^Much as we all make fun of these situations, it is only fair to point out that the station area is under construction and any number of clues and signage may have been removed or altered.
I say this as someone who drove my rental car a long way down the walkway to the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland, thanks to a convergence of a power failure (that knocked out some of the the traffic control gates and illuminated signage), traffic signage that was slightly different from the Driver’s handbook, and my own confusion and ineptitude. I got off with a warning, but the cop who halted my wayward prowl clearly figured I was a “feckin eejot“ as they say over there. I was certainly driving carefully, I just added things up wrong.
What I find interesting is how the human brain, having made the decision that “this must be the road”, rejects any data point that suggests otherwise... so drivers continue much further down a bad path than one would ever think possible.
We allow too much informality in road signage in construction zones. I’m certain that this driver would not have driven through a snow fence, or a jersey barrier. Pylons don’t really give that much information, and their spacing is quite variable. Saw this yesterday at the corner of Bayview and Laureleaf... four lanes reduced to two with pylons, right turn lane sort of added at the intersection, but in a way that no two drivers made the right turn in the same way. Some recognised the intent, many did not. Too easy to say the driver must be an idiot or asleep.
- Paul
