A video doesn't hold much content, when you need to know about the subject to the extent that you could predict the outcome of the test without watching the video. Nothing was shown in this that wasn't obviously clear from knowing a bit about the subject.

This is not a reliable or practical solution, as it requires force for it to have a positive affect and not all things on the road considering a pothole a hazard move fast or have the weight to generate the downward force required. i.e bicycles, slow moving cars in traffic jams, drunk people. This would only work in a few specific situations like highways from my understanding.. to which as mxxcon hit the nail on the head, asphalt is clearly more effective in a wider range of situations.

Spoco2 is spot on with given comments and the only impressive thing i saw was that the mat actually stayed there, well done mat. Well done.

I'm up-voting because BoneRemake's first comment made me laugh.. Pot-kettle-black.
(and because the mat stayed there)

Edit: also i enjoyed the article, learned a few things, cheers.

I drive around chicago and just because most people tailgate doesn't mean it is safe or that it is not tailgating. Driving too close is way more dangerous than speeding and since 90% are doing it why don't the cops ticket people for reckless driving? Must be harder to prove or something?

Plus nearly all traffic jams would be avoided if people kept a better distance so I am a bit surprised at so many comments in favour of the terrible status quo. Every time I drive in or out of the city I hit several traffic jams that have no apparent cause. People would rather drive dangerously than avoid traffic jams. Those are the two options around major cities. Drive dangerously or get there faster. Most people choose to have more traffic jams than to be safe for some stupid reason.

-Karl

My fear is that his corporate friendly austerity, deregulatory and tax policies would easily glide through the legislation process, while his corporately opposed foreign policy would get stuck in a congressional traffic jam. And then he gets voted out in 4 years and we're left with an even more damaged democracy. A Ron Paul administration would not be good for the 99%.

different countries, different rules :-) over here the emergency vehicles don't use the hard shoulder which is only used for breakdowns. instead they go between the two lanes, respectively between the two leftmost lanes if there are more than two. of course that means that you have (i.e. are legally bound) to make room when in a traffic jam. a concept which - just as the idiots in this clip - not all folks seem to be able to wrap their heads around, therefore knowingly endagering others lifes.

Man these morning traffic jams are getting out of hand...

There's no traffic jam behind him because they're all switching lanes and passing him. He's, in effect, moving the traffic jam one lane over

It might just be so they can get moving again quickly in the same direction if they see the cops?>> ^residue:

eia wtf is going on here? Is it the law that the car must be facing the right direction for the lane but not necessarily be moving the right direction?

Damn, I was waiting on my Sift Traffic-Jam to clear up so I could sift this one...

Seems like quite a complex landing process. I hope everything goes ok.

Basically, the steel rolling process starts with a huge slab of steel about 20-30 feet long, which is heated up to a few hundred degrees in a giant oven. Once it exits the oven it's sent on a conveyor through a series of rollers with smaller and smaller gaps between them, going from around 200mm tall to 2mm tall, o More..ver a distance of a few kilometers. As a side effect from this, the slab gets extremely long (larger plants can end up with sheets over 200m long), and moves extremely quickly.

The reason it has to move so quickly is that the compression elongates it, so the exiting material has to be moving faster than the entering material, or you'll get a nasty 400 degree, 20 ton traffic jam.

The conveyor it travels on is essentially a series of rollers spaced around 1-2 feet apart, and when it's rocketing along like in the video, the leading end will bounce slightly as it hits each roller. On very rare occasions that leading end will bounce high enough to catch on something, or even curl over of its own accord, causing what you see in the video, where it looks like the sheet has hit the front end of the roller.

@xxovercastxx
It certainly happens that traffic jams and car accidents cause major inconvenience, but that's not the same as going out with the intent of clogging the roads. It's no accident that the event was originally named the "Commute Clot".
I don't think CMers much like or identify with the old name, which I think was just some arguably witty consonance. I wouldn't join a ride with that name because I don't necessarily want to disturb people. The new name comes from a line in a documentary film, where bicycle traffic in Beijing was stopped indefinitely at certain intersections, never allowed to proceed until "a critical mass of (waiting) cyclists" formed, spilled out in front of the cars, blocking their way, and finally allowed the cyclists to move, which they all did together, in the protection of numbers. Today's CM rides are the planning of that "critical mass of cyclists" so that once a month, at most, we can experience the freedom to ride our own roads.

I actually do love riding my bike, or at least I did before a neck injury made it agonizing to do so.
Really, really sorry to hear this.

I have no problem sharing the road with anyone who is willing. Breaking traffic laws most certainly is, or at least was when this thing got started.
Well, it's not the point anymore. Traffic laws aren't the problem. In Toronto (my city) for this reason, we started following traffic lights, but this caused its own problems with breaking up the ride, and creating dangerous situations with a few cyclists going through anyway, and confusing the cross traffic, so we mostly now just go on through. It's safe.

And if all you want to do is have a bunch of cyclists go for a ride together, obeying stop signs, red lights, right-of-way, etc, that's awesome and no, you don't need permission or special paperwork or anything like that.
When that's all I want, I stay off the roads, and use bicycle paths and nature trails. I actually don't much like riding with other people, to be honest.

I most certainly do not acknowledge this as a protest. Protests are against something: a war, discrimination, etc. What is CM protesting; traffic laws? Equal access to the road? No, this is just a troll festival. However, if that's what your local city does then you have strayed from the intent of CM, that being to block off roads with massive quantities of traffic-law-ignoring cyclists so as to disrupt anyone else's commute. If that's the goal, then that's what parade paperwork is for. Just don't expect to be allowed to fuck up the city every month. You keep referring to it as a protest, so why don't you tell me what you're protesting?
As there is no leader, there are maybe as many ideas about what CM is as there are cyclists in the ride. Most, however, will agree with what you said, that we're protesting for equal access to the roads, as well as improved cycling infrastructure, increased cycling budget, and so on. And if that defies what you perceive as the original intent of CM, that's none of my business. I am not against anybody. I just want to enjoy my slice of the pie as comfortably and unmindfully (is that a word? you know what I mean) as car drivers get to do every day.

@messenger

Also, you could as easily describe all car drivers as "assholes coming together to inconvenience everyone else" every day during rush hour, but I'm guessing you're a car driver, so you empathise with them, but not with cyclists.

It certainly happens that traffic jams and car accidents cause major inconvenience, but that's not the same as going out with the intent of clogging the roads. It's no accident that the event was originally named the "Commute Clot". I actually do love riding my bike, or at least I did before a neck injury made it agonizing to do so. I have no problem sharing the road with anyone who is willing.

Breaking laws "at every opportunity" is not the point of CM. You acknowledge it's a protest, of sorts, so you shouldn't be surprised that we go through stop signs.

Breaking traffic laws most certainly is, or at least was when this thing got started. I most certainly do not acknowledge this as a protest. Protests are against something: a war, discrimination, etc. What is CM protesting; traffic laws? Equal access to the road? No, this is just a troll festival.

I don't like that idea because it requires declaring an official leader and an official "parade route", both of which miss the point of not needing to ask permission to use our own roads, and the point of it being a protest, not a parade.

And if all you want to do is have a bunch of cyclists go for a ride together, obeying stop signs, red lights, right-of-way, etc, that's awesome and no, you don't need permission or special paperwork or anything like that. However, if that's what your local city does then you have strayed from the intent of CM, that being to block off roads with massive quantities of traffic-law-ignoring cyclists so as to disrupt anyone else's commute. If that's the goal, then that's what parade paperwork is for. Just don't expect to be allowed to fuck up the city every month.

You keep referring to it as a protest, so why don't you tell me what you're protesting?

1. Bicycles don't block traffic. We ARE traffic. Just like cars and buses.

2. Cars actually block all forms of transportation daily on major routes around the world for hours with traffic jams. Critical Mass is brief, localised, doesn't stay on the same route for long, and actually moves.

3. Consider that even at the leisurely pace of a typical Critical Mass ride, more bikes can get through an intersection in a minute than cars can. This is a more efficient use of the roads than driving.

4. It's nice, once a month, to be able to enjoy riding our streets (cyclists pay taxes too) without having to fight for our space with larger vehicles.

>> ^Darkhand:

I'll assume you are talking about some of the demonstrations against some great political injustice like those around the world. There is no INJUSTICE here. This is a bunch of people who get together on a regular basis and obstruct traffic to further their own cause at the cost of others.
If there was some sort of angry angry dictator who was going to melt all the bikes in Evilburg I'd agree with you that this sort of demonstration was necessary. But there isn't any emergency; there isn't any great evil at work here, there is no sense of urgency.
There are just a bunch of people who want to have cyclists recognized on the roads. There is no reason to cause massive traffic jams or disrupt everyone elses life for this. Go to your local political office and petition. If that doesn't work? Organize (I said Organize because Mass Effect AFAIK has no actual leadership) and have peaceful demonstrations that do not disrupt other peoples lives unnecessarily.

>> ^Jinx:
>>
Haha, cylists convenience you so mass murder is ok. What if this had been a demonstration on foot, like we've seen in many capital cities around the world. They block roads too so is it ok to plow them down?
Honestly, go see a Doctor because your sick.



It's Critical Mass, look it up and you'll see not only what their message is, but you won't get them confused with a VIDEO GAME either.

I'll assume you are talking about some of the demonstrations against some great political injustice like those around the world. There is no INJUSTICE here. This is a bunch of people who get together on a regular basis and obstruct traffic to further their own cause at the cost of others.

If there was some sort of angry angry dictator who was going to melt all the bikes in Evilburg I'd agree with you that this sort of demonstration was necessary. But there isn't any emergency; there isn't any great evil at work here, there is no sense of urgency.

There are just a bunch of people who want to have cyclists recognized on the roads. There is no reason to cause massive traffic jams or disrupt everyone elses life for this. Go to your local political office and petition. If that doesn't work? Organize (I said Organize because Mass Effect AFAIK has no actual leadership) and have peaceful demonstrations that do not disrupt other peoples lives unnecessarily.



>> ^Jinx:

>>
Haha, cylists convenience you so mass murder is ok. What if this had been a demonstration on foot, like we've seen in many capital cities around the world. They block roads too so is it ok to plow them down?
Honestly, go see a Doctor because your sick.

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