xkcd Webcomics: Traffic Lights

[US71]

[NE2]

Better than Mallard Fillmore.

[Dr Frankenstein]

I guess this counts as another Highway Engineer Prank.

And those aren't his only highway engineering related strips.

[US71]

[kurumi]

Better than Mallard Fillmore.

Parody strips: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v304/trumpy303/EditorialCartoon/Mallard%20Swillmore/

[realjd]

[Alps]

If you want to see what the GIF is made of, http://imgur.com/a/SnL1K

[formulanone]

Ok, I'll be the first to admit I don't get the initial comic.

Any others?

[Scott5114]

I think the initial one was just Randall trying to come up with as many silly signal configurations as possible.

[Duke87]

I don't find the traffic light gif at all funny, either...

The humor is of course supposed to lie in that it makes no sense. But I see that and get irked by it (it's clearly wrong and it bothers my OCD) rather than finding it silly.

[NE2]

I see it and think 'oh, it's a standard bikelane deathtrap'.

[formulanone]

I recall a "blue light" used for the flying cars in one scene from the movie Heavy Metal.

[realjd]

I see it and think 'oh, it's a standard bikelane deathtrap'.

Bike lanes? Don't you know bikes are supposed to stay on sidewalks? Leave the roads to adults!

[roadman]

I see it and think 'oh, it's a standard bikelane deathtrap'.

Bike lanes? Don't you know bikes are supposed to stay on sidewalks? Leave the roads to adults!

In Massachusetts at least, cyclists are under no legal obligation to actually use bike lanes when they're provided on streets.  So there are areas (Mass. Ave Bridge between Boston and Cambridge for one) with bike lanes where most cyclists use the sidewalks instead.

[english si]

realjd wasn't being literal - just referring back to a previous thread on cycling where the feeling from some quarters was that cyclists had no right to be on the road and therefore must be on sidewalks.

In the UK, cycling on the sidewalks is illegal due to it being chuffing dangerous to both pedestrian and cyclist alike.

[deathtopumpkins]

I've heard from people on Reddit that the traffic signal comic is actually based on a signal in, I believe, Cambridge, Mass, and that it is intended as a reference to the ridiculous signal setups that are all too common across Massachusetts.

[amroad17]

I do like the blue/purple light and the bird on the wire.

Could you imagine the daily traffic reports concerning that intersection, if there was one like this?
"... and we have yet another eight car pile-up at that damn intersection of (insert cross streets here) today!  Police and fire are responding.  Traffic is backed up for six blocks.  If you can find a detour around this, take it!"