I was overtaken by a 50ish bhoyo yesterday, gurning and gesticulating after I had delayed him by stopping on the amber at a traffic light. I knew that the light would be red before I was half way across. Then I followed him for another half mile behind a queue.
Is there a new recommended procedure for dealing with this that does not include rudeness ?
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In London, it's compulsory to go through an amber, non-compliance is punished by an obese SUV up the chufter.
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Still, there's a fine line between OK and not... If you can't stop from 30mph without standing on the brake pedal you're going fast enough to go through (with due caution and after ascertaining that it is safe to proceed of course). If you're going to clip the red and can stop gently, then it's the thing to do.
Takes a lot of practice. Even then you can stuff it sometimes if you aren't thinking.
Eternal vigilance is the driver's burden.
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I have decided the worse place for this is the A1 / M25 junction. *NEVER* trust the lights here. when your on the roundabout under the M25 at a red light, Always check before you move onto the roundabout. There is always someone who jumps the red lights by some considerable time at high speed.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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In the good-old pre-camera days, I can recall amber gamblers mingling with the opposing traffic as a matter of course, Deptford Broadway springs readily to mind.
In Slough, 1986, it was possible to negotiate most of the traffic lights on the A4 approach in one go by administering a good thrashing to a FZ750, much to the concern of the pillion.
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In London it's compulsory to go through an amber non-compliance is punished by an obese SUV up the chufter.
Also in London we have those lovely long bendy buses, so when they go through a light that's been amber for a while, it's been red for a few seconds by the time the rear has gone past!
The other stream of traffic is then trying to weave around the bendy bus.... pity the poor pedestrian who can only dash across the road in the couple of seconds when both sets of lights are red.
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In Leeds it's the minicab drivers who run the lights - it's not unusual to see one driving through after several seconds on red, and then *they* sound their horn at the driver who's nearly t-boned them.
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Running red, never mind amber, lights in Liverpool is a way of life.
Even more so with a traffic cop car on their tail....
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I witness vehicles passing red lights almost every day on the M40/A34 junction.The vast majority are HGV's,which having managed to crawl away from one set of lights,refuse to stop at the next having built up their speed.I have also seen the result of a car pulling out rather sharpish and an HGV steaming through on red.Car was a write off,but fortunately the driver was ok.
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Also in London we have those lovely long bendy buses so when they go through a light that's been amber for a while it's been red for a few seconds by the time the rear has gone past!
At Kings Cross station traffic's still crossing the intersection a good 10 seconds after lights have changed. Not much of a gamble though, as there's not much in the way of speed anywhere inside the North Circular.
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So what's more dangerous 1800kg of car running red/amber at 25mph or a cyclist nipping through kerbside or on the all red phase (London lights do this for about half a minute so peds can cross both roads)?
And who gets all the screaming headines and whinging?
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A recent TfL report showed that cyclists who run red lights are less likely to get killed than those who don't. Something to do with idiots in cars and (especially) trucks turning across them. I have to admit this was certainly my experience at certain box junctions when I commuted by bike in Newcastle. My plan was always to get as far away from the cars at the traffic light grand prix as I possibly could. And that was well over a decade ago.
{Link to a rival newspaper removed - DD}
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{Link to a rival newspaper removed - DD}
Is this a newspaper DD? If so, where are our enormous salaries?
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Not much of a gamble though as there's not much in the way of speed anywhere inside the North Circular.
I am tempted to give a coarse laugh flunky.
What on earth gave you that idea?
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In all fairness HJ, traffic light cameras don't catch these people as they're sneaking across only a few seconds after it's gone red.
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Evidently not, and for that I am always grateful.
(A308, toward Sunbury Cross, and me being a bit naughty!)
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And of course:
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
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And of course: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
Oi. That's my number - I thought of it first.
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In London this is now completely out of control (partly due to misstimed traffic lights)
I'm pretty cautious about amber lights normally, but when I do go over on amber I generally see two or three cars coming over behind me.....
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Thought it was just me, Peter! The first thought is "Oops, I cut that a bit close," then look in the mirror and there's a whole convoy behind.
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Of course with temporary traffic lights at roadworks the rule is if you can keep the flow going all lights mean Go.
No need to worry about cutting it fine, because the queue behind you will have kept going until the lights turned back to green again.
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I went through on amber and clipped the red the other day. Three cars came across behind me, the last of them a marked police car.
Was it chasing us? No. Just slipping across a bit on the late side like everyone else...
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stopping on the amber at a traffic light [...] Is there a new recommended procedure for dealing with this that does not include rudeness
Just ignore it. Amber means "stop". www.highwaycode.gov.uk/signs01.htm
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As my Driving Instructor used to say, "If the lights are on Green, the next thing to happen is that they change to Amber then Red. So be prepared to Stop... even if they are on Green."
Made sense in the early '70s and even more so today.
PS. I think I'll get a bumper sticker that says - "Don't follow too close as I Always Stop for Amber!".
Regards,
John R @ Work :¬)
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I see quite a few double-decker buses crossing the lights seconds after they've gone Red, which should be a licence-losing offence. I think they should move the speed cameras to traffic lights, they'd catch speeders and gamblers and wouldn't get half of the bad press.
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Only problem with that doug is that if people are stopped at a red light and a police car / ambulance etc comes up behind them and tries to force them through they would be extremely reluctant due to the certain fact that they'd get a fine and points. In fact, last year I saw an ambulance simply shove a car through a red light in Leeds City Centre by nudging it forward by the bumper until the driver got the hint.
Would anyone here take a fine and points for doing the right thing? I'm sure not too long ago there was a case discussed here where exactly this happened.
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last year I saw an ambulance simply shove a car through a red light in Leeds City Centre
Were I in the shoved car, that ambulance driver would have the devil to pay.
Would anyone here take a fine and points for doing the right thing?
I would certainly take the risk.
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When my driving test examiner asked me what came after red and amber I said "I don't know, I've always gone by then".
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L\'escargot.
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A couple of years ago I was in Santiago [ Chile ] fortunately only as a pedestrian, although I nearly got bowled before I cracked the intersection code. There, the green flashes twice as a warning before changing to amber. That is also the signal for the stopped crossing traffic to get into gear and put on revs for maximum acceleration. The clutch is engaged as soon as "your" light goes amber !! Central Santiago is car-free, but the roads along each side, plus the cross-roads, are 3 lanes each way. Although J.M.Fangio came from the other side of the Andes, all Santiago drivers seemed to think that they were infinitely better than he ever was.
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