I've spoken with traffic engineers before, and the consensus I've gotten is that, excusing a few bad apples, much of the problems originate with popular or political interference.

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trgn an hour ago | parent [-]

I believe it, but what's the point of having them then.

	▲	cwnyth 41 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		To do the best they can do within the confines of what's politically acceptable. There's an intersection near me that is just horrendous, but the engineer I talked to, who is now retired, said it was his mentor's task to fix it some 50 years ago. Actually fixing it, though, would require removing parking spaces, and the mayors have routinely vetoed that idea after they received pushback. The people are to blame. You get what you vote for.