1. Your job as a Highway Patrol Officer is to place a sign to ‘Slow Down' on the freeway prior to a major construction site. The posted freeway speed is 65 mph and a speed of 35 mph is required through the construction site. The sign you are to post has 6 inch letters. How far ahead of the construction site should you place the sign? The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) states that the acceptable "rule of thumb" to follow is "1 inch of letter height for every 40 feet of desired legibility." Assume a downhill grade of 2%.
2. A driver travelling down a 4% grade collides with a roadside fire hydrant in rainy weather and is issued a ticket for driving too fast for conditions. The posted speed limit is 105 km/hr. The accident investigation team determined the following: The vehicle was traveling 65 km/hr when it struck the fire hydrant, braking skid marks are 61 m before the hydrant, and the pavement is in good condition. Should the driver appeal the ticket?
3. You suspect that the change and clearance interval at Campus Drive and California Avenue are programed incorrectly. You have gathered the following intersection information: The approach speeds are 55 mph and 35 mph for Campus and California, respectively. The westbound approach along Campus is at level grade whereas the southbound approach is at a 2.5% grade on California. Each approach has five 12-foot lanes and two 10-foot bike lanes. You measure the length of your Honda Civic to be 14.5 feet. You timed the change interval to be 4.5 seconds for Campus and 4 seconds for California, and the clearance interval to be 1 second for the intersection. Determine if the intersection provides the appropriate change and clearance intervals for the intersection traffic signals.