most posters. You're having a giraffe. You'll find most well adjusted people realise there are a lot of drivers racing through amber and red lights like maniacs. Perhaps it's time the police started to crack down on irresponsible drivers causing death and karnage on the roads.
Read the responses that the OP gauged.
They mostly disagree.
The proposition is that the majority of drivers go through red lights.
It's a preposterous assertion
Like the others I see a lot of going through amber but not red.
I did see one incident, I was stopped at a pelican crossing waiting to cross and the green man had just appeared. Saw a car approaching that I just could tell wasn't going to stop and sure enough he ploughed on through. (And blatantly not at 30mph either)
But apart from that I rarely see them jumping reds.
Like the others I see a lot of going through amber but not red.
I did see one incident, I was stopped at a pelican crossing waiting to cross and the green man had just appeared. Saw a car approaching that I just could tell wasn't going to stop and sure enough he ploughed on through. (And blatantly not at 30mph either)
But apart from that I rarely see them jumping reds.
You stopped to let a pelican cross and a green man appeared???
You really shouldn't be driving anything.
You should never accelerate toward or into a hazard - that's a major safety violation.
I have never been in a position at a junction where coming to a halt is not an option and nor should you. You shouldn't go through traffic lights at full speed no matter what state they are in. It's a road junction and you should proceed through at reduced speed. Green doesn't mean 'you should go'. It means 'you can go if it's clear'. If the vehicle behind is too close then ease off. It's probably the one situation where slowing down for a tailgater is a good idea.
While it is true that in the driving test if asked you should say that at amber you should stop.
In the real world it is not as black and white as all that.
No matter how fast you are going there is a point where trying to stop is more dangerous than continuing.
It does say in the highway code:- 'AMBER means ‘Stop’ at the stop line. You may go on only if the AMBER appears after you have crossed the stop line or are so close to it that to pull up might cause an accident'
That is the point that I am trying to make. As far as I am concerned if trying to stop is more dangerous than continuing then it is best to get through the traffic lights as quickly as possible without breaking the speed limit.
That is the point that I am trying to make. As far as I am concerned if trying to stop is more dangerous than continuing then it is best to get through the traffic lights as quickly as possible without breaking the speed limit.
But the point I'm making is that it should never be dangerous to stop. You shouldn't be travelling at anywhere near the speed limit so in a built up area you should only be doing 20mph at the most.
I cannot conceive of how it could be more dangerous than entering a junction against a light at high speed. If some pillock is hanging off your rear bumper you might be risking a rear-end shunt but that's unlikely to injure you and will be deemed 100% the other person's fault. It'll cause you some hassle for a few days while it gets sorted but that's all.
Compare that with accelerating through the junction. That could lead to:
* You being convicted of dangerous driving and/or whatever the offence for running a red light is.
* Injury or even death to you or other drivers..or pedestrians since it could be a pedestrian phase you go through.
* You and your insurers will have to foot the bill.
You're basically turning an annoying shunt into a full-blown disaster that could end up with you in prison or on a mortuary slab.
But the point I'm making is that it should never be dangerous to stop. You shouldn't be travelling at anywhere near the speed limit so in a built up area you should only be doing 20mph at the most.
Sadly a generation of drivers have had "make progress - always drive at the speed limit if you can" drummed into them by foolish driving instructors.
I've seen this happen occasionally, but nowhere near as often as I see cyclists flying through reds.
But there is one junction near us where drivers take the unholy p!ss. The lights are only on green for about 10 seconds, so usually only one or two cars get through on green - but then about 3 cars dribble through on red, obstructing traffic coming the other way. Drives me nuts and I give them a good dose of horn!
I've seen plenty of drivers go across red traffic lights while the lights are actually on red rather than amber. I've even seen them do it on pedestrian crossing where people crossing the road have nearly been killed and I've been stopped in the inside lane on red. What you don't see very often is cars crossing on red when there is conflicting traffic flow on green. I actually saw a cyclist do this for the first time ever a few weeks ago and found it quite shocking.
Strangely since reading this I have seen this morning, a mad cyclist ride across the red lights at a very busy crossroads on the ring road.
I watched in amazement the other day as a motorcyclist went through red lights right in the middle of their red phase at a major roundabout, without even slowing! Never seen that before on such a major road (A27) in the early evening.
The daft thing about it was that within a minute or two, I'd caught him up, at normal speeds, and it was sorely tempting to note his number plate and report him (where are the cops and cameras when you need them?).
But like car drivers and cyclists who run red lights, it was one of the usual idiotic minority that you find in all walks of life and among all road users.
I've noticed this happening more and more on my trips into work. You find that motorists speed up when they see the amber light and pass through the red when stopping would have been far safer.
Is it just today's typical driver rushing about. It certainly is very dangerous for other road users and pedestrians.
Why do the majority of cyclists jump red lights - because as a person who drives and walks and uses public transport - it is cyclists who do it far more.
As to the specific question. When driving it is a judgement call - if when approaching yellow light if it is too dangerous to stop then go through at amber - but there is plenty of time to do that before it goes red - if you end up going through red then really you should have stopped and there is no excuse.
Why do the majority of cyclists jump red lights - because as a person who drives and walks and uses public transport - it is cyclists who do it far more.
They do it more than car drivers but it's still a minority where I live, anyway.
Why do they do it? Simple: because they think can get away with it and usually do.
Yes, traffic signal cameras are quite rare, certainly in comparison to speed cameras. I can only think of about 2 of them within a 20 mile radius of where I live, where as there are loads of speed cameras. If so many people are jumping red lights as the OP suggests, then putting more in could be a cash cow.
A breakdown of cameras from a website I go on to download them to my sat nav.
Type Number
Gatso 3554
Mobile 6705
Specs 496 Redlight 985
Truvelo 480
Monitron 254
RedSpeed 66
Pending: Mobile 1733
Temporary: Specs 271
And they should do like in Australia. The red light changes straight to green.
In 45 years of driving i've not seen one vehicle jump a red light! Quite where the OP gets his 'majority' from i've no idea. :o
However i regularly see cyclists either 'jumping' them or riding around them. That's commonplace and well known. I think this was really the OP's ulterior motive somehow. ;-)
I've been driving about 25 years and until a few years ago I don't think I'd ever seen anyone jump a red light, but I see it pretty much every day now. I don't know if this is because people are doing it more often than they used to, or just because I've moved from the sticks into a city. There's a pedestrian crossing I use every day on my way to work, and most days someone will go through it on red (and I mean properly on red, when the little man has turned green and people have started crossing). One car hit a pedestrian and I had to go to the police station and give a statement, another time a guy had to virtually hurl his pushchair through the air to pull it out of the path of a van that went straight through the lights as he was crossing. Typically at the junction outside my local supermarket a good half dozen or so cars will go through on red, so you miss the first half of your cycle, and if you start to edge forward when the lights turn green they actually beep at you as they continue to enter the junction on red.
Comments
They mostly disagree.
The proposition is that the majority of drivers go through red lights.
It's a preposterous assertion
"If"
"Suggests"
"Could"
I did see one incident, I was stopped at a pelican crossing waiting to cross and the green man had just appeared. Saw a car approaching that I just could tell wasn't going to stop and sure enough he ploughed on through. (And blatantly not at 30mph either)
But apart from that I rarely see them jumping reds.
Probably just trying to keep up with the cyclists.
You stopped to let a pelican cross and a green man appeared???
You really shouldn't be driving anything.
I am the Walrus.
Jeffiner in the Sky with Diamonds.
Yeah the green fairy had been sacked and this was her replacement.
While it is true that in the driving test if asked you should say that at amber you should stop.
In the real world it is not as black and white as all that.
No matter how fast you are going there is a point where trying to stop is more dangerous than continuing.
It does say in the highway code:- 'AMBER means ‘Stop’ at the stop line. You may go on only if the AMBER appears after you have crossed the stop line or are so close to it that to pull up might cause an accident'
That is the point that I am trying to make. As far as I am concerned if trying to stop is more dangerous than continuing then it is best to get through the traffic lights as quickly as possible without breaking the speed limit.
I cannot conceive of how it could be more dangerous than entering a junction against a light at high speed. If some pillock is hanging off your rear bumper you might be risking a rear-end shunt but that's unlikely to injure you and will be deemed 100% the other person's fault. It'll cause you some hassle for a few days while it gets sorted but that's all.
Compare that with accelerating through the junction. That could lead to:
* You being convicted of dangerous driving and/or whatever the offence for running a red light is.
* Injury or even death to you or other drivers..or pedestrians since it could be a pedestrian phase you go through.
* You and your insurers will have to foot the bill.
You're basically turning an annoying shunt into a full-blown disaster that could end up with you in prison or on a mortuary slab.
Sadly a generation of drivers have had "make progress - always drive at the speed limit if you can" drummed into them by foolish driving instructors.
But there is one junction near us where drivers take the unholy p!ss. The lights are only on green for about 10 seconds, so usually only one or two cars get through on green - but then about 3 cars dribble through on red, obstructing traffic coming the other way. Drives me nuts and I give them a good dose of horn!
They're inconsiderate of others and don't deserve to be on the road.
I watched in amazement the other day as a motorcyclist went through red lights right in the middle of their red phase at a major roundabout, without even slowing! Never seen that before on such a major road (A27) in the early evening.
The daft thing about it was that within a minute or two, I'd caught him up, at normal speeds, and it was sorely tempting to note his number plate and report him (where are the cops and cameras when you need them?).
But like car drivers and cyclists who run red lights, it was one of the usual idiotic minority that you find in all walks of life and among all road users.
Why do the majority of cyclists jump red lights - because as a person who drives and walks and uses public transport - it is cyclists who do it far more.
As to the specific question. When driving it is a judgement call - if when approaching yellow light if it is too dangerous to stop then go through at amber - but there is plenty of time to do that before it goes red - if you end up going through red then really you should have stopped and there is no excuse.
They do it more than car drivers but it's still a minority where I live, anyway.
Why do they do it? Simple: because they think can get away with it and usually do.
Are you on the wrong website? This is DS:GD, not Wikipedia...
A breakdown of cameras from a website I go on to download them to my sat nav.
Type Number
Gatso 3554
Mobile 6705
Specs 496
Redlight 985
Truvelo 480
Monitron 254
RedSpeed 66
Pending: Mobile 1733
Temporary: Specs 271
And they should do like in Australia. The red light changes straight to green.
Please ask the mods to deactivate you.
However i regularly see cyclists either 'jumping' them or riding around them. That's commonplace and well known. I think this was really the OP's ulterior motive somehow. ;-)