G’Day and welcome to Overdrive a program that samples as much as it can of the delight of cars and transport
I’m David Brown
Interview
Recently there was an article in a major media outlet on whether the amount of yellow light time at traffic lights is enough.
The article had some one-dimensional comments so we thought we would here from an export and in doing so raised issues of real behaviour change, a lack of corporate memory in government departments and can a technical expert survive if he has a testy attitude.
We are then joined by Brian Smith to discuss
Social Media Posts
Some listener feedback on our social media posts:
- The Chevrolet Impala from the early 1960s – An icon and large design
- The 1948 Wolseley that has been in the one family since 1952.
Driving a huge ute
And the driving experience of a very big ute. Chevrolet Silverado. What’s it like to drive and is it a perfect car for towing or simply an environmental disaster.
Some highlights from the program
03:40
The technical research behind changing the length of yellow time at traffic lights in NSW. In the late 1960s, the first section of the Sydney to Newcastle Freeway was constructed between Berowra and the Hawkesbury River, but the Hawkesbury River Bridge was still the old bridge, only two lanes wide.
The merging of the traffic needed lights at the bottom of a steep hill. The three second yellow timing was not enough especially for trucks.
06:05
The technical person who led the research was a bit feisty, but was technically right and had a very strong sense of morality and duty in spending public money. Could such a person survive in the public service of today.
11:09
Was there an all-red period in the signal operations and what does that mean for driver behaviour
13:01
The suggestion of increasing the yellow time is like chasing your tail to solve one issues but creating many others.
20:45
There is a desperate need to do more than look at academic research. We need to have some corporate memory of what has been done in the past so we understand the present and so that we do re-work the same issues over and over again.
22:10
How do we detect traffic and make sense of what we think is happening? Some of the technology has been around for a long time but modern possibilities have yet to prove cost effective.
33:58
Feedback from listeners and social media. A 1948 Wolseley that has been in the one family since 1952. Was part of a television documentary about General Macarthur
36:02
Feedback about some pictures of the Chevy Impala. Brians favouite toy car when he was a child
39:18
The Chevrolet Silverado Pickup. David got to drive the new one while Brian hates the very thought of it.
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Originally broadcast 16 March 2024
