# Quasi-Automotive Puzzler

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/quasi-automotive-puzzler/90984>\
**Category:** The Show\
**Created:** [August 25, 2015, 5:23am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/quasi-automotive-puzzler/90984 "2015-08-25T05:23:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![insightful](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/insightful/32/2732_2.png) [@insightful](https://community.cartalk.com/u/insightful)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 5:23am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/quasi-automotive-puzzler/90984/1 "2015-08-25T05:23:39Z")

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I was driving down a two-lane road this evening that had obviously had its double-yellow line re-sprayed within the last week or so. I noticed that I could tell which way the paint truck had been going while spraying. How?

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**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 7:37am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/quasi-automotive-puzzler/90984/2 "2015-08-25T07:37:50Z")

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If the sprayer was moving over a small depression in the road, one edge of the depression might get a lot of paint and the other might not get any.

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**Author:** ![ken\_green](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/ken_green/32/816_2.png) [@ken\_green](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ken_green)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 3:37am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/quasi-automotive-puzzler/90984/3 "2015-08-26T03:37:27Z")

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The direction of spatter and drips.

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**Author:** ![insightful](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/insightful/32/2732_2.png) [@insightful](https://community.cartalk.com/u/insightful)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 5:30am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/quasi-automotive-puzzler/90984/4 "2015-08-26T05:30:45Z")

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Nope, much more obvious (answer ~~tomorrow~~ below).

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**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 5:34am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/quasi-automotive-puzzler/90984/5 "2015-08-26T05:34:44Z")

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Yellow tire marks after passing the truck due to lane change?

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**Author:** ![insightful](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/insightful/32/2732_2.png) [@insightful](https://community.cartalk.com/u/insightful)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 5:40am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/quasi-automotive-puzzler/90984/6 "2015-08-26T05:40:07Z")

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Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner! Yep, those low-lifes that can’t take an extra 2 minutes for the truck to finish a stretch of road.