Setting Expectations?

[Coss]

So it would seem that we will need to develop some new driving strategies or skills to deal with road hazards in a three wheeled world. Not sure which of us will be impacted the most. Those of us in rural areas or those in more urban areas.

I would have to go with urban; urban has the sheer volume of other vehicles and people on the road, plus tighter situations (going down a one way street with cars parked on both sides comes to mind right at the start), then throw in bicycle riders, and of course distracted drivers and you've got your hands full of situations that rural drivers don't have to deal with on a daily basis.

 

[Ekh]

On the subject of real-life Elio driving: Last night I was driving down a gravel road, dodging potholes, and it suddenly occurred to me that it will be more difficult to dodge said potholes in an Elio due to the tricycle configuration. Am I wrong?

you're not wrong. But I think potholes tend to occur more to the edges of lanes than in their centers ... so a small adjustment may be enough to keep out of most of them.

 

[floydv]

you're not wrong. But I think potholes tend to occur more to the edges of lanes than in their centers ... so a small adjustment may be enough to keep out of most of them.

The Army Corps of Engineers would tend to support your intuition:

"Since water and traffic must be present together, it can easily be seen that the most common location for pothole development is in the wheel paths of traffic."

http://acwc.sdp.sirsi.net/client/search/asset/1001394

Good reading, especially pages 6-10.

 

[BaldGuy]

you're not wrong. But I think potholes tend to occur more to the edges of lanes than in their centers ... so a small adjustment may be enough to keep out of most of them.

I'm sure this is true for most places, but sometimes here, the entire road turns into a pothole. There was times last year, I wouldn't even count some of them as roads. More like playing the Oregon Trail game.

 

[Cache Man]

I'm sure this is true for most places, but sometimes here, the entire road turns into a pothole. There was times last year, I wouldn't even count some of them as roads. More like playing the Oregon Trail game.

I agree! Here are a few examples...

[Broken External Image]

Apparently there are "Beer Holes" also.

 

[Coss]

#3, 4 & 5 must have been from Portland.

 

[Cache Man]

#3, 4 & 5 must have been from Portland.

In Utah during the winter the road crews use salt (go figure... The Great Salt Lake) and it tears up the roads. We have two driving seasons in Utah... Winter and construction.

 

[Coss]

In Utah during the winter the road crews use salt (go figure... The Great Salt Lake) and it tears up the roads. We have two driving seasons in Utah... Winter and construction.

I was down there when they were getting ready for the Olympics; what a mess that was. It was before GPS devices were common and I was trying to follow driving instructions from MapQuest (that was a joke)

 

[larryboy]

On the subject of real-life Elio driving: Last night I was driving down a gravel road, dodging potholes, and it suddenly occurred to me that it will be more difficult to dodge said potholes in an Elio due to the tricycle configuration. Am I wrong?

Most gravel roads have 3 wheel tracks and you generally drive on the right hand two. There are two "windrows" of gravel that separate the wheel tracks. I think that dodging potholes will be an issue but the real problem on gravel will be that rear tire riding in what can often be 2 or 3 inches of loose gravel. I have a mile of gravel to drive on before I get to a hard surface road. I have already decided that I will have to drive that a little slower than I usually do but that is a good intention. The same things that the road to hell is paved with.

 

[slinches]

Unless the amount of traffic is insanely high, as long as you drive that route regularly it won't be long until there's five wheel tracks instead of three.