Yellow vs White central divided lane

[NJ]

Using white for both the centerline and lane lines makes about as much sense as using red for both brake lights and turn signals.

Americans got centerlines right (yellow), and Europeans got turn signals right (amber).

Only 30% of North American cars have red rear turn signals. I hate red turn signals though.

[jwolfer]

Using white for both the centerline and lane lines makes about as much sense as using red for both brake lights and turn signals.

Americans got centerlines right (yellow), and Europeans got turn signals right (amber).

I agree!

[vdeane]

As for Australia, they have a lower road fatality rate than the US both measuring per capita and per km traveled.

You can thank our rigid speed and red light camera enforcement for that 

Actually, I'm pretty sure that's due entirely to drivers ed and passing a road test actually meaning something in places of the world that aren't the US.  Here, as long as you can avoid crashing into something while puttering around some subdivision (which is trivially easy), you have a licence to drive anywhere in any situation.  It's a joke.

Red light cameras probably don't contribute much to safety as the vast majority of red light runners are in the first fractions of a second after the light turns red, which is not a safety issue at all due to the all-red phase.  Someone who wants to blow through the middle of the phase probably doesn't care about a $50 ticket or just doesn't pay attention.  Plus a camera at the intersection is pretty much a guarantee that the yellow phase is too short (as the yellow phase is typically shortened such that one can't stop in time while driving the prevailing speed of traffic in order to increase ticket revenue).

Most speed limits are vastly underposted to increase ticket revenue regardless of camera location, increasing the difference in speed between the fastest and slowest cars, making the roads less safe.  "Speed kills" is propaganda for urbanists and shills for the insurance industry (which uses licence points to increase premiums on drivers that don't get into a ton of accidents).

Using white for both the centerline and lane lines makes about as much sense as using red for both brake lights and turn signals.

In both situations, they work because the group using them understands how they work. Instead of relying on color alone to delineate lane lines, Europe uses a system of white lines with varying length and width. The drivers there understand how they work, and yellow is simply an additional cautionary measure that most European countries have deemed unnecessary (the vast majority of Europe has much lower traffic fatality numbers than the US).

As I stated before, there is advantages to using white, namely that white is far more reflective than yellow at night.

Not on this street in Germany: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=53.55421,10.029606&spn=0.003098,0.006899&t=k&z=17&layer=c&cbll=53.554182,10.029483&panoid=t-zfqScoj6YxXfiaLgbdHw&cbp=13,233.51,,0,4.44

There's nothing there to differentiate the two directions of travel.

Using white for both the centerline and lane lines makes about as much sense as using red for both brake lights and turn signals.

Americans got centerlines right (yellow), and Europeans got turn signals right (amber).

Only 30% of North American cars have red rear turn signals. I hate red turn signals though.

Alas, it seems like a rather large percentage of the vehicles that do have red turn signals are trucks and trailers that don't have brake lights.

[jakeroot]

Not on this street in Germany: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=53.55421,10.029606&spn=0.003098,0.006899&t=k&z=17&layer=c&cbll=53.554182,10.029483&panoid=t-zfqScoj6YxXfiaLgbdHw&cbp=13,233.51,,0,4.44

There's nothing there to differentiate the two directions of travel.

Except at the intersections prior to that stretch, there are straight arrows in the right-most two lanes (and, just based on the geometry of the intersection, it's pretty obvious that the two right lanes are the through lanes). Now, granted, Germany doesn't seem to be as stringent in how they mark their center line, but I still maintain that most of Europe uses unique central markings (and if they don't, they use other markings such as arrows and signs).

(it's difficult to photograph, but there are straight arrows in both lanes):

[mb2001]

Using white for both the centerline and lane lines makes about as much sense as using red for both brake lights and turn signals.

In both situations, they work because the group using them understands how they work. Instead of relying on color alone to delineate lane lines, Europe uses a system of white lines with varying length and width. The drivers there understand how they work, and yellow is simply an additional cautionary measure that most European countries have deemed unnecessary (the vast majority of Europe has much lower traffic fatality numbers than the US).

As I stated before, there is advantages to using white, namely that white is far more reflective than yellow at night.

I agree, however I don't see a reason why using a separate color is a bad idea just to make it extra clear that if you cross this line you'll hit oncoming traffic. While white is more reflective then yellow, the technology of the lines has become much more advanced since these standards were put in place back in the "˜60s and "˜70s and most major roads in the US have extra-reflective centerlines.

Also, I think the fact that European roads tend to have safer geometric layouts and the fact that it is much much harder to get a license in Europe lead to the lower accident rate, not the lines.

[jakeroot]

I agree, however I don't see a reason why using a separate color is a bad idea just to make it extra clear that if you cross this line you'll hit oncoming traffic.

Because they make it extra clear using other things: arrows at junctions, slightly different markings for the center line (usually thicker lines and/or longer lines), or lane-use arrows on signage. Sometimes, the arrows in the other direction clearly delineate those lanes as being for the other direction of traffic (example from the UK). Would a yellow center line make it extra clear? Perhaps from an American perspective. But from the average European perspective, some might wonder why you weren't able to figure it out based on other evidence. The Vienna Convention seems more reliant on driver assumptions than the MUTCD (although this is just my perspective...an actual European should chime in if possible).

Yes, I am aware that some European countries and many other countries around the world use yellow center lines. What I don't know is whether they adopted it because of changing American standards, and an interest in simply "going along" with our choices, or if they had separate studies done that suggested yellow was a safer option.

[kphoger]

In Mexico, you can still find highways that have yellow edge lines and a white center line.  I've personally driven on one or two of them.  From what I've gathered on GSV, though, they are being converted to the standard color scheme as repaving projects come along.

Here is an example of one to look at.  At some point between August 2013 and September 2014, the colors were reversed.