View US 70 Clayton Bypass in a larger map

The state Department of Transportation says it will continue for the next several years an unusual traffic lane change put in place last September as an experiment on westbound Interstate 40 at the U.S. 70 Clayton Bypass:

To make the morning rush hour run more smoothly, DOT closed one of three lanes on I-40 and one of two lanes on U.S. 70 as it merges with I-40. The lane slimming was called temporary in September, but DOT will install lane markings to make it semi-permanent on Wednesday.  Traffic studies indicate that the morning drive runs a bit smoother and faster with two lanes than it did with three lanes. ... [MORE]

After motorists complained when local Division of Motor Vehicles offices ran out of driver handbooks last summer, DMV has ordered a bigger press run for the new edition this winter.

The handbook explains highway signs, traffic laws and other rules of the road. Many North Carolinians pick up a copy to study before taking their driver’s license tests. Drivers sometimes consult the booklet to settle debates over when to stop for a school bus, or who has the right-of-way at a four-way-stop intersection.

The agency is waiting for printers to bid for a contract to produce 600,000 copies of the new edition, updated to reflect traffic-law changes enacted by the 2011 General Assembly. It should be available in a month to six weeks, DMV spokeswoman Marge Howell said. ... [MORE]

This week the National Transportation Safety Board said North Carolina and the other 49 states should ban practically all use of cell phones (including the hands-free variety that some folks think is safer) and other portable electronic devices while driving. [12/20 update: Car-phoning is a convenient habit that would be hard to give up. See today's Road Worrier column with a vigorous debate in the comment section, and add your thoughts.]

Is this a great idea, or is it going way too far? Does phoning make you dangerous behind the wheel -- or are you confident that you won't kill yourself while you're yakking with your secretary or your boyfriend?  I'm writing about this Monday. Please let me hear from you by email, with your name and daytime contact info. Or call me 919-829-4527.

This far-reaching recommendation came after NTSB blamed a texting driver for starting a chain-reaction pileup in Missouri in August 2010, in which two people were killed and 38 others were injured. As the Associated Press reported:

"According to NHTSA [National Highway Traffic Safety Administration], more than 3,000 people lost their lives last year in distraction-related accidents", said [NTSB] Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. "It is time for all of us to stand up for safety by turning off electronic devices when driving."

"No call, no text, no update, is worth a human life."

Critics protested that NTSB was over-reaching. ... [MORE]

View US 70 Clayton Bypass in a larger map

In September, NCDOT tried an unusual approach to ameliorate a problem created when it opened the U.S. 70 Clayton Bypass: to help rush hour traffic move more smoothly on westbound Interstate 40, engineers reduced the road from three lanes to two lanes.

The idea was to eliminate the delays around a bottleneck that often formed when the three-lane stretch (about 2 miles long) ended and drivers in the two outer lanes were forced to merge into one lane.

So how's it working? Has this counterintuitive change improved your morning commute? Is it better to keep I-40 two lanes wide than to add a third lane temporarily?

Please let me hear from you, by phone (919-829-4527) or email. Be sure to include your name and your daytime phone number.  Thanks.

This new video, produced in-house at NCDOT, is all about what not to do when you need to be paying attention to the road.

IF you're awake, alert and lucky; IF you're not distracted by your cell phone or your taco; IF you read all the signs and get in the correct lane in advance; and IF you slow down and look carefully to your left before you enter that quirky twin-ring roundabout at the N.C.S.U. Bell Tower on Hillsborough Street -- THEN you PROBABLY won't cause Crash Number 85.

Wait, I forgot a few ifs:

IF the drivers already in the roundabout are awake and alert, too; and IF they pick the correct lane and stay there so you can stay out of their way, THEN your chances of avoiding a crash are even better.

But as the Road Worrier reported today, many drivers are unlucky. ... [MORE]

View Academy Road @ Duke University Road in a larger map

NCDOT traffic engineers are planning changes that should make drivers more alert to the dangers of a sharp curve in Durham where five people have died in high-speed crashes since 1992.

Matthew Grape, a Duke University senior, was killed Sept. 15 when a car driven by a fellow student crashed into trees near a curve on N.C. 751 (Academy Road) just south of Duke University Road.  The speed limit is 35 mph, but investigators said the car was traveling at 70 mph. 

Four other people died in two crashes at the same spot in the 1990s, in cars going faster than 80 mph.  Alcohol was involved in all three crashes.

Kelly L. Becker, a regional DOT traffic engineer, recommended today that DOT install three black-on-yellow arrow chevrons on the outside of the curve, replacing one there now.  She recommended two new signs to  remind northbound drivers that they are approaching the curve, and the relocation of an existing curve-ahead sign to provide more advance warning for southbound drivers.

"I think this will provide more visibility for that curve," Becker said. "It is a pretty sharp curve."

North Carolina is among a dwindling number of states that require safety inspections for every car, every year.  Including cars that are nearly new, only a year or two old.

I’m doing some reporting on this.  I’d like to know what drivers think about taking their cars in for safety inspection each year (I’m not concerned here about emissions inspections):

Does this inspection requirement help you keep your tires, brakes, lights, wipers etc working properly?
Does it make your car safer?
Or is inspection a waste of your time and money?

Please share your experience and your opinion on mandatory car safety inspections.

Email me or call me at 919-829-4527. Don't forget to include your name and contact info.

View US 70 Clayton Bypass in a larger map

Three lanes bad, two lanes better? 

NCDOT says its traffic engineers will launch an experiment, starting Sunday, to see if they can make westbound I-40 run more smoothly at rush hour by slimming it from three lanes to two lanes near the U.S. 70 Clayton Bypass. What do you think? [9/14 update: see today's story.]

Westbound I-40 swells from two to three lanes as it approaches the U.S. 70 interchange (Exit 309) in southeastern Wake County. During the morning rush, lots of drivers move into that new outside lane and speed ahead.  But this third lane disappears after about two miles, causing a regular rush-hour bottleneck when drivers struggle to merge back into the original two lanes.

So the question to be tested is: Would the morning traffic flow more smoothly without that temporary third lane? ... [MORE]

Sure, it's the automobile driver's responsibility to watch out for people walking across the street.  But pedestrians bear part of the safety burden, too.

NCDOT says distracted walking is a safety hazard, just as distracted driving is. Pedestrians should stay off their mobile phones, unplug their mobile music, and pay more attention to traffic.

I'm reporting on this today.  If you've had experience with reckless pedestrians who nearly got whacked while they yacked on the phone -- or if you want to confess your own lapses in pedestrian safety -- I'd like to hear from you by phone (919-829-4527) or email.  Don't forget to include your name and daytime phone number.