Red Lights
- Thread starter fireman
- Start date
fireman said:
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.)
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
entwisi said:
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!
If pedestrians always have right of way by law why is it so difficult to prove that a driver is at fault?
pendy said:
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.
pendy said:
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.
I have a question for you Willow.WillowTheWhisp said:
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.
pendy said:
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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