Red Lights
 

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed a big increase in drivers who ignor red lights. I find that I can now predict if the driver in front of me is going to jump a red light. It is making it so I don't trust a green light for fear that one of these idiots is going to be jumping the light accross me. They don't seem to realize the dannger any more. Maybe the all red phase on traffic lights should be increased, not so much to allow for these idiots, but for the safety of others. After all it could be one of us or one of our loved one's they hit. Put cameras on these drivers the revenue taken in fines would, I'm sure be better accepted by the general public than that taken from speed cameras.

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there certainly seems to be such an increase fireman,was only commenting on the same a couple of weeks ago,i would like to see cameras at ALL traffic lights,there used to be some in the midlands in the 80s,whatever became of them i wouldn't know?

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I'm sure I remember them in Manchester not many years ago too but not seen any for a while.

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I too believe more people are jumping the lights. Another thing that annoys me are the idiots who don't use their indicators, I walk a lot of the time & I have lost count of the number of times I have had to jump out of the way bacause some ignorat g*t hasn't bothered to indicate. Even my 7 year old shouts "wheres your indicator" now. How are we supposed to teach kids to cross the road safely while these idiots are about?

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I don't think drivers these days read the highway code, they certainly don't adhere to it. I wonder how many of them know that when they are making a left turn at a junction, PEDESTRIANS have the right of way on the road they are entering. Also that Amber means STOP, not put your foot down to try to beat the red light.

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Hi Fireman,

Best idea I've heard in a long tim.

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Cameras on traffic lights?

I see them pretty much every day I go out.

You should take a trip to London some time!

Agreed on the indicators though...

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could tell you a funny story about traffic light cameras (re 80s) but it might not be P.C.

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Oh go on Cashman, you know you want to. If you don't tell us your story now you'll have to do it at the next meet up. :D

I agree about the red lights and the indicators but what bugs me most is people who use the left lane when turning right at roundabouts....

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Boll**ks to being PC, Cashman. Tell it like it is. We won't respect you any less for being un-PC.

Tell you what, you tell it like it is and I'll give you some karma for it. ;)

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And the other way Lettie They try to race you round a roundabout in the right lane and then turn left and chop everyone up who is in the correct lane tpo use that particular exit. All comes down to highway code again . I don't think 80% of drivers know the correct way of approaching, and leaving a roundabout.

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I'm sure be better accepted by the general public than that taken from speed cameras.[/QUOTE]

I reckon all speed cameras should be hidden and not put on display, and there should be more of them! especially on harvey st, in ossie, and also moscow mill street, they come down these roads like :swear8: I cant understand why people are complaining, if they were doing the right speed in the first place they would not be snapped, simple as that. whats more important, the life of a child thats what!

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I only wish the woman who was following me on 7th Feb 2003 knew that, I slowed down and stopped on my motorcycle, her words? " I thought that as a biker he would go through so I accelerated to nip through after him."

Me, broken back, still in daily pain, weekly physio, special chair at work, can't do heavy lifting....40mph into the back of a stationary bike does not do the rider much good. However, now I'm tempted to nip through myself, I get a shiver when they change at that shall I shan't I moment.

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i have to say that women drivers (well most of them) are bloody terrible at driving, everytime we nearly gone up the ass end of someone, because of there stupidty, i will probably say 'bet thats a woman?' and 9/10 times it is!

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Careful Panther if your going up their ass then you are too close and you are therefore at fault.

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no i mean on roundabouts, they come shooting out at the last minute, im already on the roundabout, so they are at fault!

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oh ok but you know what I mean

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;) course i do!

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I Know People Just Ingnore Them

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But they put their own lives and the lives of others at risk and that is not fair.

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I think that any pedestrian that walks around thinking they ever have right of way over a car is asking for trouble - even if the highway code says so.
Don't forget that our road designers have no idea what they are doing. In Ossy there are two bus stops within crossing zig zags. You cant stop on the zig zags but some idiot put two bus stop's there anyway. ( And another bus stop is right after the mini roundabout at the bottom of New Lane.)

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Oh I know that is true but legally I mean in those circumstances the pedestrian does have right of way over a left turning driver.

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Pedestrians theoretically have right of way. Period.

Although I nearly ran over some airhead in Brighton the other week - even her partner had a go at her after I narrowly missed hitting her.

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Its no theory its the law.

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in huddersfield thay have cameras that get you if you go through on even amber

bloody good idea cameras on traffic lights that way the culprit cant say it was green after he runs a person down

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The cameras shouldn't get you on amber - it should be red only.

You should only stop on amber if it is safe to do so, ie if you are 2 metres away when the light changes you cannot be expected to stop

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Why not get rid of amber and go straight to red? The cameras could gave a 2 second delay built in. Amber is seen as an ambiguous state, its neither stop nor go, remove that doubt and make life easier fro everyone. Likewise use teh system as in france where flashing green is go if safe

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That would be far too sensible to adopt here

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Amber is never ambiguous. It means the lights are about to change to red. The sequence of traffic lights is red, red and amber, green, amber, red. Therefore, if the light is amber, you should know that any second now it will be red. How many people know that you should never approach a traffic light in fourth gear? - and how many people practise that? If in doubt, come off the gas, give yourself a few seconds more to think. It saves lives, and one of them could be your own.

As for the French system, if people don't stop on red, what makes you think that they will worry about whether flashing green is safe?

Cameras are probably the only answer to check the red-light jumpers. Remember the slogan? - Don't be an amber gambler!

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But you yourself have just proved it is ambiguous. It neither means stop nor go, it means you should stop but then again its still legal to go through.So which is it? Stop or go? Who decides that it wouldn't be safe to stop? it comes down to one persons opinion gainst another.
Why shouldn't you approach in 4th? If you are expecting to stop then there is a train of thought that you shouldn't use gears to slow down as you are putting extra wear on the engine which is expensive to repair whereas brake pads are cheap and easy to repair. My car has enough torque to pull away happily from 25 in 4th as has my bike. The best advice I can give is as you approach the lights set a 'point of no return', quite often there are arrows or markings on the road just before the lights, these are ideal. If you hit them before amber go through, if the lights change before you get to the PONR then you should stop.

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When I used to attend court with a driver prosecuted for failing to conform to a red light, most of them pleaded not guilty claiming the lights were on amber. The magistrates instantly found the case proved as amber also means stop.

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I have a question for you Willow.

I have 2 witnesses who have stated that I had no chance of stopping or avoiding the woman who ran out in front of me.

However the insurance company decided that the accident was my fault, and doubled my insurance premium, as well as taking away my ncb.

So I am paying for something that is not my fault.

Pedestrians do not have the right to run out in front of motorists without warning and expect them to be able to stop.

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[QUOTE=vorlon24]

However the insurance company decided that the accident was my fault, and doubled my insurance premium, as well as taking away my ncb.

QUOTE]

i thought this was verry harsh punishment until i re read it and saw that they took away your N.C.B and not your ncb which at a first glance looks like nob pmsl

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OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! That would have bee severe.pmsl

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Have you never seen traffic lights on a dual carraigeway? Do you expect everyone to stick it in third at 70mph as they approach the traffic lights. The length of time the amber light is on depends on the speed limit on the road. On a 70mph road amber is on alot longer compared to a 30mph road. This is because you need more warning that the light is going to change to red. You don't need to slow down, the traffic light designer allows enough time on amber for you to either stop or keep going if it is not safe to stop. Traffic lights would cause more congestion if everybody slowed down as they approached them and then accelerated once past.

As far as amber meaning stop - that magistrate was obviosly a fool Fireman. How can amber mean stop? You could be 10 feet in front of the lights when they change.
According to that magistrate should we all perform an emergency stop everytime the amber light comes on?

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well said neil amber means you can keep going if its safe to do so \\\\\\\\ or not safe to stop

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try it go to court and claim the lights were on amber then prepare for 3 pionts.

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Which proves my point as at this point its your opinion against the magistrates, one who was there against someone who wasn't.

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Leave that one with me I have a friend who is a retired traffic cop and now owns a driving school I will ask him for chapter and verse on amber lights to see if attitudes these days are different , after all then you were never reported for speeding unless you were doing 42mph and up.

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Right......
RED MEANS......STOP
RED AND AMBER MEANS...........STOP . YOU MAY ONLY CROSS ON GREEN.
AMBER MEANS .......STOP AT THE STOPLINE.yOU MAY ONLY PASS THROUGH IF YOU
HAVE ALREADY PASSED THE STOP LINE OR TO PULL UP SHARP WOULD BE LIKELY TO
CAUSE AN ACCIDENT.
gREEN MEANS GO....BUT ONLY IF IT IS SAFE TO DO SO.

iT IS GENERALLY RECOMMENDED TO SLOW DOWN, CHANGE DOWN AND PREPARE TO
STOP AT ANY LIGHT CONTROLLED JUNCTION. AMBER MEANS STOP AND YOUR DRIVING MANNER SHOULD ACCOMODATE THAT FACT ON THE APPROACH TO TRAFFIC LIGHT CONTROLLED JUNCTIONS.

ANY MORE DOUBTS HIIGHWAY CODE IS AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET AND SO IS AN EXPLAINATION OF THE RULES AT TRAFFIC LIGHTS.