a trivial subversion

[jay]

In-between my office and home, along Middlefield Road, there's a digital display intended to shame drivers into reducing their velocity... it displays speed, and flashes the number when one is over the posted limit (35).

This is vaguely annoying... however, I have taken a small delight in discovering that if one drives fast enough (over 50), it crashes the sign, it goes blank and it then has to reboot. Which I make a point of doing, whenever other traffic permits. I'm not sure if this is motivated more by the usual uplifted-middle-finger to speed limits, or by unimaginative programming...

Comments

[bdot.livejournal.com]

the one currently stationed by my house always shows that i am going 4 miles slower than i actually am according to my speedometer...

i know this because i have tested it at different speeds....

it *is* fun messing with those things!!

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

This one seems accurate... but if anything, it gives me a perverse incentive to go *faster*. Especially the one in the other direction, 1/4 mile after a stoplight...

[hot-turkey.livejournal.com]

*LOL* This is great! Makes me want to drive over there just to try it. I *hate* those things.

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

Yep... excessive nannying, IMO ;).

[aquaeri.livejournal.com]

We're laughing and rolling our eyes at the bad programming here (I mean, seriously, who'd think 50 was a good maximum value???)

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

(nods) granted, over here it's mph instead of kph, but still... imagining no one would ever go more than L+15, therefore leaving a reset as the conditional?

[rfrench.livejournal.com]

Hey, cool! I assume you're talking about the one near Shoreline. I drive by that all the time. I remember when they were installing it. The first day or two everyone slowed down because they weren't sure what it was. Now it's all back to normal.