Another car on the W&OD

[jrenaut]

Those comments are pretty tame. Some are even funny.

[dasgeh]

@bobco85 57564 wrote:

4. He didn’t register that, “hey, a whole bunch of pedestrians and cyclists seem to be standing on the side of the road staring at me; maybe something is wrong.”
[…]
6. On his entry point, what more can be done to help prevent any future incidents like this? While I would advocate for a flexpost bollard to be placed in the middle of the trail where the stop sign is, I do think that spot could lose a lot of the asphalt and a “No left/right turn” signs on Columbia Pike could help.

I believe he had his family in the car — I’m surprised no peds tried to flag him down to tell him it wasn’t a road. Unless he really was moving, which is extra scary.

On the entry point, I could see adding more prominent signage that automobiles, etc are prohibited.

[jabberwocky]

I always wonder how the hell someone can possibly think they are on a road. I mean, I can get accidentally turning into the W&OD in places. Its paved, there are curb cuts, etc. But as soon as you’re on it, how can you not notice its (at most) 10 feet wide and has a yellow line in the middle and lacks road signs and is full of pedestrians and people on bikes and stuff?

[mstone]

stories like this remind you that almost half the people on the road are dumber than most.

[consularrider]

@jabberwocky 57608 wrote:

I always wonder how the hell someone can possibly think they are on a road. I mean, I can get accidentally turning into the W&OD in places. Its paved, there are curb cuts, etc. But as soon as you’re on it, how can you not notice its (at most) 10 feet wide and has a yellow line in the middle and lacks road signs and is full of pedestrians and people on bikes and stuff?

But then there is nowhere to turn around so you just have to keep going. Maybe he could have turned right onto the 9th St S access path by the gardens, but that really looks even less like a street entry.

[Tim Kelley]

@mstone 57612 wrote:

stories like this remind you that almost half the people on the road are dumber than most.

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[Mikey]

@jabberwocky 57585 wrote:

…people are idiots. Remember your mom asking you “if your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?” Well, if a GPS directed them off a bridge, 20% of the population would totally go for it.

there is a political cartoon somewhere in there.

[Vicegrip]

@Subby 57558 wrote:

Stop reading comments sections on the web. Stop reading comments sections on the web. Stop reading comments sections on the web. Stop reading comments sections on the web. Stop reading comments sections on the web.

I agree. OTOH this one was funny.

Joe • 6 hours ago
“One time my GPS sent me wrong directions and directed me into a strip bar. I spent over $400 before I realized it. My wife was furious with the GPS company”

[KLizotte]

@Tim Kelley 57615 wrote:

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Anybody else notice that George Carlin is using the wrong mathematical concept? He’s referring to median not average.

I know, I know…he’s referring to a population and not a sample thus a probable bell curve but I still say there is some unintended irony in the graphic.

I’m an economist – so shoot me!

[mstone]

@KLizotte 57664 wrote:

Anybody else notice that George Carlin is using the wrong mathematical concept? He’s referring to median not average.

I know, I know…he’s referring to a population and not a sample thus a probable bell curve but I still say there is some unintended irony in the graphic.

I’m an economist – so shoot me!

This is why we don’t turn to mathematicians for humor.

[thucydides]

@KLizotte 57664 wrote:

Anybody else notice that George Carlin is using the wrong mathematical concept? He’s referring to median not average.

I know, I know…he’s referring to a population and not a sample thus a probable bell curve but I still say there is some unintended irony in the graphic.

I’m an economist – so shoot me!

Well, if you REALLY want to get pedantic about it then he’s actually correct, even without a normal distribution. A median is a type of average. In common usage people use the term “average” to refer to a mean, but common usage doesn’t negate the fact that a median is an average, as is a mode, as are the various flavors of means.

[baiskeli]

@thucydides 57675 wrote:

Well, if you REALLY want to get pedantic about it then he’s actually correct, even without a normal distribution. A median is a type of average. In common usage people use the term “average” to refer to a mean, but common usage doesn’t negate the fact that a median is an average, as is a mode, as are the various flavors of means.

Nerdy English major type bails out nerdy economist-mathematician type.

[NicDiesel]

@thucydides 57675 wrote:

…but common usage doesn’t negate the fact that a median is an average, as is a mode, as are the various flavors of means.

Allow me to introduce you to my dear friend the bimodal distribution.

[KLizotte]

@baiskeli 57845 wrote:

Nerdy English major type bails out nerdy economist-mathematician type.

Well, my stats book doesn’t entirely agree with what Thucydides said but I don’t want to beat a dead horse to death.

[Mikey]

@NicDiesel 57849 wrote:

Allow me to introduce you to my dear friend the bimodal distribution.

Ah, Dolly Parton, I forgot about her.

[Author]

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