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Comment by jere | Hacker News Reader

You might think that trucks ignoring multiple, obvious flashing warning signs wouldn't be that common. This hilarious video proves otherwise:

http://gizmodo.com/5955244/watch-this-bridge-destroying-doze...

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"multiple, obvious flashing warning signs wouldn't be that common."

Unfortunately they are way too common. Did you know there's wild animals living outdoors and they cross roads? 75 miles away a divorced family is having a custody dispute so here's abduction alert #243 for the year as a punishment from one parent to the other? There's a terrorist hiding behind every tree stump? Next month some roadwork is planned although nothing so far has been done other than put up the warning sign and barrels and collect higher traffic ticket fees? Six months ago a long term road work lane closure happened so everyday commuters now completely ignore a giant bright flashing warning that lanes have changed? The bright flashing overhead sign reports that 30 miles away where you aren't even going, there is a traffic jam? This is before I even get started on the billboard advertisements designed to distract you from driving.

If everything's an emergency, then nothing is an emergency. Including, unfortunately, bridge height.

These yellow flashing signs are useless, as you say, but you'd think that drivers are conditioned to obey traffic lights, and most every tunnel in existence - including the one in Sydney - has these red and green lights up top that allows the tunnel crew to block lanes individually. I couldn't tell why truckers see these and still blow through them.

Precisely right. Overabundance of signage only conditions drivers to ignore individual signs.

It's easy to not see stuff when you've been driving for 16 hours straight.

It's also easy to not see stuff when you're blind drunk.

Both of these things are illegal, it's no excuse.

It's not about excuses. It's about avoiding that the accident happens, because it can cause the tunnel to get shut down for weeks.

Not sure about Sydney, but there's no international law stating that you can't drive for 16 hours straight.

I was under the impression that all civilized countries do have such laws - the impact on accidents and fatalities is really huge.

Throughout almost all of Europe cargo haul & bus drivers hours are regulated (registrating devices at the vehicle + enforcement by traffic cops), and you can't take a truck across the continent w/o rest unless you swap drivers.

If you can't read or don't speak english, a sign with text and flashing yellow lights may not be that obvious.

Then you didn't pass your driving exam and get a license. In the US that's required and I suspect most countries require the ability to understand posted signs to get a drivers license.

If you're driving without a license, then that's a different issue.

The video that jere linked to is from North Carolina which happens to be where I live. The drivers test here is offered in English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. They also offer it orally, specifically for people who have trouble reading. There's a sign test, but they just show you the shape and color of a sign without text. For example, you have to identify that a red octagon is a stop sign and a yellow pentagon indicates a school zone. At no point is your ability to read english tested so it's perfectly plausible that someone could obtain an NC drivers license and not understand a yellow flashing sign with text on it.

Touche. I worked at BrightLeaf Sq next to this bridge for a few years. While the wording might be different across languages, all the aforementioned nations use Arabic numerals to my knowledge, so "11.7ft" would mean the same to them, I'd hope.

You might be driving abroad on a valid license, just not a license from the country you're driving in. In which case it's perfectly possible the signs wouldn't be in your native language.

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