Running red-lights needs to STOP (Denver, Fort Collins: 2014, university, live)

[Robert5]

Originally Posted by Mach50

OK now I am going to go find some stats...

according to this we are in the top 10:

Stop! Denver in top 10 cities for red-light running

Stop On Red | National Coalition for Safer Roads

Methodology is " highest number of red-light running fatalities between 2004-2013."

So it ends up being pretty much the 10 largest car centric cities


Maybe "red light running" is a big hazard in urban Denver, but in suburban Denver where I have lived it is not a problem, and yes I am talking about the city and county of Denver

[Mach50]

Originally Posted by skins_fan82

turning left is the worst I've seen of it. after the light has turned red (not that 2 second grace period right before the yellow turns red), I've seen two, sometimes three cars blow right through the red arrow. what. the. ****.

Oh yeah 8th and Colorado is one of those intersections that is a ticking timebomb... something really bad is going to happen there because of the left turn lanes. That is why I don't sit down at the Starbucks there.

[skins_fan82]

I've never seen it anywhere else but my hometown of Washington DC. But the lights change at the exact same time. As your light turns red, the perpendicular light turns green simultaneously. There is no 1-2 second lapse between your light turning red and the other lights turning green.

I left dc at 20 years old (i'm 33 now), but from what I remember, there were very few people running red lights, for obvious reasons.

In theory, having the lights change simultaneously like that here in Denver should help cut down on red light runners....but would only create more accidents lol.

Ugh, 30% of you ****ing Denver drivers are morons. I say that with love lol

[poppunk]

Originally Posted by downtownnola

I think the red light running problem is a lot worse in Denver than it is in Chicago (my observation after living in Chicago for 2 years). Of course, in Chicago, if a person were to run a red light and hold up the cars that have the green light, they would probably have dozens of people blowing their horns.

Denver drivers are crazy.

The red light situation here is wild, and way worse than Baltimore/DC, where I just moved from.

The drivers in Denver/Colorado are categorically better across the entire driving spectrum here. For example, it's a rare occurrence to not be able to see the hood of the car behind me here, but in Bmore/DC it was constant. It was just how you did things: angrily. I have had no people speed up considerably when I made a left turn in front of their car with plenty of space here. I've also observed few people taking a turn signal as a sign of weakness and closing the space I was going to get into.

This red light thing is the only place where the driving here has been noticeably out of whack, unless you count silly things like people trying to be nice at 4-way stops and letting people go when they should and messing up the system.

Someone earlier in the thread used the term "aggressive" to refer to drivers here. Outside of a few nutbags, I find that to be a really comical statement.

[Katarina Witt]

Having come here from Champaign, IL where red light running is also pretty bad (maybe a carryover from Chicago?) I didn't notice any difference. Not the done thing in the Pittsburgh area, where I grew up and learned how to drive.

[downtownnola]

Originally Posted by poppunk

The red light situation here is wild, and way worse than Baltimore/DC, where I just moved from.

The drivers in Denver/Colorado are categorically better across the entire driving spectrum here. For example, it's a rare occurrence to not be able to see the hood of the car behind me here, but in Bmore/DC it was constant. It was just how you did things: angrily. I have had no people speed up considerably when I made a left turn in front of their car with plenty of space here. I've also observed few people taking a turn signal as a sign of weakness and closing the space I was going to get into.

This red light thing is the only place where the driving here has been noticeably out of whack, unless you count silly things like people trying to be nice at 4-way stops and letting people go when they should and messing up the system.

Someone earlier in the thread used the term "aggressive" to refer to drivers here. Outside of a few nutbags, I find that to be a really comical statement.

I agree. Way less "angry" drivers in Denver, which I view as a positive. I feel like people in Chicago wake up trying to find out ways to just be mad about life, which often manifests in commuting.

With that said, I have found the drivers in Chicago way more angry/aggressive, but not as fast as the drivers were in Denver. I can't believe how slow people drive on the freeways around here. It's like, "I'll practically take off your bumper by either cutting you off or riding your *** so close that you can see the tears coming out of my eyes in your rear view mirror." But, I don't dare do more than 3 over the speed limit.Total midwestern passive aggressiveness.

In my experience, Denver drivers are more polite, but drive faster on the freeway. They usually drive really fast on the freeways, but are still polite enough to signal lane changes. People in Chicago drive slower than they do in Denver, but are way, way more rude.

[shikataganai]

Originally Posted by skins_fan82

turning left is the worst I've seen of it. after the light has turned red (not that 2 second grace period right before the yellow turns red), I've seen two, sometimes three cars blow right through the red arrow. what. the. ****.

I see this all the time... and this is why I run dashcams on both my and my wife's cars. I refuse to share in liability for a potential accident if I was not at fault, and dashcam proof that they other party ran the red would be invaluable in such a situation.

[DougStark]

Bottom line is, red light running is occurring in all cities and is DEADLY. I always make sure someone is coming to a complete stop before proceeding. Defense driving is my way of life.

[JrzDefector]

It happened again with that damn left-turn arrow. This time, while waiting to make a left, the drivers going through the intersection perpendicular to me decided to make lefts long after their light had turned red. End result? My left-turn arrow turned to red by the time the first car in the lane got to go.

WTF?

I am a Jersey driver - I just tend to mutter curses under my breath while driving. Passengers think I'm angry, but that's actually just my normal driving attitude. Despite that, I was never much of a "flip the bird" driver - I've been using it in the Denver area A LOT.

Also, why is merging so taboo here?

[Mach50]

Originally Posted by JrzDefector

It happened again with that damn left-turn arrow. This time, while waiting to make a left, the drivers going through the intersection perpendicular to me decided to make lefts long after their light had turned red. End result? My left-turn arrow turned to red by the time the first car in the lane got to go.

WTF?

They may as well just remove left arrows here, too dodgy.

Originally Posted by JrzDefector

Also, why is merging so taboo here?

Good question. I think the area is just prone to bad driving all around.