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why do people blow red lights?

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Old 07-25-08, 10:55 AM
  #1  
goldfishin
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why do people blow red lights?

last night i recal one guy slowing for a red and then going through it anyway. a minute later as i walked past the next intersection some guy blew a red and near t boned this other car.

i called the police and told them about it. what else could be done? and why do people do that? i know some of it (from experience when i was first driving) can come from not seeing the lights (i went through one once when i didn't even notice it there until it was too late) due to the business of the surroundings (this was in downtown dallas).
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Old 07-25-08, 10:57 AM
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You are in Dallas, the land of the self entitled and self important driver. All that matters is that they get where they need to be when they need to be there. How dare you get in their way with your bike, or your red light, or your school bus.
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Old 07-25-08, 10:58 AM
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i roll thru signs and lights when the coast is clear -- fuel economy. horribly inefficient to convert all that good kinetic energy to heat.
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Old 07-25-08, 11:01 AM
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Originally Posted by jsharr
You are in The USA, the land of the self entitled and self important driver. All that matters is that they get where they need to be when they need to be there. How dare you get in their way with your bike, or your red light, or your school bus.
fixed it for ya
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Old 07-25-08, 11:01 AM
  #5  
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oh, look at that, it's yellow, I can make it if I speed up... still yellow... still yellow, oh crap it's red and I ain't gonna stop, get outta the way you damn peds, you're holding me up.

ME ME ME, I'm the only person that matters. Rampant Alpha behavior I guess?
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Old 07-25-08, 11:06 AM
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Originally Posted by goldfishin
last night i recal one guy slowing for a red and then going through it anyway. a minute later as i walked past the next intersection some guy blew a red and near t boned this other car.

i called the police and told them about it. what else could be done? and why do people do that? i know some of it (from experience when i was first driving) can come from not seeing the lights (i went through one once when i didn't even notice it there until it was too late) due to the business of the surroundings (this was in downtown dallas).

Thank you johnny Q law!
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Old 07-25-08, 11:07 AM
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My time is more important than anyone else's. Learn that mantra and you'll be fine.
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Old 07-25-08, 11:08 AM
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actually, we have a lot of count down lights intersections, but some people still try to go through the intersection after it's been red for 1sec. And then we also have red light cams, but people still fail at stopping at the red.

another reason: people forgot the real meaning of the yellow light, which is start braking if it's safe and go through intersection cautiously if you can't stop behind the line.

but oh well, case and point, go through intersection cautiously ALL THE TIME, look left, look right, look left again, listen for any cars and proceed
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Old 07-25-08, 11:08 AM
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because they can get away with it until a red-light camera gets installed at the intersection or they get in an accident.
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Old 07-25-08, 11:18 AM
  #10  
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Originally Posted by AEO
...go through intersection cautiously ALL THE TIME, look left, look right, look left again, listen for any cars and proceed
I look both ways when walking across a one-way street. I've seen too many idiot drivers go the wrong way down a one-way street.
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Old 07-25-08, 11:28 AM
  #11  
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It all comes down to the fact that laws and law enforcement don't really want to solve the problem.

If red light running faced the following punishment people would stop:

1st offense- Fine to equal $1000 or 1/3 bluebook value of the car, whichever is greater
2nd offense- Fine to equal $2000 or 2/3 bluebook value of the car, whichever is greater
3rd offense Fine of $5000 AND car is seized for public auction.

Traffic fines are typically priced according to economic theory applied to the need for revenue
taken in the form of fines. They are set low enough so that people barely change their behavior.
The cops want drivers to break traffic laws- that way its easy to write citations and collect fines.

Red light running (to me) is totally different. Red light runners cause collisions and kill people. This
is totally different from a driver speeding 10mph over the limit. Save the money making fine-rates
for those types. Red-light runner fines should ONLY be priced for a deterrent effect to hopefully
stop the behavior or at least significantly cut it down.

rant over
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Old 07-25-08, 11:34 AM
  #12  
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I do it to avoid carjackings.
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Old 07-25-08, 11:48 AM
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Originally Posted by zoltani
Thank you johnny Q law!
DUDE! I call the cops ever time I see a drunk driver or a bad driver doing stupid sh1t! I give them a full description of the car, driver AND their f'king tags!
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Old 07-25-08, 11:51 AM
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It's simple. They think they are too important to bother stopping.
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Some sort of pithy irrelevant one-liner should go here.
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Old 07-25-08, 11:57 AM
  #15  
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Originally Posted by trsidn
You are in the USA
Don't think for a second that the US has anywhere near the worst driving in the world, we aren't even close. Try driving somewhere with no cops, no laws, no form of enforcement and no licensing system, you just pay $50 and get a license with no test. Then you'll realize that if someone even slows down for a red light before blasting through they are doing everyone else a favor.

Originally Posted by Hobartlemagne
It all comes down to the fact that laws and law enforcement don't really want to solve the problem.

If red light running faced the following punishment people would stop:

1st offense- Fine to equal $1000 or 1/3 bluebook value of the car, whichever is greater
2nd offense- Fine to equal $2000 or 2/3 bluebook value of the car, whichever is greater
3rd offense Fine of $5000 AND car is seized for public auction.

Traffic fines are typically priced according to economic theory applied to the need for revenue
taken in the form of fines. They are set low enough so that people barely change their behavior.
The cops want drivers to break traffic laws- that way its easy to write citations and collect fines.

Red light running (to me) is totally different. Red light runners cause collisions and kill people. This
is totally different from a driver speeding 10mph over the limit. Save the money making fine-rates
for those types. Red-light runner fines should ONLY be priced for a deterrent effect to hopefully
stop the behavior or at least significantly cut it down.

rant over
Are you kidding? The punishment has to fit the crime. That's the point of having a civilized system of laws. Maybe cops have better things to do like catching murderers than sitting on a street corner waiting for someone to run a red light. Bottom line, if you don't want to become one of those Tbone accidents then pay attention when you approach an intersection and look for someone that's not slowing down instead of driving with your own head up your *****.
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Old 07-25-08, 12:04 PM
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whoa, don't hold back... say what you think
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Old 07-25-08, 12:06 PM
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I think I may be having a bad day......
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Old 07-25-08, 12:07 PM
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Hey mods - please move to A&S

thanks!
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Old 07-25-08, 12:07 PM
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Originally Posted by lucky53s
Don't think for a second that the US has anywhere near the worst driving in the world, we aren't even close. Try driving somewhere with no cops, no laws, no form of enforcement and no licensing system, you just pay $50 and get a license with no test. Then you'll realize that if someone even slows down for a red light before blasting through they are doing everyone else a favor.



Are you kidding? The punishment has to fit the crime. That's the point of having a civilized system of laws. Maybe cops have better things to do like catching murderers than sitting on a street corner waiting for someone to run a red light. Bottom line, if you don't want to become one of those Tbone accidents then pay attention when you approach an intersection and look for someone that's not slowing down instead of driving with your own head up your *****.
You do realize there is a difference between a traffic/patrol cop and a homicide detective, right?
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Old 07-25-08, 12:08 PM
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why don't we have those count down things? i went through a red (supposedly. i didn't bother to argue it) once on my bike. ever since i slam on yellow since i don't know how long these yellows last. what's the point in a yellow?
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Old 07-25-08, 12:16 PM
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Originally Posted by Hobartlemagne
You do realize there is a difference between a traffic/patrol cop and a homicide detective, right?
Yeah. But city and county cops almost all start out as patrol. And most have to go back to it when they get promoted. My dad was patrol for about 15 years before he moved into detectives then went back to patrol when he got promoted. Now he's moved to Detectives again and he'll retire from there. My step dad was patrol for about ten years and now he's working in the public schools.

EDIT: Plus Detectives and School Resource still do things like party patrol. And I'm sure that's where a lot of us 20-somethings have had run in's with cops.
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Old 07-25-08, 12:58 PM
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I asked the neighbor kid what the different colors on the traffic light meant.
This is what he said:

Green means go.
Yellow means step on the gas.
Red means go through but look for cops.
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Old 07-25-08, 01:06 PM
  #23  
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" why do people blow red lights?"

I assume it is because they a weak riders? Too weak to accelerate back to speed from a stop? That's what I have always thought.
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Old 07-25-08, 01:10 PM
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OP's talking about motorists, not cyclists
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Old 07-25-08, 01:18 PM
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Originally Posted by randya
OP's talking about motorists, not cyclists
Really? Are you sure? Oh well.
I haven't seen a car flat blow a stop light in a long time. It is so rare that I don't give it much thought.
Bikes on the other hand, It is extremely rare to see one of those stop for a light.
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