Paddles on slow, for safety??

[Glacier]

Don't they mean pedals? I've never heard of a gas pedal being referred to as a paddle. That doesn't even make sense.

https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-s ... htm#212059

[ferri]

“We will not be stopping traffic. We will have our paddles on slow to support the TCP (traffic control person) who was injured on Friday.”

[Bsuds]

I think they are referring to their hand held signs that say "Stop" on one side and "Slow" on the other.

[Glacier]

Oh, I missed that line. Didn't know they were called paddles, but I guess that make sense.

[weedlover]

I think the flaggers share part of the blame for flagger injuries. I can't count the number of times I have driven by a flagger and they have their back to traffic inches away from passing cars while chatting up a construction or looking at their phone.

[TheBoss]

As a former flagger i can honestly say it's the people driving their cars causing the biggest danger. I was almost hit twice in one day while working on the highway, First vehicle the guy admitted he was on his cell phone and didn't see me or my signs. Second one, would of crashed into the back of the work truck if i had it on the road acting like a buffer. Luckily i was able to get out of the way. Another time we were working with Telus crew and they were stringing up cable, this woman comes storming out her house, yelling and swearing at the crew. They had the cable laid out in front of her driveway with a couple cones blocking it. It's no problem to quickly get the cable lifted up and out of the way. When she left her driveway i thought she was gonna back right into the neighbors yard. That is the type of dangers flaggers have to deal with on a daily basis.

When i was trained i was told to be always watching your traffic, stand side ways and never ever put your back to traffic. If the work crew needed to let us know something it would be a quick chit chat and then back to business.

Another huge pain is people not using their signal light, So i was usually a jerk and held them until they turned it on, i would even point which way they wanted to go and people would point instead of turning on their signal...

[weedlover]

So you acted like a jerk (your words) and you wonder why people yell at flaggers. LOL

As a former flagger i can honestly say it's the people driving their cars causing the biggest danger. I was almost hit twice in one day while working on the highway, First vehicle the guy admitted he was on his cell phone and didn't see me or my signs. Second one, would of crashed into the back of the work truck if i had it on the road acting like a buffer. Luckily i was able to get out of the way. Another time we were working with Telus crew and they were stringing up cable, this woman comes storming out her house, yelling and swearing at the crew. They had the cable laid out in front of her driveway with a couple cones blocking it. It's no problem to quickly get the cable lifted up and out of the way. When she left her driveway i thought she was gonna back right into the neighbors yard. That is the type of dangers flaggers have to deal with on a daily basis.

When i was trained i was told to be always watching your traffic, stand side ways and never ever put your back to traffic. If the work crew needed to let us know something it would be a quick chit chat and then back to business.

Another huge pain is people not using their signal light, So i was usually a jerk and held them until they turned it on, i would even point which way they wanted to go and people would point instead of turning on their signal...

[lostsurferinbc]

As a former flagger i can honestly say it's the people driving their cars causing the biggest danger. I was almost hit twice in one day while working on the highway, First vehicle the guy admitted he was on his cell phone and didn't see me or my signs. Second one, would of crashed into the back of the work truck if i had it on the road acting like a buffer. Luckily i was able to get out of the way. Another time we were working with Telus crew and they were stringing up cable, this woman comes storming out her house, yelling and swearing at the crew. They had the cable laid out in front of her driveway with a couple cones blocking it. It's no problem to quickly get the cable lifted up and out of the way. When she left her driveway i thought she was gonna back right into the neighbors yard. That is the type of dangers flaggers have to deal with on a daily basis.

When i was trained i was told to be always watching your traffic, stand side ways and never ever put your back to traffic. If the work crew needed to let us know something it would be a quick chit chat and then back to business.

Another huge pain is people not using their signal light, So i was usually a jerk and held them until they turned it on, i would even point which way they wanted to go and people would point instead of turning on their signal...

I do agree with you that it is always 99.5% driver error, the stupidity I see behind the wheel of motorists driving through my construction zones is astonishing. However a I will disagree with you and call you ignorant for holding up traffic because a motorist doesn't have their signal on. Why? because they are not required to and you have to remember that you and the contractor working are the inconvenience, not the motorist.
My background is I am a construction superintendent for a highways and bridge construction company and I am a certified Flagger Trainer and Traffic Accommodation Supervisor.

[christopher]

As a Superintendent working on road construction I would like everyone with a drivers license to spend 1 day flagging on the narrow sections of the Trans Canada thats all it would take to slow every one down. Maybe this would be a good punishment for speeders thru construction zones.

[Queen K]

Agreed! I was flagging once, just to detour people around a road in Banff. However, the drivers couldn't see what was going on at the other end of the road, so it looked like I was alone with no purpose. A guy took a run at me, with his jeep. Scary in itself.

Believe me, I get the "slow down" and how vulnerable flaggers are. Everyone should try it for a day. Even a couple of hours.

[TheBoss]

Excuse me not required to have a turn signal? What kind of drugs are you on? If we have signal lane traffic and my partner is sending me traffic and i let the car go and they get into a head on collision the i'm at fault.

The stupidity of people both on the road and the inter *bleep* astonishes me and no wonder why i no longer post on the castanet forums..

[Fancy]

https://www.uwlax.edu/catl/lsp/obj/beam ... safety.pdf

I'm not sure how a head on would occur if motorists are following flaggers directions.

[TheBoss]

You single have single lane alternating traffic, you have a side road covered. A car pulls up to to the stop sign and has no turn signal on. I'm not going to send that car unless i know which direction they're going and if i can send them safely.

Also you don't stand on the shoulder expecting traffic to stop, you have to be in the middle of the lane to control traffic, or else everyone is just going to drive past you. This is why i quite flagging because of the stupidity and dangerous actions of drivers.

Also work days change, so if something came up the crew would let us know sometimes that means a quick chit chat on the road.

I almost watched my partner get hit, sent my traffic up the hill and look over my shoulder as my last car goes by and see a car barely stop for my partner. My heart sank because there was nothing i could. Thankfully the old guy noticed in time and stopped.

Kinda ramble shamble thing i have going on. That Information you found doesn't look like anything modern for a TCP to be using.

[[email protected]]

I'd like to make this brief as the owner of Okanagan Traffic control for 17 years. The World day of Remembrance for road traffic victims was on Sunday Nov 19, appropriate acknowledgement of ALL victims of road crashes and their families. I'm sure all of the people that are a part of this event in Lavington on Saturday Nov 25 will be aware of this day and will annually support it. I don't believe my team is ready to return to this poor thought out location and as we are there in support of this cause, timing for us is a little under thought and emotions considerably still very raw. If there's an impact to be had, take it to high volume Hwy 97 in Vernon, where you can be seen by the masses!!! PS lets make this about distracted driving and respect for ALL road workers too!

[lostsurferinbc]

Excuse me not required to have a turn signal? What kind of drugs are you on? If we have signal lane traffic and my partner is sending me traffic and i let the car go and they get into a head on collision the i'm at fault.

The stupidity of people both on the road and the inter *bleep* astonishes me and no wonder why i no longer post on the castanet forums..

I’m not on any drugs bud, I am however legally certified to train and instruct you as a flagger as well as setup traffic accommodations. You however are not. No where in your training states a motorist has to put their turn signal on to enter into your work area. If the motorist is confused on were they need to proceed, then the contractor has not set up proper delineation to guide traffic in a clear and easy to navigate work zone. For you to hold up traffic because you THINK you the motorist should be doing something they are not required to do is ignorance on your part. Like I stated before, YOU are the inconvenience not the motorist.