Weird fractions on distance signs

[kphoger]

When my wife and I rented a car in Mexico on our honeymoon in 2006, it was actually kind of hard to use the km/h-only speedometer.  If, for example, the speed limit was 110 km/h and I was going 125 km/h, I had very little idea how far over the speed limit I was driving:  was it within my comfort range, was it enough to worry about highway patrol?  I really didn't know.

Driving our own car, on the other hand, I can simply tell myself that the speed limit is 68 mph.  Then, if I want to go 7 mph over the limit, I know to go 75 mph.

[michravera]

The Metric System wouldn't be too awful for the Chicago Street Grid, since it is 8 blocks = 1 Mile aka 1 block = 1/8 mile

That also just happens to be 5 blocks = 1 kilometer

Yep! 100 numbers is 100 m. Outside of town 100 numbers is 200 m. 1000 numbers is 1 km or 2 km. It almost works BETTER than the miles-based thought process.

[Super Mateo]

Some drivers already have little concept of fractional distances like 1/4 mile especially while at freeway speed, so there's no need to introduce additional ambiguity when the distance is short. I'm usually good with time and distance, and even I have little concept of what 1/8 or 1/3 of a mile is.

I know that 1/3 is somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2, and that's all I really need to know.

I know that 1/8 is half as much as 1/4, and that's all I really need to know.

Fractions like 3/8 and 5/8, on the other hand...  Please don't make people do math while driving.  In my opinion, 3/4 is the only fraction that should have anything other than a 1 on top.

I also think /2, /3, /4, and /8 should be the only acceptable flavors of fraction.  Minnesota, it's not worth my time to figure out how much closer 1/5 is to 1/4 than it is to 1/8.

Honesty, I don't care what the denominator is, when I'm moving at 70 mph and looking for an exit, any distance less than one mile or 5000 feet means get over to the right (assuming a right exit), slow down, and start to look for the exit coming up.  It means I'm close, and the difference between 1/2, 1/3, or 1/4 mile isn't significant.

As for metric, it's easier to convert within the system, but the US is deeply familiar with using miles.  For me, it would take some adjusting and getting used to, but I could easily do it and would have no problem with it.  I can't say the same, though, for the majority of the US.

[webny99]

The concept of km/h has never been a big problem for me, because at least in Ontario, freeway traffic moves. You'd fear for your safety long before you feared getting a ticket.

[kphoger]

The Metric System wouldn't be too awful for the Chicago Street Grid, since it is 8 blocks = 1 Mile aka 1 block = 1/8 mile

That also just happens to be 5 blocks = 1 kilometer

Yep! 100 numbers is 100 m. Outside of town 100 numbers is 200 m. 1000 numbers is 1 km or 2 km. It almost works BETTER than the miles-based thought process.

Almost, but not exactly.  One mile is not precisely 1.6 km, after all.  It's a small difference but, by the time you got down to Sauk Trail, the numbers would be off by about two whole blocks.

220 blocks @ 8 blocks / mile = 27.5 miles

220 blocks @ 5 blocks / km  = 44 km

Unfortunately, 27.5 miles = 44.25696 km.

[kphoger]

Honesty, I don't care what the denominator is, when I'm moving at 70 mph and looking for an exit, any distance less than one mile or 5000 feet means get over to the right (assuming a right exit), slow down, and start to look for the exit coming up.  It means I'm close, and the difference between 1/2, 1/3, or 1/4 mile isn't significant.

For me, ¾ mile vs ¼ mile might mean the difference between having time to pass another slow driver before moving right vs having to slow down and duck in behind him immediately.

[csw]

Some odd distances from the past few months.

One of three 1/5 mile signs in Danville, VA.


1/10 mile in Charlottesville, VA. (I was very surprised to find this one.)


1/3 mile near Orange, MA.


900 feet in Providence, RI.

[interstatefan990]

I vaguely remember seeing 1/7 mile near Sacramento a few years back.

Edit: 100th post!

[formulanone]

Still waiting for a picture of ^x/₆ or ^x/₇ . . .

The only one-seventh sign I've seen was for a walking trail around the eastbound I-24 rest stop at the Tennessee state line...

[PHLBOS]

900 feet in Providence, RI.

It would appear that 3 on that adjacent I-95 northbound BGS was a later add-on and/or an afterthought.

[WillWeaverRVA]

3/10 mile on VA 195 in Richmond, VA (this sign is now gone):

VA 161 Boul vard by Will Weaver, on Flickr

1/10 mile on VA 146 (gone, but replaced with a different 1/10 mile sign):
VA 146 Northern Terminus by Will Weaver, on Flickr

1/3 MILE ON US 13 IN VIRGINIA BEACH, VA:
K52S8425 by Will Weaver, on Flickr

[Mapmikey]

For reasons I am unaware, there used to be 1/7 mile markers on VA 143 in Hampton.

a few are still around...here is 1 and 3/7 - https://goo.gl/maps/Rayfq6M4Ss255BZg8