 'lanes' are defined by lines on the roadway...and that signs, such as 'do not pass' are intended to 'reinfrce' the restriction on passing .... But many lazy highway construction places 'do not pass' signs well before the lanes end. And police will write tickets for failing to obey the sign, even though the road marking allows passing, people are cited, and found guilty of failing to obey an 'illegal' sign.
The sign must be placed AT the point that the passing lane ends, which IS where passing is prohibited.
(note- this is based on the federal MUTCD, which most states adopted, with some modifications...)
And yes, I did beat the ticket.  |
NC uses the yellow trianglar "No Passing Zone" to demarcate the end of the overtaking zone on two lane roads where the dotted line becomes solid again due to a curve/visibility/intersection. Helpful when planning my somewhat-too-frequent overtaking jaunts, although I overshoot them anyway about 30% of the time because I only have 184 horses hauling 1900kg (4200lbs).
NC will put up the white "Do Not Pass" sign at places where one might be tempted to overtake but cannot. For example, a two-lane road that straightens out but has upcoming intersections or driveways, or a 4-lane divided highway that will end/merge within a few hundred metres. But they're really all advisory signs, and NC is fairly liberal in permitting overtaking/passing. As for enforcement........well there is none. I've driven in a lot of states and I'm confident in saying that NC is the most driver-friendly state I know of.
SC is too poor to afford paint striping and qualified road engineers, much less any meaningful signage. VA doesn't allow overtaking quite as much given their roads generally aren't straight in rural areas. Being stuck behind a slowpoke on a mountain grade is a test of patience every single time until you hit the state line to somewhere else.