Stop on Red Week

How is this even an issue? NYC has had their signals synchronized since the 30's or 40's, way before solid state controls.

They have the above, and they have RLCs, and everyone is happy. End of story.

If drivers do not stop for red lights now how would increasing the length of the yellow get them to stop? Recently a red light camera was placed in an intersection near me. During the morning "rush" all red light running stopped and in the past few weeks all cars have been stopping behind the limit line. Gee, no one running the light and no one stopping past the crosswalk. Hmm?

OK, I can agree to stop on red for one week, but I'll be glad when the week is over and we are openly encouraged to run them.

Alot of people are not happy about RLCs. The sooner they are banned everywhere, the better.

The sooner people stop running the lights there will be no need for the cameras.

Trouble is, here in Albuquerque, and probably lots of other places, it is so normal to "stretch" travel permission from the green into the red that the driver behind you is somewhat likely to object if you stop on yellow.

Law enforcement is most useful when it helps to preserve constructive social norms, and works to change destructive ones. I think more visible enforcement of red lights could get our behavior moved in a safer direction. I was very disappointed in my fellow citizen's reaction to the red light cameras we had here for a while, am dismayed they were withdrawn, and don't have much hope for improved intersection safety here anytime soon.

A small town just south of Jacksonville is loosing money on the rlc cause people quit running the light and started stopping.. so they are considering moving or RE moving the rlc...

Last I heard, the cities pay nothing for them, RediFlex installs them and takes something like 90% and the city gets 10%. Maybe that was not true, but I think that was the way it was reported in papers where I used to live. If it is true, the town is not losing money, they're just not getting the 10% additional revenue they might have got. The only one losing anything then would be RediFlex, and I am ok with that.

Don't get me wrong, red light runners are a sore point with me, I'm a fan of stopping if it is safe to do so as soon as possible after changing to amber. Continuing to push it right to the last second and claim the light was not red when you enter the intersection is wrong. I was taught (on another continent) that amber means prepare to stop, red will be here any second. And that means if it has just turned amber and you can safely stop, then that is when you stop.

Unfortunately Virginia, or my area in particular seems to have too many people who believe amber means keep going, and red is ok as long as it is not too red and other cars have not yet started moving.

Can't wait until Stop on Red week is over so we can all return to GO on Red for the remainder of the year.

This is a link to an article on traffic enforcement cameras used in Westwego Louisiana.

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/04/poised_to_ren...

It sounds like Redflex receives a sliding scale that goes DOWN from 50%. For tickets of $125 and up, Redflex gets 25% ($30 maximum).

I am not a fan of traffic cameras, but the octagonal sign is a STOP sign, and red light means STOP.

Also, it's 'right on red (where applicable) after STOP.

One reason for drivers squeezing the yellow may be the frustrations from the dumb relay style technology that traffic engineers still use for traffic signal controls. Many intersections with traffic sensors still have timers that give green light time to empty roads while traffic waits on the cross roads. How many times, and for how long must we wait for a left turn arrow when there is NO TRAFFIC but those waiting for the arrow? Pollution increases from traffic idling while we needlessly burn fuel waiting for the idiot traffic signal. Reduce this frustration and people may be more patient when they need to stop for a logical reason.

Interesting, maybe the charging mechanism changed, or they have different deals in different cities. The one I saw was either Toledo Free Press or Detroit Free Press, but that was easily 6 years ago now. I searched a bit last week but didn't find the original article to reference, but any change is possible.

Actually, I would be surprised if they did not change, just as Oracle does (and other software companies) to maximize their software licensing revenue as CPUs change.

A suggestion. Whenever you come across a traffic signal that does not seem to operate the way it would seem, from the engineering available for you to see, that was originally intended, give the municipal traffic engineer a call or send an email.

I have found that the engineer often does not know that signals are malfunctioning and is eager to fix them when notified.

Also, your comments could be instrumental in making changes that would help traffic flow better by providing information about what is actually happening.

I was just in DC, and there were so many false alerts with POI in a way it would be cool if someone who lived there could just do their routine, and then report the erroneous ones.

Anyway, it didn't really bother me that much that I had to stop at red traffic signals, but seriously following the speed limit was harder because it did seem exceptionally slow (like 35 on New York Ave.). But all the other cars were following the speed limit so I did as the Romans did.

The logic of the signal system is pretty independent of the specific technical means use to implement the controls. Though it does require actual sensors to provide smart signals that behave differently with traffic.

But here in Albuquerque, the rampant yellow-stretched into red behavior I see is very seldom related to pointless waiting for non-existent traffic, but is just people cheating their way into an earlier signal cycle than their legal entitlement, and jeopardizing their own and others' lives in doing so.

This is not just a hypothetical risk. We have lots of intersection accidents here, not a few of them with fatalities.

After working as Limo driver in NYC for more than 35 years, happily, I've retired from it a couple of years ago.
I have sadly come to the conclusion that NYC is becoming effectively undriveable and almost unparkable. The latest assault is to drop the speed limit from 30 to 25. Unless there is a car in front of you, the minute you step on the gas you're at 25 mph.

They aren't going to install speed cameras on every block ( exception/ school zones). So what are they going to do, assign every beat cop to carry a speed gun?
Between narrowing every avenue to accommodate bicycles and pedestrian safety stands, it sure ain't the city I loved to drive in for the past 50 years.
Fortunately , I don't drive as much, so , as a pedestrian it's great for me. So I stay out of my car as much as possible when moving around the city. Can't park and shop anymore, anywhere. Unless you want to spend an hour driving around in circles looking for a meter, that costs 50 cents for 7 minutes.
It's too bad. But I guess if you don't know what it was like to drive here 15 years ago, you don't miss it.

This is website site for driving issues, so that's why I chose to post this. There are good arguments for both sides.

"Dave 817" said in part...

There are a couple of intersections I know of where one has to sometimes wait over 6 minutes before they can make a left hand turn from the left hand turn lane.

And some people wonder why there are drivers who try to push the envelope with the yellow light changing to red.

Nuvi1300WTGPS

Well have you emailed the city traffic engineer pointing the "over 6 minutes" wait to make a left turn?

If you have not gotten satisfaction from the engineer, have you emailed your local newspaper asking them to look into the situation?

I have found that, whenever I point out something that strikes me as wrong with traffic signals, I get a quick reply from the engineer's office thanking me for pointing out the problem and indicating that is has been fixed or is in process.

One time the sensors that triggered the presence of a vehicle had been paved over enough to where the fact that there was a metal mass above the sensor was not always being recognized. It took a couple of days to get that fixed, but it was.

Things break or wear out. The municipality likely does not have the funds to pay someone to drive around the city looking for such problems. It is up to us to report them.

Well, yes, and in heavy traffic here sometimes people just drive into the intersection without reasonable hope of being able to get on out of it (a legal requirement here), resulting in deadlocks which grossly reduce already inadequate traffic capacity.

Endangering one's self and others is a poor response to the annoyance of unexpected delay.

There is no need for them now nor has there ever been. They are there only as a means to take motorists money out of their pocket.

Just wondering. Since you say that there is no need for red light cameras, are you also saying that there is no reason for law officers to give tickets when someone runs a red light?

I think @Tomturtle was in a dream where nobody jump a red light, camera or not. I want some of what he's getting too...

Why risk your life and the life of some other driver by running a red light. If the light turns yellow and you can't stop safely, keep a steady throttle through intersection. Otherwise, always, always stop if you can and slow down in the future if you find you can't always stop at a light that is turning red.

It's not worth your life or the lives of other just to save a few minutes of travel time.

I am not particularly fond of RLCs, although I mostly always stop if I can do so without locking it down. I do think 4 second yellows should be nationally mandated for all traffic signals. GA has that requirement if there is an RLC at an intersection. This was a result of local municipalities erecting RLCs and then shortening the yellow to a couple of seconds. A judge agreed that this was strictly to increase revenue and the state legislature soon after changed the rules to 4 second yellows or no RLC. Take your pick.