What is your opinion on having survey crew ahead signs?
Do you feel that using the signs had any affect on the drivers coming towards your work area??ÿ
I am of the opinion that if I get hit by a car or cause an accident by being in the street that it will be better from the legal perspective if I have signs out.
It gets my goat when crews run signs and are not actually in the street because I feel that makes drivers complacent.
If it impacts driver awareness the difference is lost on me.
The old ones that said "Survey Party" were better.
It gets my goat when crews run signs and are not actually in the street because I feel that makes drivers complacent.
This is why signs are a bit useless.?ÿ I see signs on roads for work crew ahead, police officer ahead, one lane traffic, etc, that are up after hours and weekends, and no one is working.
I'm not against the use of signs, but find them to be more of a pain in the arse than using a ton of cones and wearing a vest that hasn't faded it's effectiveness away.
In Florida ANY warning sign is interpreted as a suggestion or challenge. ?????ÿ
Timely subject.?ÿ I'm working on about 2 miles of an industrial arterial/highway with 2 lanes in each direction and a center turn lane (to nowhere).?ÿ It is heavily used by both trucks and the general public, but not congested.?ÿ The speed is posted at 45 mph but very few go that slow and I've seen motorcycles doing at least 100 mph.?ÿ I put signs up in the areas I'm working and my truck is lit up like a Christmas tree.?ÿ Even with that, people will not give me any room or slow when they pass, which by the way is the law in Oregon.?ÿ It is not like the lane next to them is full, they just don't seem to get it.?ÿ They are just a holes with the so called professional commercial drivers being the worst.?ÿ In the old days I would just give them a pink racing stripe if they got to close.
Only when it says that there's a Survey Party Ahead!
In Texas, any survey work being performed within the right-of-way requires signs.
I've seen both positive response to the signs and total disregard for the signs but as stated, from a legality standpoint, it's better to have the signs.
Years ago, we had our signs out and a driver still hit our instrument and abruptly ended our work day. Another time, a tractor trailer saw our signs and got so close to our cones that he shot one of them over my head (from behind me) and it landed ~20' in front of me. I'm just glad he got back into his lane before he got to me.
Old days?
Im going to start tagging now.
What would they do?
Come back to a place they didn't even know existed?
This will be fun!
I personally know 2 surveyors who where hit by cars. One was on the sidewalk at the time. In the other case the driver knocked over 18 cones before hitting the man.?ÿ
In another case I had a 4 foot diamond sign set up on the side of a very narrow and twisty road that was being used as a chicane by the local drivers. One driver stopped - right in the middle of it - to give me a ration of crap because she had clipped the sign with her side view mirror. My response was that she had just hit a 4' florescent orange thing in the road. What excuse did she have for that? Slooww doown, lady!?ÿ ?ÿ
I agree with those that say that the main reason for putting these signs out is to satisfy the insurance providers needs. Which is a valid reason.?ÿ?ÿ
After decades of working in the roads, I find the average driver doesn't look much farther ahead than 200 -300 feet.?ÿ I use bright cones,?ÿ ?ÿcouple of tall signs and a flashing light on my truck.?ÿ The flashing light gets more attention.?ÿ If I know a driver has seen me, (by the engine slow down), I'll continue with the work.?ÿ If a vehicle is still revved up, I will look at them and wave and prepare to bail out If I can.?ÿ This happens too often.?ÿ ?ÿ I also weigh driver demographics, however, I won't address that here.?ÿ
Just be safe?ÿ?ÿ
My new word for the day:?ÿ chicane.?ÿ ?ÿNever heard of it till now.
As for working in the right of way, we are doing it almost every job we do.?ÿ Lot monuments are half in the right of way and typically the sidewalk you are walking on is in the right of way also.?ÿ Section monuments are typically near the center of road beds and road intersections.?ÿ But, with traffic loads under 40 vehicles per day it is a non-issue.?ÿ Once in a blue moon we need the warning signs because we are going to completely block the road for 20 or 30 minutes.?ÿ Don't like it, turn around and go away, I was here first.
I fully agree that drivers will ignore warning signs that are put up repeatedly with rare evidence of any workers in that zone.?ÿ It will satisfy certain insurance and job contract criteria but it does close to nothing so far as true improvement in safety for the workers.
To get through you drivers with traffic control devices is something of an art, try to go by the book and you will need a whole other truck and crew for the cones, and may well fail it run into some impossible situation like when the prescribed taper off you on the next block.
It is hard to describe and not an OSHA approach but it helps to make them guess a little, why was that cone on the double yellow? Why is there a guy with a hard just motioning for me to slow down? What is a survey party??ÿ
I like to walk the zone, maybe drive through a few times while i come up with a scheme, sometimes nothing is better than something and sometimes you gotta back of and come back to fight another day. Rescheduling for safety needs to be a tool in the box for a good program, IMO.
Rural, no shoulder, single lane each direction in a growth area with high traffic load is the worst, give me downtown any day over that.
@jph There is a sign four doors down from my house that states "Utility Workers Ahead" and its been there for three months. I have no idea who's it is and could call the city but from a social experiment standpoint, it humors me.
@flga-2 Or a target.
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