On a freeway on one of the routes I take to Washington DC is a sign with a turtle on it that says “Give me a break” or “Give me a brake”… the spelling here imparting the meaning of the pun. If it’s the former, then it means that you should just run over turtles on the road. If the latter, then you should try not to or something.
Does anyone who travels in Virginia know which sign it is that I likely saw?
Out west, the saying on the drivers’ test is “Don’t steer, hit the deer.” They figured out at some point, I guess, that there was more danger to yourself and other drivers if you veer away to avoid the deer than if you just hit it head on.
So I’d have to think that they’re telling you to just run over the turtle. I mean, unlike a deer, a turtle would represent a minimal thread to the driver. Given that this was on a freeway (or at least a highway) such would be a major concern. I could understand requesting that drivers work around turtles in some residential zone or something. But not there.
On the other hand, animal-loving environmentalists or something? Or maybe there is a reason I’m missing that’s a safety concern for real live humans? Or that suddenly breaking to avoid a turtle isn’t the threat I perceive it to be? Because I seriously hope that Northern Virginia isn’t prioritizing turtles here.
Are you sure it was actually a turtle on the sign? Because I see the “Give Them a Brake” sign quite often around the country near road construction and the “Them” is referring to highway workers. Maybe your “turtle” was actually a, perhaps poorly rendered, hard hat?
Otherwise I got nothin’.Report
That is what we have up here in NorCal, safety for construction workers.Report
I agree I think I know the sign being discussed (I 95 has been under construction south of dc for about a decade straight) and I think it’s a hardhat
Besides turtles are more Maryland thingsReport
They are telling you to slow down and watch for turtles. Here’s NH doing the same.
http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Wildlife/Nongame/brake_for_turtles.htm
1). It’s intended as a general injunction to slow down and keep your eyes peeled for turtles during mating season when they are crossing roadways, not a specific instruction on what to do if you must instantaneously choose between hitting a turtle or a tree. Turtles don’t move fast, so this general injunction is fairly workable. In the case of deer, it doesn’t really matter much (beyond general safety/reaction time) how fast you are going or how alert you are; those furry jerks can leap onto the road out of nowhere in a flash, I’ve seen it. In that case it’s probably better to just hit the deer than steer away from it into dangers unknown.
2). In that vein, dodging a turtle in the road, while not ideal, is probably safer/easier than dodging a deer. For one, if you are seeing a turtle in the first place, then the road isn’t icy, which is not always the case with a deer. For two, you can probably dodge a small, slow moving object like a turtle more easily and with less-radical maneuvers than you can a large, fast-moving object like a deer.
3). The turtles may be endangered, and deer aren’t?
4). Hey, remember when that guy put fake turtles in the road to see what would happen?Report
I hit a turtle on a road in Oklahoma once. The action of the tire on the angle of the shell turned that turtle into a projectile that flew like a Koopa in Super Mario Bros.Report
I hit a Tulsa turtle
Just to watch it flyReport
My mother in law is slightly famous for swerving to miss a squirrel and rolling her car. It all depends on the situation, but doing the obvious good thing, swerving to miss the animal is often the the wrong thing to do.Report
Swerving to miss a squirrel is a waste of effort, they dodge and dart much more quickly — and randomly — than you can respond. Especially true on a bicycle (I used to have a cartoon of a guy trying, I think it was Frazz), but still valid for a car.Report
Does NoVa have turtles? I’m assuming they’re using them to signal “Go slow”.Report
If (farther north) NH does, I’d assume N. VA does.Report
I was following my ex home one day and she stopped full in the middle of a two lane road, blocking traffic in both ways, ran into the middle of the road, picked up a turtle and set him on the other side of the road (the direction he was heading).
Nary a honk from the traffic. Turtles are cool. Deer, not so much it seems.Report
I stopped once to watch a parade of ducklings cross the road. Traffic was backed up several cars in both directions (I was at the head of one lane). There was horn honking until people realized what was going on, at which point everyone’s heart melted and the sun shone a little bit brighter.Report
Last week, a Quebec woman was found guilty for causing the death of two motorcyclists. She had stopped on a highway to rescue some ducklings and a motorcycle slammed into the back of her car.
If you can stop safely, great, but stopping isn’t always a wise move.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/06/20/jury-finds-woman-guilty-for-causing-deaths-of-two-bikers-when-she-stopped-to-save-ducks-on-highway/Report
A highway is a different bird altogether. We were on a road with a 35 MPH speed limit which most people go much slower than at that time of day due to all the school busses.
But, yes, I am fully on board with the idea that we should not endanger human lives to save animal lives (unless those humans voluntarily opt to endanger their own lives).Report
@jonathan-mcleod
In Singapore, the person who hits the vehicle in front is always at fault (on all civil and legal matters pertaining to the accident).Report
That’s almost always the case back home, which has lead to scams of people slamming on the breaks in the middle of the road in hopes of a settlement. It also leads to interesting things where you have one car hitting another from behind, which punches that car into the next car, and so the middle car is the victim of Part 1 and the perpetrator of Part 2. It does keep things pretty simple, though.
I don’t think it applies, however, to when there is a car that is out-and-out stopped on the road where they shouldn’t be stopped.Report
Murali, that’s generally the case in Ontario (and I think throughout Canada). But, as Will notes, it can also be illegal to stop on the road. In this case, it was a thoroughfare and it was considered negligent for a woman to park her car in the middle of the road to save some ducks.Report
It also leads to interesting things where you have one car hitting another from behind, which punches that car into the next car, and so the middle car is the victim of Part 1 and the perpetrator of Part 2.
Actually, in Singapore, in such situations, the rear most car takes full responsibility for both cars. I know this because I was in the middle car for one such collision. And I know that my friend the driver was not liable for anything.
As it is cars do break down in the middle of the highway, often before they can move to the road shoulder. Given that she was parked and already out of the car, the motorbike behind should have seen the car from far away. It is not like she suddenly jammed the break and caused a tailgating motorcyclist to have a fatal accident.
The motorcyclist himself must have been riding dangerously. Given the article, I do not see how the motorcyclist is not primarily responsible for his own and his daughter’s death.Report
I was following my ex home one day
I always enjoy a heartwarming story of stalking. 😉Report
I would guess they seriously want you to brake for turtles, to not run them over.
The only reason turtles will be in the road is to go to lay their eggs. Because of the oddness of turtle biology, every female is really essential (mostly because she mates with so many males, and so has, in her eggs, a tremendous genetic diversity).
And I am a serious turtle watcher; painted turtles and snapping turtles are very much a part of the Maine landscape.Report
Which part of N. Va was the sign located in?Report
I want to say the Dulles Parkway.Report