Red Light or not Red Light?

cars · Post by **cars** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:01 pm

Does a RED Traffic Light mean Stop?? You would never know it does with many of today's drivers. Today after the light turned green for me, there were "5" cars one right after the other, that past that "RED" light, (doing about 50mph) at least 10 to 12 seconds after the light was green for me!!! :-5 (Luckily I never start out on a Green Light without looking "Both ways" first, for just this reason)

These dufus drivers are major accidents wating to happen!!! I know the "Police" can not be everywhere, so maybe it would be a good idea for "citizens" to be able to jot down the License plate numbers of these traffic rule violators and report it to a central data collecting source. After the same plate number was turned in by "3" random Citizens then the Police would know these people are dangerous and need to be dealt with!!! What do you think? :-2

Cars :driving:

David813 · Post by **David813** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:08 pm

I ran a light in a completely deserted area in the middle of the night and got a $75 ticket!

What an Outrage! I say if no one is around we should be able to run lights. It's how some departments make a living!!

Jika · Post by **Jika** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:56 pm

Gee I don't know Cars, this is a tricky one, I agree people should stop at all red lights even if (David) there appears to be no-one else around b/c that's exactly how accidents happen. People assume nothing is coming and BAM it's happened!

Have you ever heard someone say, post accident " Oh yes I saw them coming but went thru anyway" ??? No, that's b/c they didn't see them or didn't even look, so most times, post accident, people say " OMG! I'm so sorry I just didn't see/think anyone was there."

As far as 3 random people dobbing 'red-runners' in, that will never do. You cannot run a judicial system on hear-say x3. It would be totally open to abuse by vindictive, malicious folk out to malign another. How would you ever truly sustain 3 people were "random citizens" and not 3 spiteful covertly connected people.

Maybe mandatory driver education classes with vid/DVD of red-light crash scenes and the human carnage involved may change their driving behaviours.

koan · Post by **koan** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 10:38 pm

I heard once, and it makes sense, that the colour red - causing aggression - actually makes us want to speed up subconsciously while the colour green is calming and makes us want to drive slower or stop. I have actually slowed almost to a stop approaching a green light until I caught what I was doing and admit to running a red light when some passengers were gabbing at me and I wasn't paying full attention. I think the traffic light designers screwed up.

pink princess · Post by **pink princess** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 3:21 am

koan - good point

as for amber - well as my dad says, that means - go faster

cars · Post by **cars** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 7:10 am

Posted by Jika:

As far as 3 random people dobbing 'red-runners' in, that will never do. You cannot run a judicial system on hear-say x3. It would be totally open to abuse by vindictive, malicious folk out to malign another. How would you ever truly sustain 3 people were "random citizens" and not 3 spiteful covertly connected people.

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You're right, the system would have to be closely monitored, & the caller reporting the "red-runner" would have to give their name & address (They will, if they are really serious about the incident) as a point of reference for the police, so they could take notice of repeat crank callers. (something needs to be done, it would be for the safety of us all ???)

Cars :driving:

robinseggs · Post by **robinseggs** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 7:43 am

Well, sad to say, but I think David--you could kill somebody someday thinking like that. And for Tmbsgrl's aunt......she is DEFINATELY going to kill somebody, maybe an innocent baby. How sad. If I were you, Tmbsgrl, I would contact the police and direct them to her favorite intersections and sit back and watch. She needs a few tickets, although they won't be her first I am certain. But several in a row and maybe a licsence revocation would send her the message. She won't like walking as it sounds like she likes to "get there" fast. What will it take? She sounds like a very selfish person and her running lights without a care really angers me.

I wanted to add that I just came home from CA (Los Angeles), and while there, a resident told me that when sitting at a green light, wanting to go left and yielding to oncoming traffic you may never get through, so it is understood that when light goes to yellow then red, there is an allowance of up to 2 cars that can go on the red....but ONLY 2!!! Anyone know about this? The resident said a police officer told her about it. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm......? Anyone???

Porpoise · Post by **Porpoise** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 9:25 am

That is really irritating. What is worse though is when people fail to yield the right of way at a light. If you are at a left turn and the light is green but there is no arrow, you DO NOT have the right of way. You must make sure that there are no cars going straight before you turn left!!! :-5 I drive through such an intersection everyday when I am going to college and I nearly get killed everyday because of morons who purposely fail to yield the right of way!!! I think that when you turn left at a light, you can only go on the arrow. At least at the intersection I cross. One day there will be a major wreck because of this!!!! :-5

Porpoise · Post by **Porpoise** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 9:27 am

Of course I live in the United States, so the yielding right of way rules on left turns without an arrow only applies to those who live in the US. Sorry if I confused any of you.

devist8me · Post by **devist8me** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 10:21 am

Here's how I understand it......

If your IN the intersection, waiting to turn left, and the light turns yellow, you have control of the intersection even after the light turns red. This means you wait until all the oncoming traffic finishes running their yellow light, then make your turn. Sometimes, 2 cars might make it out into the intersection, depending on the size. But never can someone who was behind the line waiting to turn left, jump out after it turns yellow.

This is how I do it anyway.......hope I'm right.

Ladycop could probably help us here.

gmc · Post by **gmc** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 10:51 am

posted by porpoise

Of course I live in the United States, so the yielding right of way rules on left turns without an arrow only applies to those who live in the US. Sorry if I confused any of you.

Don't worry about it the american flag offered a good clue

cars · Post by **cars** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 3:01 am

Posted by tmb1173:

Hi all I am new at this so be patient with me. I drive on average about 12 hours a day through some of the worst drivers. Phoenix Arizona area and outlying areas.I deal with the typical old people driving rv's and teens in mom and dads hummer. I am from Chicago and can say I have seen more wrecks in 6 months of Arizona than 5 years of Illinois. Red lights here are a joke as the people here think that if they have the money they are special and cops can be paid off. Or my favorite is that the cops are scared to pull over the bmw or porche for fear of it being someone with pull in city hall. If you arer old or have money move to az. it is the autoban for old rich people. I am moving from here once my lease is up.I can only pray I make it that far and don't get cut off by some red light runner in a hurry to get to starbucks for the coffee of the day. I try not to have road rage and if any of you haven't heard there have been a couple of shootings here on the freeways due to road rage and the shooter is yet to be found

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Hi tmb1173 welcome, "Road Rage" has been in a thread of it's own a while ago.

It is a subject that is really important that drivers need to understand, and become defensive against & not participate in. Some of the nicest people as pedestirans somehow metamorphosize & become the nastiest intense "Road Warriors" in their cars! As evident when you mentioned the "shootings" on your freeways. Road Rage "KILLS"! :wah: (Stay away from it at all costs)

Cars :driving:

robinseggs · Post by **robinseggs** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 11:32 pm

devist8me wrote: Here's how I understand it......

If your IN the intersection, waiting to turn left, and the light turns yellow, you have control of the intersection even after the light turns red. This means you wait until all the oncoming traffic finishes running their yellow light, then make your turn. Sometimes, 2 cars might make it out into the intersection, depending on the size. But never can someone who was behind the line waiting to turn left, jump out after it turns yellow.

This is how I do it anyway.......hope I'm right.

Ladycop could probably help us here.

Yes this is what my CA friend told me. Right after moving out there, she was sitting at a yielding left turn green light but couldn't go because too much oncoming traffic. (No arrow at this light). She was the first car in the lane, so many cars behind her were beeping their horns.....(the light had turned red). When she eventually went, a cop pulled her over and explained that out there (in CA), when you are the first car, you must pull out into the intersection when it turns yellow (up to 2 cars can do this) and then when it turns red, YOU GO FAST! I think this is ridiculous, but after spending a wk out there, I realized, that people are forced to do it this way as the traffic NEVER lets up, and you never get a turn. I wonder why they don't put green arrows at these busy lights????

jahamaa · Post by **jahamaa** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 8:02 am

Have to admit running red lights led to my one surrender to road rage.

Little red car, don't know the make, ran a red light as I was turnig left. Right on the main street of our down. I was the third car in line at the green light so the light had been red on the cross street for some time.

I just caught him out of the corner of my eye barreling trough the intersection.

Since I was in a 3 quarter ton work van and he in the small late modle red car, want to guess which one of us ended up skidding to a stop in the parking lane? :wah:

Hate to admit it but I throughly enjoyed his anger.

minks · Post by **minks** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 8:28 am

running red lites is a huge problem here, so we have cameras, and they pick up your speed, click a pic of you on this side of the intersection then immediately click a pic of the other side of the intersection to see if you went through or not. We got caught in that camera crossfire but luckily halted on the proper side of the intersection as opposed to going through, albiet we slammed on the brakes. But....now there is more incidents of rear end collisions at intersections as we figure out this camera situation. One now speeds along, and sees a red light cam, and slams on the breaks to avoid the second pic. Thus causing Joe average to slam into you from behind as he was thinking you were going through and pushing you into the intersection. yeah ok Less T-bone crashes more Rear ends so are we better off, hell no red lights still are an issue to reccon with.

Bothwell · Post by **Bothwell** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 8:34 am

You need to all start driving stick shift cars and driving on the left, then install a few roundabouts.

Actually I got pulled by a Cop on m,y first ever driving experience in the uSA when I encountered a 4 way stop sign and had no clue what to do and wondered why everyone was sounding their horn when the light was on red. I guess it was pretty easy for the cop to spot the Brit