New York Personal Injury Law Blog » April 1, Distracted Driving

 

April 1st, 2015

The Squiggly Line in the Road

Squiggly yellow line down middle of road.

Squiggly yellow line down middle of road.

If you came here looking for an April Fool’s joke, sorry, but I retired in 2013. Now on to today’s post…

So there I am last weekend looking at the squiggly yellow line down the middle of the road. And I think to myself: Self, just what the hell does that mean?

Now several things spring to mind.

1.  The yellow line painting guy was drunk and singing King of the Road.

2.  The yellow line painting guy dozed off while listening to On the Road Again.

3.  The yellow line painting guy was playing a joke on someone who likes Country Roads.

4.  The yellow line painting guy wasn’t driving, but was actually running down the road trying to loosen his load with seven women on his mind, and was thus distracted.

5.  The yellow line painting guy suffered from a disability of sorts that caused him to paint in a less-than-staight manner, and when the boss yelled at him he invoked the Americans With Disabilities Act and sang I Don’t Need No Doctor.

6.  The yellow line painting guy was a genius.

A genius? Well, yeah, that is one possibility. Because this was a construction zone. And that means lower speeds. And what can bring down speeds quickly, that isn’t also dangerous?

NormalSquigglyLineNo, not a sign. We expect signs. Even signs with squiggles on them.

But a squiggly line down the middle of the road? Well that might make a distracted driver take notice that something is up.

So I go with genius, a traffic safety genius, who sang Stayin’ Alive while he painted.

And if you got a better idea, I’m all ears.

6 thoughts on “The Squiggly Line in the Road

  1. LOL….Great post Eric, as a parking lot striping / paving guy, I pulling for #2. Sadly I hope it wasn’t number one but i’m guessing its a strong possibility.

    Keep up the good work!

  2. As a dedicated runner, Eric, surely you recognize that this line has nothing to do with automobile traffic. This road is clearly used for foot races at least part of the time. The wavy appearance is intended as a means of lengthening the race by a meter or two so as to meet international standards.

    It also marks the way back to the car park after the “two or three beers” that traditionally follow a completed race.

    Wink, wink.

  3. @James: There’s a parking lot striping / paving guy reading a personal injury law blog? I’m not sure, exactly, what that says about you. Or me. And I’m afraid to ask.

    @Geezer: You comment brings to mind another possibility, that this was done by the cops to use as a walk-the-straight-line drunk test.