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I'm not getting the point of such a device as you are going to be stopped for the red light whether it has 30 seconds till green or 3 minutes till green.
As much as I enjoy the occasional stop light drag race I take enough time to check for crossing traffic before I start to move. We have a number of distracted drivers turning left in front of me on the RED while talking on the phone.
Likewise.
I had an incident where I was filtering up to a light one about two cars back when the light turned green. I gave it some gas to get out in front and as my vision cleared from being boxed in by SUVs, what do I see but a minivan that's intending to blatantly run the red light and make turn in front of me. He's speeding towards the intersection a good two seconds after its gone red with no intent to stop. I'm already on the throttle and closer to the intersection than he is, so I just opened it up and had plenty of time to clear his path of travel. But I got lucky. The stars aligned on that one. It wasn't a case of somebody trying to beat so much as just blatantly run the light with total disregard. I cleared the intersection just after he entered it and before he turned left. He never even saw me. Complete tunnel vision staring at the red light. If he'd been a second or so earlier, the only thing I could have done was try and stop and I don't know that with reaction time that would have been possible. Had it been someone running the light going across, I wouldn't have seen them in enough time to accelerate to avoid the situation.
I usually watch the lights and am aware of traffic approaching the intersection. If for some reason I can't (blind intersection, can't see the lights), I sit there for a good two seconds after it goes green. The people behind me can rot.
Aha -- at last, an opportunity for drivers to text safely. Now, instead of looking out the window at the evolving traffic environment while stopped, drivers can either text or watch the indicator on their instrument cluster.
Traffic lights could more easily have a counter affixed to the light itself, as has been in use in Netherlands for a half a century.
Drivers should have been taught that they are supposed to be paying attention to the traffic signals, even when waiting, and be prepared to proceed when the light changes.
It will not reduce accidents. A car running a yellow is not dangerous, unless the waiting drivers can have a head start and leap out into the intersection a nanosecond after the light changes. In fact, drivers hitting the gas a second before the light changes will be a worse menace than yellow-light runners a second after the light changes. You're just robbing Peter to pay Paul, who will keep on colliding in the intersection.
Yellow light runners do not cause accidents, they cause tickets, which nowadays is the whole reason for even having traffic lights and traffic controls. City budgets need for the system to be as ambiguous and surprising as possible. Don't talk about safety, that is not the issue, money is.
Personally, I've had it up to here with all these carmakers and their razzle-dazzle crap that they are pitching, claiming that their cars or the experience of driving them is advanced in any way, except maybe to help drivers who are too moronic, incompetent or distracted to drive safely and properly in the first place.
Yellow-light runners do not cause tickets. I "run" yellows all the time, including on intersections with cameras. I've never received a ticket for running either a light in my life because "running" a yellow is completely legal and what you are supposed to do.
What causes accidents at intersection is 99% of the time red light runners or those who intend on it and hit stopped cars in front of them. They're also the only people that get tickets. The only other scenario I can even think of is someone changing a lane in the middle of an intersection when there's someone there. That can't be that common.
I'm not getting the point of such a device as you are going to be stopped for the red light whether it has 30 seconds till green or 3 minutes till green.
With this device, you can determine whether or not it would be better to decelerate(coast) to the light. Or make a right on red and then do a U-turn, if the light cycle will be too long.
Yellow-light runners do not cause tickets. I "run" yellows all the time, including on intersections with cameras. I've never received a ticket for running either a light in my life because "running" a yellow is completely legal and what you are supposed to do.
Tickets will be issued for running a yellow light in Valdosta, Georgia, and Traverse City, Michigan. I have proof. You are supposed to stop if you have not yet entered the intersection.
Tickets will be issued for running a yellow light in Valdosta, Georgia, and Traverse City, Michigan. I have proof.
No, you have proof of getting tickets for repeatedly running red lights. If it's malfunctioning AND the person issuing the ticket does so anyway, they're very easy to contest. That's incredibly rare. The cameras capture both the vehicle and the signal in the same frame.
Yellow-light runners do not cause tickets. I "run" yellows all the time, including on intersections with cameras. I've never received a ticket for running either a light in my life because "running" a yellow is completely legal and what you are supposed to do.
While I agree that running a yellow light is, generally speaking, not a particularly dangerous act in the grand scheme of things, it is indeed a ticketable offense in most jurisdictions. It can change from city to city, but the law is usually written that it is illegal for a vehicle to enter an intersection once the light turns yellow.
Of course in practice, this is hard to avoid if you're doing 40mph and the light turns yellow when you're 5 feet from it, but if the cop wants to go by the letter of the law, you can still be ticketed.
While I agree that running a yellow light is, generally speaking, not a particularly dangerous act in the grand scheme of things, it is indeed a ticketable offense in most jurisdictions. It can change from city to city, but the law is usually written that it is illegal for a vehicle to enter an intersection once the light turns yellow.
Of course in practice, this is hard to avoid if you're doing 40mph and the light turns yellow when you're 5 feet from it, but if the cop wants to go by the letter of the law, you can still be ticketed.
It's impossible to prove a negative, so all I can say is I am personally unaware of that being the case anywhere. It's absolutely NOT common at all on the West Coast.
Quote:
What is red-light Running?
Permissive yellow rule:
Driver can legally enter intersection during entire yellow interval
Violation occurs if driver enters intersection after onset of red
Restrictive yellow rule:
Driver can neither enter nor be in intersection on red
Violation occurs if driver has not cleared intersection after onset of red
Quote:
37 states + DC have laws in substantial conformity with the meaning of the yellow and red indications in the MUTCD and UVC. Another 9 states require motorists to stop on yellow but also drive cautiously through the intersection on the red if too close to stop safely.
Four states—LA, TN, RI, WV—prohibit vehicles from crossing the intersection on red. The laws in these four states are not in conformity with the meaning of the yellow and red indications specified in the MUTCD.
Oregon is one such "restrictive" state.
Quote:
Steady circular yellow signal. A driver facing a steady circular yellow signal light is thereby warned that the related right of way is being terminated and that a red or flashing red light will be shown immediately. A driver facing the light shall stop at a clearly marked stop line, but if none, shall stop before entering the marked crosswalk on the near side of the intersection, or if there is no marked crosswalk, then before entering the intersection. If a driver cannot stop in safety, the driver may drive cautiously through the intersection.
As you can see, it's completely legal in Oregon to drive through a yellow light.
Maybe you live in one of those four states that are not substantially in compliance with the UVC. If you live in the other 46, however, it's completely legal to drive through a yellow light.
Excellent posts; I learn something new about driving every day here.
I remember when the Volks. "wabbit" commercial had the driver punching away from the light and for the
nest few years I hand to watch every rabbit driver because they loved doing this. (Los Angeles)
I'll bet the Audi drivers that love using this new tool are the same ones that will push the safety envelope to make that next light.
It's impossible to prove a negative, so all I can say is I am personally unaware of that being the case anywhere. It's absolutely NOT common at all on the West Coast.
I've never heard of that either. If yellow means stop, what do we need red for? To me yellow means "proceed with caution".
There will come a time when all of these electronic nannies will be so distracting that people won't be able to get out of their driveways without having a stroke. And certainly they are slowly but surely the ability to safely operate a motor vehicle by one's self. Just like pilots who have become too reliant on computers, and have forgotten how to actually fly, this may not be a good thing.
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