OT: red light jumping

[Just zis Guy, you know?]

On Thu, 23 Dec 2004 12:04:35 +0000, Tony Raven <[email protected]>
wrote in message <[email protected]>:

>> I modify my behaviour by slowing down and covering the
>> brake as I approach the lights, as stated above. Even so, once you
>> have crossed the line you are supposed to clear the junction.

>Do you really approach each traffic light pre-choosing a point according
>to your speed, traffic, weather etc where you will automatically brake
>if you haven't passed it and automatically continue or accelerate if you
>have? Covering the brake saves about 200ms only - its the do I/don't I
>decision making process that takes the time.

Automatically? Who knows. I do look ahead, see the lights, take my
foot off the loud pedal and cover the brake.

>Even if I have crossed the white line there are many cases where it is
>safer to stop over the line than proceed through the junction.

Indeed. That was not the circumstance I was describing. I was
talking about the people who come to a screeching halt in the middle
of the junction when the light ahead turns red.

Guy
--
"then came ye chavves, theyre cartes girded wyth candels
blue, and theyre beastes wyth straynge horn-lyke thyngs
onn theyre arses that theyre fartes be herde from myles
around." Chaucer, the Sheppey Tales

 

[Tony Raven]

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
>
> Automatically? Who knows. I do look ahead, see the lights, take my
> foot off the loud pedal and cover the brake.
>

That's insufficient for speeds above 35mph as the Government has
admitted but they have decided instead to lengthen the double red phase
to let the cars that cannot stop go through the red light hopefully safely.

Tony

 

[Velvet]

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
> On Thu, 23 Dec 2004 11:12:11 +0000, Tony Raven <[email protected]>
> wrote in message <[email protected]>:
>
>
>>>I am always amused when people come to a screeching halt in the middle
>>>of the junction because the light ahead turns red. You'd almost think
>>>that people didn't read the Highway Code...
>
>
>>....and you haven't read about the dilemma zone and the Government
>>statements on the length of the amber phase relative to the stopping
>>distance.
>
>
> I have indeed. I modify my behaviour by slowing down and covering the
> brake as I approach the lights, as stated above. Even so, once you
> have crossed the line you are supposed to clear the junction.
>

Wish someone'd told the guy in front of the guy in front of me
yesterday, as I drove down Brixton Hill. We enter the junction with the
lights on green. The side roads are staggered so it's a slightly longer
junction than normal. Just as I pass, the lights go amber - I'm too
close to be able to stop without poking way out into the junction. What
does this guy do? puts on the anchors, cos the lights at the far side of
the junction are amber-going-red. Three cars now sat in middle of
junction...

I couldn't believe my eyes.

We waited till the pedestrians had finished crossing, he was still
sitting there, lights were green for the other way, I gave up and let
rip with the horn, we moved off to clear the junction shortly thereafter.

The car was a UK plate, but I suppose that's no indication that the
driver was from the UK - but even so...


--


Velvet

 

[Roos Eisma]

Velvet <[email protected]> writes:

>The car was a UK plate, but I suppose that's no indication that the
>driver was from the UK - but even so...

When I first drove in Scotland I was not familiar with the habit of
repeating traffic lights at the other side of a junction. I haven't gone
as far as stopping in the middle of a junction, but there were a number of
locations where it was less obvious and I have stopped because the second
set og lights turned amber just when I was getting there.

Roos

 

[Dave Larrington]

Roos Eisma wrote:
> Velvet <[email protected]> writes:
>
>> The car was a UK plate, but I suppose that's no indication that the
>> driver was from the UK - but even so...
>
> When I first drove in Scotland I was not familiar with the habit of
> repeating traffic lights at the other side of a junction. I haven't
> gone as far as stopping in the middle of a junction, but there were a
> number of locations where it was less obvious and I have stopped
> because the second set og lights turned amber just when I was getting
> there.

There's one particular junction on my way home where numpties are forever
turning left, seeing the repeater lights on red for the waiting traffic and
stopping dead. No amount of horn application will shift them.

OTOH, there's a set on the way in which for eight years I assumed to be
repeater lights, but actually turned out to be for a separate pedestrian
crossing just past the junction.

--

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
World Domination?
Just find a world that's into that kind of thing, then chain to the
floor and walk up and down on it in high heels. (Mr. Sunshine)

 

[David Martin]

On 23/12/04 3:44 pm, in article [email protected],
"Roos Eisma" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Velvet <[email protected]> writes:
>
>> The car was a UK plate, but I suppose that's no indication that the
>> driver was from the UK - but even so...
>
> When I first drove in Scotland I was not familiar with the habit of
> repeating traffic lights at the other side of a junction. I haven't gone
> as far as stopping in the middle of a junction, but there were a number of
> locations where it was less obvious and I have stopped because the second
> set og lights turned amber just when I was getting there.


And then to confuse matters, they completely screwed up the Loons Road
junction when they re aligned it. Instead of being one set of traffic lights
it now has pedestrian crossings on four arms of the crossroads. One of the
arms is one way (into th ecrossing). These four sets of lights sort of work
together but if the far one goes red then you have to stop at the stop line
to get out of the junction. Extremely confusing and I am guilty of going
through more than one red light there when exiting the junction before I
realised that they had turned one junction into goodness knows how many.

...d

 

[Badger]

Tony Raven wrote:

> That's insufficient for speeds above 35mph as the Government has
> admitted but they have decided instead to lengthen the double red phase
> to let the cars that cannot stop go through the red light hopefully safely.
>
> Tony
You don't know the segensworth roundabout do you? There the phasing is
so short as one part goes red the next is going green, and most regulars
wait several seconds before moving as they know the jumpers will keep
coming for that long....

 

[Al C-F]

On Thu, 23 Dec 2004 19:46:32 GMT, Badger <[email protected]>
wrote:

>You don't know the segensworth roundabout do you? There the phasing is
>so short as one part goes red the next is going green, and most regulars
>wait several seconds before moving as they know the jumpers will keep
>coming for that long....

I assume you mean the one on the A27 that feeds Whiteley and the M27.
I used to commute by bike across that roundabout. I hated it, but not
as much as the alternative route down the A32. That was really
frightening.