Funny you should mention this. There are a set of traffic lights at a cross roads intersecting a very busy dual carriageway. The lights on the busy dual carriageway have two cameras but, St Helens, in their bid to be different decide to put Peek Traffipax cameras instead of the Gatso ones. The result is, they're crap.
These are the lights that prompted my sign up to this forum about 3 years ago so you can go ahead and curse them. They flashed me when they were on green, I was a relatively new driver and I panicked. So, every day that I pass them I'm always watching them to make sure they don't try any funny business.
Yesterday I was at the junction ready to turn right onto the busy dual carriageway so my lights were not camera enforced but I can see the ones that are. They turned to red, and about 5 seconds later, a car came screaming through just as our lights were changing to green.
"That's odd" I thought "That camera hasn't flashed". Just as I was moving off, it did! A whole 5 seconds after the car had gone through so was long out of shot now.
I hate them. I really do. They're bright yellow and enormous things that can be seen for miles away so whether people see and ignore them or not, I don't know. This road was a 70mph one and the amber phase was under 3 seconds which was sneaky of them but that's another story for another time.
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Around Nottingham the council want to introduce congestion charging, and to make the congestion bad enough to warrant it, they are misusing traffic signals to cause snarl ups, as they did in London. This has lead to a culture of them being treated as give way lines on many roads, especially at night when you can see for half a mile there is no other traffic, and everytime you hit the same spot in the road where there's a sensor they turn red, and make you wait until someone comes on the other road, and then they stop them and let you go. The complete opposite of how they used to work.
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Are you from Nottingham Ashok? I didn't think they were serious about congestion charging here. Are all the lights affected?
What area are you from?
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Yes, shaz, they are very serious! It is in their Local Transport Policy and has been covered in the evening post.
There are traffic lights in Nottingham that are Phantom lights on main arterial roads.
e.g. Junction of Nottingham Road and Mansfield Road in Daybrook, traffic is stopped from continuing North up Mansfield Road for no reason at all, the traffic which once came from the right was stopped 15 years ago from turning right out of Nottingham Road, yet the traffic lights remain, and were even replaced with newer units and still do this. People just sit there while the junction is empty and don't even seem to notice. Exactly the same ocurrs at the junction of Mansfield Road and Cross Street in Arnold and many others. What's more, all the lights used to be phased so that they had maximum throughput, as you approached lights they invariably turned green, now I would say 95% turn red even if there's no traffic coming from the sides. Unfortunately, Pedals, Transport 2000 and other enemies of the Motorist have taken over the traffic control centre.
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When I mean I didn't think they were serious - I meant to say I didn't think they'd get round to doing it, as you would hardly call Nottingham congested, and I didn't think it was warranted.
And I thought it was just me that thought that these so called 'smart' lights were... not very smart - especially at night. I just thought they didn't work!
So using Kens tricks here too. That bus lane on Derby road near priory island annoys the hell out of me - bet thats causing a lot of congestion in rush hour- never seen a bus use it out there - before that even in rush hour, that stretch had pretty good traffic flow - only slows down after the island (coming into Nottingham) when its single lane.
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Yes, shaz, they are very serious! It is in their Local Transport Policy and has been covered in the evening post. There are traffic lights in Nottingham that are Phantom lights
Well I never! That explains the ones next to Jewsons on Mill Street, going down to the Basford crossing. I thought they were out of phase due to the sensors playing up, as a lorry trailer hit one of the light units about a year ago. Thats pathetic, I feel like writing to complain now, even thought it will achieve nothing...
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Maybe this is a cultural thing now - passing red lights, I mean.
I see it quite a lot and I'm sure I didn't in earlier years (and I have quite a few earlier years!).
Once, a train driver who passed a signal at danger - even if accidentally - could be dismissed instantly, if he lived to be reported for it. But, from what I have read of evidence in recent crash inquiries, passing a red now seems to go almost unremarked.
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In London the worst culprits by far are the buses. It is not unusual to see a bus go through a light a good 5 seconds after it has changed to red. Only yesterday I was nearly wiped out by a bus when I passed through a green light about 5 seconds after red-amber. Fortunately they are big enough to see them coming most of the time.
However I do get annoyed at pedestrians who press the WAIT button on pedestrian crossings when it is perfectly safe to cross without using the lights. They'll cross right way, and the lights will change to red 20 seconds later, long after they have crossed, so you'll be stuck there at a set of pointless red lights. In some ways I can't blame drivers for jumping these, though I wouldn't do it myself.
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I cross if the road is clear (as a pedestrian I mean) and got a RIGHT roasting for it in Germany, when I was visiting there recently. I think it carries the death penalty. Says a lot about their mentality.... and that;s coming from someone who likes them! Me "But the road is clear" German"Yes but it is a RULE! Rules are to be obeyed!!" Me "But it DOESN'T MATTER"...... German cannot compute and toddles away muttering.
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M42 J9 is the worst I have seen, regularly 3 or four cars in each lane jump the red lights, particulary those coming off the M42 northbound and those leaving Minworth. I have learnt to pause for a second or two after the lights turn green.
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Leeds: M621, coming off at the A58/A64 junction.... no-one bothers with something as soft and southern as stopping at a red light.
I've said it before, Leeds is an AWFUL place to drive in, there's a lot of attitude for some reason. Also, Yorkshire is the spiritual home of the Middle Lane Muppet.
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I went through one last night and got an earful from madame. And actually it is a bit risky these days with all these damn cameras about. Got 3 points and £60 year before last for going through the one at the Angel, following a friend.
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