Be careful at yellow lights

[afrotl]

Police focus on amber lights

Tricia Brown, left, Pauline Macura Brown, and Casey Macleod stand at 9th Avenue and Macleod Trail. Brown says she often sees drivers run amber lights.
Photograph by : Dean Bicknell, Calgary Herald


Font: * * * * Theresa Tayler, Calgary Herald
Published: Friday, February 10, 2006
A crackdown on amber light offenders is a great idea, according to Calgarian Pauline Macura Brown, who says she sees drivers running yellow lights on a daily basis during her commute from home in the southwest to work in the northwest.

"I almost got hit by someone the other day when they came through a yellow," Macura Brown said.

The Calgary Police Service announced Thursday it will begin cracking down on drivers who run amber lights. The selective traffic enforcement program (STEP) will take place from Sunday to Feb. 25.

During this time, police will be paying extra attention to drivers who ignore yellow lights and will be issuing tickets at the standard fine of $115. CPS will also be ticketing motorists who fail to stop for red lights. The fine for running a red is $287.

"It's kind of a discretionary (thing). The traffic safety act states you must stop at a yellow light unless that stop cannot be made in safety," said Const. Mike O'Connor. "Sometimes people forget that you are required to stop at yellows -- the program is kind of a reminder."

A survey conducted by the Alberta Motor Association in 2001 measuring the attitudes of Alberta drivers towards driving enforcement and behaviour showed that 70 per cent of 200 Calgarians surveyed admitted to speeding up through amber lights.

"The problem is if they're going to speed up through a yellow, they've misjudging their speed and often this will lead to running red lights," said AMA spokesman Don Szarko.

Macura Brown said she hopes the STEP yellow light initiative will encourage people to slow down.

"I have a 17-year-old son and a 16-year-old daughter. They're just starting to drive, so of course I'm concerned about them," she said.

The STEP program will target the entire city. Police say they will not be concentrating on just one or two traffic areas.

[gran turismo]

I almost got hit by someone the other day when they came through a yellow," Macura Brown said.



I'm confused. How did the woman almost get hit when someone ran a yellow light unless she was running it too?

[IncredibleToad]

She was probably already balls deep in the intersection already trying to make a left turn when the lights were turning yellow for her, kinda 'expecting' the oncoming traffic to start slowing down to a halt as they were probably getting the yellow light as well.

:dunno: :burnout:

[steelo]

Originally posted by afrotl


"I almost got hit by someone the other day when they came through a yellow," Macura Brown said.



What the fuck?!!!

Hey, Macura Brown, grab a fucking brain - yellow means clear the intersection you dumb bitch. If you don't want to "almost get hit" then stay out of the intersection until you have a green light or were you running a yellow too?

[sweetchariot]

I was under the understanding that yellow meant - Proceed with caution.

[shawtie]

I had a "situation" like that, I was going through a light and it turned yellow and some biotch turned infront of me.....she got her car smushed!! lol

[Moonracer]

Emphasis is on this:
"It's kind of a discretionary (thing). The traffic safety act states you must stop at a yellow light unless that stop cannot be made in safety," said Const. Mike O'Connor. "Sometimes people forget that you are required to stop at yellows"

People get so confused on this subject, if there's not enough road left to stop safely before the stopline or crosswalk then you it's ok to be going through. The last thing you want to be doing is locking up the wheels coming to a screeching halt...lol just to avoid a possible ticket. Also be aware if someone is on your ass in this situation as well. If there is you may need to go through to avoid having the dumbass tailing you from ramming you up the ass! ;)

[Moonracer]

Originally posted by steelo


What the fuck?!!!

Hey, Macura Brown, grab a fucking brain - yellow means clear the intersection you dumb bitch. If you don't want to "almost get hit" then stay out of the intersection until you have a green light or were you running a yellow too?

:werd: If you are turning left you must clear the intersection when it is clear not like this example of a woman. :nut:

[Godfuader]

Originally posted by afrotl
The selective traffic enforcement program (STEP)

:rolleyes:This should be interesting when we start to get threads about how someone got discriminated against because of age, race, car, etc.

[Tyler883]

Originally posted by afrotl
Police focus on amber lights
"It's kind of a discretionary (thing). The traffic safety act states you must stop at a yellow light unless that stop cannot be made in safety," said Const. Mike O'Connor. "Sometimes people forget that you are required to stop at yellows -- the program is kind of a reminder."



Well, I tend to agree, it is kind of a discretionary thing.

But, I'm a bit confused, is he imlying that it is the police officer's descretion to determine what a driver can do safely? I would have to object to that idea, when I see an amber light I have more important things to think about than second guessing my decisions because some cop likes to think of himself as a "yellow Light Camera".

There is no point in having an amber light if they start enforcing them with the same vigilance as red lights.

[TimG]

i think by discretionary they mean that the officer will take into account other factors such as road conditions, if someone is tailgating you, if you're driving a truck with a full/heavy load or pulling a trailer.

Be glad that it's not as bad as toronto, ottawa or montreal where people consider a redlight to be a suggestion to stop, not a requirement.

There was an advisory posted on the US government site that cautioned US citizens travelling to canada that in those cities running red lights is very common.

My father stopped at a yellow light and was rear ended by a guy in a van because "the light was only yellow and there was plenty of time to get through it" :rolleyes:

[GQBalla]

one time i was driving with my mom and she almost got t boned when she was turning left at a yellow light because she thought all drivers would stop but a crv just cruised right along, good thing we didn't get hit.

i think this yellow light thing is bullshit, i can see people gettin a ticket when they barely make the yellow light just as its about to go red.
but what about those that turn yellow when they just pass the line?

[DayGlow]

That's why there is descretion.

One of the worst situations for yellow runners are people in a dedicated left turn lane.

Take MacLeod at 162 Ave in the south. Except during the morning rush there is a lot more traffic going southbound then northbound and a lot of people turn left at the intersection. So many that you don't always make it through the light to turn left, so left turners start running through the yellow like crazy.

The problem is that they are turning left across 3 lanes of traffic, so if they just make the interesection on the yellow, they are going past 2 lanes of cars on a red, and since the northbound flow isn't as intense, the shoulder lane is often unoccuptied.

Now you have somebody cruising into the city, still doing around 100 in an 80 zone, well because he's incontrol and the 80 is way too slow for how the road is built anyways, sees his light is red and the cars turning left, so he lets off the gas and starts coasting towards the intersection. So he's slowing down and gets a green light while he's still a few hundred meters from the interesection. Now since there is traffic stopped at the light in the next 2 lanes, he doesn't see the person that just made their red light because they rushed the yellow since they didn't want to wait another cycle to turn left. They sped up on the yellow, but now have to really slow down to make the turn.

So now we have a car going full speed through on their green and smashes into the yellow runner.

Happens at least once a month. This attitude that we can't wait for another light, we can't go the limit on a roadway, etc because we are good drivers and are busy just doesn't cut it.

And this senario plays out all over the city in tons of intersections. Guess where most of the fatals come from?

[max_boost]

^^^

Ouch that's going to really hurt. :nut: BAM!!!!!!:eek:

[shakalaka]

Well my theory is I never speed up through the yellow lights if I can stop easily. The only time I go through is if I don't have enough time to stop, cauz you dont want any sudden breakings on the road, might get rammed by a car behind or something like that.

[cman]

It's about fucking time, yellow and red light runners are getting out of hand in the city.
Every morning on the way to school I go through a major intersection and every yellow light people will speed up to make it through, usually one guy who could have stopped will run it as will the 3 cars tailgaiting eachother behind him. Often with the last 2 running the red. It is so rediculous.
That isn't even in turning lanes either, go to any major intersection between 3-630pm and you will see numerous people run yellow's/red's EVERYTIME the light changes.

I for one am glad they are cracking down on this type of driving.

[fendercontender]

the biggest problem is people who are trying to turn across the oncoming traffic, and pull halfway across the intersection until the light goes yellow and then turn. THATS ILLEGAL. you MUST stay behind the stop line until you have a clear route across, no waiting halfway across and turn on the yellow/red.

[Moonracer]

It really isn't going to make much of a difference anyway. As our city grows it's only going to get worse. Nothing has gotten better since all the other crackdowns.

[shawtie]

Originally posted by fendercontender
the biggest problem is people who are trying to turn across the oncoming traffic, and pull halfway across the intersection until the light goes yellow and then turn. THATS ILLEGAL. you MUST stay behind the stop line until you have a clear route across, no waiting halfway across and turn on the yellow/red.

^^ im going to have to stop doing this then lol

[GC84ever]

ABout a week ago I was coming to the intersection of 162 and Mcleod. I was going straight through but then the light turned yellow and so I stopped. But as I stopped, I saw in my rearview a red SUV heading towards me rather fast. I saw him moved so that he was in the center of the road. I was on the right and I moved more over. and he blew past me (I had stopped) and ran through the light as it was changing to red.
That was one of the craziest things I've ever seen.

[Khyron]

If I can go through without gunning it, I do. I shouldn't have to lock up the brakes for a traffic light - ever.

As for the guy turning left into 162 at MacLeod - if the turn light can turn red with him having already entered (even by a few feet) and the northbound light on Mac turns green while he's still in the intersection, that means THERE WAS INSUFFICIENT TIME TO CLEAR THE INTERSECTION. That's why there's a delay from the time one side goes red to the other side going green! If people are hitting "once a month" then the moronic city planners need to make the delay between one side turning red and the other side turning green. If they are STILL hitting, then the fuckers are running reds and should get the full ticket.

Yellows are warnings that the light is about to change - if you make in through before the light turns red then obviously you made the right call!

Khyron

[BlueGoblin]

Originally posted by Khyron
If I can go through without gunning it, I do. I shouldn't have to lock up the brakes for a traffic light - ever.

That hits the nail on the head exactly. If you are doing the speed limit or at least close, You should either be able to make the light without altering your speed at all, or be able to come to a nice mellow stop.

When I was in traffic court, I had a guy tell me one time about his yellow light ticket, "This is such a bullshit ticket! There is no freakin' way that I could have stopped for that yellow. Not at the speed I was going!".

He figured that he was probably doing 80 or so in the 60 zone. The officer had estimated in the ballpark of 85-90, but just gave him the yellow light ticket.

[5hift]

The same guys that blatently run reds just because they can, are gonna be pulling us over for going through yellow lights? I thought yellow meant to slow down and stop if possible? I guess regular speeding tickets and photo radar arent making enough cash for the CPS.

[TurboMedic]

I think its a great idea, but in order for alot of this to be practical, the city needs to evaluate its yellow light times on many of its intersections.....I have numerous times in my own vehicle and work vehicle been in a situation that the yellow interval does not match the posted speed limit of the road, and I feel when stopping it becomes a very hard stop.....

[01RedDX]

.

[DayGlow]

I don't think the interval is different on any light. It I've timed a few and all of them regardless of the intersection is 3 seconds.

[Moonracer]

Originally posted by fendercontender
the biggest problem is people who are trying to turn across the oncoming traffic, and pull halfway across the intersection until the light goes yellow and then turn. THATS ILLEGAL. you MUST stay behind the stop line until you have a clear route across, no waiting halfway across and turn on the yellow/red.

Are you on crack? That is what you are supposed to do but there should only be one car out there at a time. The second car should be behind the stopline so that if the light turns yellow the first car out clears the intersection and all the rest have to wait for the next green.

[googe]

Originally posted by fendercontender
the biggest problem is people who are trying to turn across the oncoming traffic, and pull halfway across the intersection until the light goes yellow and then turn. THATS ILLEGAL. you MUST stay behind the stop line until you have a clear route across, no waiting halfway across and turn on the yellow/red.

nope, youre wrong :thumbsup:

1 car allowed in the intersection.

[Khyron]

Originally posted by DayGlow
I don't think the interval is different on any light. It I've timed a few and all of them regardless of the intersection is 3 seconds.

There was a company in the states that had a challenge to any city with red light cams. They said that by properly timing the yellows they could reduce collisions more than the cameras. But of course there's no money in that and so no city took them up on it. I forget the ratio but it was something like 1 second for every 15 km/hr or so.

Khyron

[TurboMedic]

Originally posted by DayGlow
I don't think the interval is different on any light. It I've timed a few and all of them regardless of the intersection is 3 seconds.

So you basically supported my argument, if the road has a 50km/h speedlimit, you will be able to stop reasonable with a 3 second limit, increase that to 70 or 80 as it stands on some of the roads, and you now have a drastic shift in the "distance to stop", therefore resulting in more people charging lights!

[Moonracer]

Originally posted by TurboMedic


So you basically supported my argument, if the road has a 50km/h speedlimit, you will be able to stop reasonable with a 3 second limit, increase that to 70 or 80 as it stands on some of the roads, and you now have a drastic shift in the "distance to stop", therefore resulting in more people charging lights!

Not really, if you are going faster then your point of no return is further back. And because your speed is faster you will get through the intersection faster. :D

[Maxt]

Originally posted by TurboMedic


So you basically supported my argument, if the road has a 50km/h speedlimit, you will be able to stop reasonable with a 3 second limit, increase that to 70 or 80 as it stands on some of the roads, and you now have a drastic shift in the "distance to stop", therefore resulting in more people charging lights!
Yeah you are right on that, some lights seem like short yellows, and it looks like people are running stale yellows/reds when in fact its the physical attributes of the interesection itself rather than the driver.
For instance if the yellow timing is the same at 20 and the 4thst nw as it is Acadia and Anderson, thats troubling for drivers to make judgment on. There is alot of lane to cross to at intersections like acadia and anderson, and if you just the miss the pre-warn lights, its very hard to stop in a loaded truck.
In terms of amber/red light enforcment, by the way, thats what California was caught doing a few a years ago, shortening the yellows to increase revenues from red light cameras...
But to what dayglow said, yes people charge the turn lights on red and yellow alot. This seems to be happening alot more now since the City in it infinite wisdom decided to remove nearly all the turn on solid green lights with turn filter, in favour of turn filter only.
Now that the turn lane has to wait in rotation, it makes turn lanes back up and the wait longer since the light rotation now is longer overall so people tend to charge it.
To me it looks like someone in the traffic engineering dept., decided that Calgarians dont know how to turn across traffic anymore and decided arrowed turns only are safe, but as dayglow says it creates a secondary hazard because of human instinct, regardless of what logic should dictate.
36th ave/spiller road and Mcleod is a prime example, that was turn on solid green since Pierre Trudeau was in office. All my parts suppliers are off of 36th ave, I have driven it daily for nearly 14 years, about 3-4 times a day. I have never seen a turn on left accident there till they got rid of the yield on solid green and put in a turn on arrow only light about a year ago. Now that lane back ups onto Mcleod and people run the turn lane yellow/red on a frequent basis. A city wide tow truck charged the amber with a car on and ended up in the porn shops parking lot, not to long ago the lane was backed up onto the through lane and car came down cemetary hill and reared end a tractor trailer that was half in the turn lane.
Cure worse than the disease?
Yet in Edmonton the still have DUAL turns on solid green. The city must have more faith in its own drivers. Or Calgary is hellbent on making travel by car as impractical as possible.. One of the 2, I
guess..

If you can't stop, and get a ticket, just tell them your ABS light was on though and you will only get a 100$ equipment fine instead of demerit point wallet reamer... Worked for CST. Green....;)...