Traffic

[slayerized]

Something I always wondered about going back to the day when Rick rode his horse into Atlanta and now more recently with Fear...(If this has been touched on before I apologize) Ever notice how one side of the freeway is absolutely jammed with cars (usually the lanes leading OUT of the city) yet the other side there isn't a single vehicle to be seen?? You would certainly think they'd have better traffic control in place in times of crisis where they could utilize BOTH directions on the main freeways to lead people out of the city... OR If Martial Law is enacted I would think all civilian traffic would be prohibited anyway in order to free the roads up for military traffic...

[Neil]

Something I always wondered about going back to the day when Rick rode his horse into Atlanta and now more recently with Fear...(If this has been touched on before I apologize) Ever notice how one side of the freeway is absolutely jammed with cars (usually the lanes leading OUT of the city) yet the other side there isn't a single vehicle to be seen?? You would certainly think they'd have better traffic control in place in times of crisis where they could utilize BOTH directions on the main freeways to lead people out of the city... OR If Martial Law is enacted I would think all civilian traffic would be prohibited anyway in order to free the roads up for military traffic... Surely because everyone was trying to get out of the city/area?

[slayerized]

Surely because everyone was trying to get out of the city/area? That's my point...in a crisis situation you wouldn't want to let traffic grid lock on one side of the freeway while there are perfectly good lanes right next to them being under utilized (since nobody is going INTO the city)...you would put some kind of traffic control in place and use those opposite lanes to evacuate traffic out as well... Ever see Close Encounters of the Third Kind? The military did exactly that during their fake VX nerve gas accident...the military forced all traffic OUT... oh well enough of my knit-picking...bring on Season 6

[Neil]

That's my point...in a crisis situation you wouldn't want to let traffic grid lock on one side of the freeway while there are perfectly good lanes right next to them being under utilized (since nobody is going INTO the city)...you would put some kind of traffic control in place and use those opposite lanes to evacuate traffic out as well... Ever see Close Encounters of the Third Kind? The military did exactly that during their fake VX nerve gas accident...the military forced all traffic OUT... oh well enough of my knit-picking...bring on Season 6 Ahhh! I see... That sounds far too logical Maybe they couldn't risk it in case military/emergency vehicles needed to get to the city fast?

[shootemindehead]

It makes perfect sense, but "artistically" it would look weird. To most people it would look like a normal traffic jam, with traffic going in the usual two lane direction. With one lane clear, the obviousness of the situation is hammered home.

[facestabber]

I have a lot of experience on this topic. The chaos and gridlock on an interstate happens fast. One rolled over semi, or landing a lifeflight chopper for a crash and you have a serious problem. Ive had to shut down major interstates for 6-8 hours before reconstructing crashes etc. I don't recall the percentage but the probability of a fatal crash skyrockets if you shut down an interstate. Just last week I had I-80 shut down for a chopper for 30 mins. The backup that it caused took over an hour after clearing the scene to return to normal. To the Op I see what youre saying regarding the opposite lanes. But Shootem gave you the answer regarding TV's and movies. Its a haunting image and tells a story. But in reality I could almost guarantee that trying to use the opposite lanes with panicked drivers would end up with chaos and blockage. And you are correct about the military. In the U.S, the Interstate system is built to fascilitate the military in a time of war and if they needed it, they would have sole access. At the end of this rant I would close that any urban interstate system would be absolute gridlock when the dead rise. Leave early or youre screwed.