Stopping on a yellow (Knoxville: insurance, felony, lawyer)

[fbama73]

Originally Posted by AlisonL

Don't tailgate and you won't hit the car in front of you. Simple as that.

Unfortunately, that simple fact is unfathomable by 90%+ of drivers

95%+ if the car has blue and red lights on top of it.

[AlisonL]

They used to have the cameras on lights around here, but removed them. Guess they decided they weren't worth the hassle. Maybe TN will do the same.

[Barking Spider]

This was NOT red light camera intersection. It was the light at the Weigles near Home Depot between Cedar Bluff and Pellissippi Pkwy and I was heading toward Pellissippi Pkwy.

Piedmont,
You notice I said nothing about speeding up when you approach a yellow light. I'm talking about KEEPING your normal speed and just driving. It's really not that hard when you understand the concept of how the law works.

You are not running the red light if your front wheels have crossed the white line (entering the intersection) BEFORE the light turns RED.

Before the red light cameras at the Cedar Bluff intersections, I have almost been hit several times by people running the lights way after they turned red. It was horrible there. I have to say it's a lot safer there now.

Alison,
True, don't tailgate. However, you really don't expect someone to slam on their breaks when the light turns yellow. This guy actually locked up and skidded a bit. The car behind him did not hit him, and I didn't even come close to the 2nd car. yes, Yellow does mean "caution", but it DOESN'T mean STOP.

We also have the people that drive 45, and it doesn't matter if they are in a parking lot or on I-40 - it's 45. You take your life in your hands in parking lots at Turkey Creek sometimes.

[Eat]

Once they put the cameras in, people do the panic stop at all kinds of intersections. They don't know where the cameras are located.

Red light camera - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I think you will find that you have to be through the intersection before the light turns red to be legal, not just starting into it.

55-8-110 Traffic-control Signals

The relevant part being "Vehicular traffic facing the signal is thereby warned that the red or "Stop" signal will be exhibited immediately thereafter and such vehicular traffic shall not enter or cross the intersection when the red or "Stop" signal is exhibited;"

Note the prohibition against crossing.

The big problem seems to be short yellow lights. TN law only requires a yellow light to be a minimum of three seconds in duration. The law should be rewritten to require the length of the light to be adequate to provide ample to time to safely stop based upon the speed limit and the width of the intersection.

[Barking Spider]

If I read 3A correctly, you can not cross the white line at the crosswalk on a red, which is the same thing I wrote before.

Otherwise, you could still have the rear end of your car in the intersection when the light turned red (you entered the intersection when the light was yellow) "crossing".

You can also complete a left turn on a red, providing you entered the intersection before the light turned red.

I stand behind my statement "yellow does not mean STOP", it means the light is GOING to turn red.

Also got to love the people that hit their brakes when there is a cop on the side of the road that has already pulled someone over. They usually then drop to 5 - 10 mph UNDER the speed limit for good measure.

[Eat]

But it also says you can't cross the intersection on a red. And someone I know very well went to traffic school and was told there that you have to be clear through the intersection, or you can be ticketed.

Yeah, love the people that slow down because someone on the other side on the Interstate got stopped.

[mjb62676]

Pretty sure the law states you should stop if you can do so safely (far too many hit the gas when they see a Yellow) when the yellow comes on.

From what I've heard, these tickets are not something that go on your record since they are not issued by the PD/Hwy Patrol, but by a private company (the owners and operators of the cameras).

[gorideaquad]

yep in Bakersfield Ca they retracted a bunch of tickets for snapping pics and sending out tix when the light was STILL green. People still paid. $350 per violation and you bet as a starving college student I ain't risking that mess

[Eat]

Originally Posted by mjb62676

Pretty sure the law states you should stop if you can do so safely (far too many hit the gas when they see a Yellow) when the yellow comes on.

From what I've heard, these tickets are not something that go on your record since they are not issued by the PD/Hwy Patrol, but by a private company (the owners and operators of the cameras).

As I understand it, each ticket in Knoxville is reviewed by a police officer, then sent out by the department.

I still don't think it is right.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by Eat

As I understand it, each ticket in Knoxville is reviewed by a police officer, then sent out by the department.

I still don't think it is right.

It is. I have my husband's violation right in front of me. It was reviewed and signed by a Knoxville police officer.

It says: PLEASE NOTE THAT RECORDED IMAGES DO CONSTITUTE EVIDENCE OF A VIOLATION OF THE KNOXVILLE CITY ORDINANCE SECTION 17-210 (C)(1).

BASED UPON MY REVIEW AND INSPECTION OF THE RECORDED IMAGES, I STATE THAT A VIOLATION OF 17-210(C)(1) DID OCCUR.

Looking at the photo, my husband is at the stop line and the light is red. I also viewed the video. My husband was in the wrong and deserved it.

I bet he'll think twice, next time. He doesn't need a notice coming home that I can view and point out to him.