Today, Frederick, Md. Corner of Opposumtown pike and Thomas Johnson drive, speed limit 25. Light was yellow for aprox 3.5 seconds . If that's not a money makin' scam, I don't know what is. It's

 

Around here, you'll get killed if you try to actually stop during a yellow. Most I've ever seen for a yellow is maybe, just maybe 5 seconds.

 

That should be illegal. The duration of the yellow light should be left alone, regardless if there's a red light camera at the intersection or not. Like others have said ... revenue maker, especially if they are reducing the yellow light duration.

I too hate red light runners. I’ve seen instances were 2 or 3 cars will go through an intersection well after they had a red light. Idiots like that do need to be stopped.

 

I need to move to wherever those 12-13 second yellows are located. I'd never have to stop at a red light again.

 

The green lights where I live are only about that long.

 

They do have that plate cover the people used on Bullrun run Lotus. It uses electricity to turn glass from transparent to non-transparent. Here is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS1eW3QlaQM

 

California

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/traffops/si...UTCD-Part4.pdf

Page 4D-50 (90 of 132)
Table 4D-102(CA) Minimum Yellow Light Change Interval Timing

25mph or less = 3.0 secs
30 = 3.2
35 = 3.6
40 = 3.9
45 = 4.3
50 = 4.7
55 = 5.0
60 = 5.4
65 = 5.8

 

Not only do they have red light cameras here in Chandler, AZ but the intersection also has a speed sensor so if you see the light is yellow and jam your brakes you may get rearended. If you speed up so you dont get caught in the red light you will get a speeding ticket. Nothin more than revenue producing for the city. All this does is cause confusion for the driver and will cause more accidents in my opinion. I always get a sick feeling evreytime I go thru one of those intesections. If your car is not over the line that is after the crosswalk you will get a ticket. It doesnt matter if the light was yellow when you started to enter the intersection. Ive seen those license plate covers and if you look at it from an angle you can't read the license plate. A cop can give you a ticket in Arizona if you have something on your license plate that obstructs its view. I'm sure other states have similiar laws.
A friend of mine has permanent back damage after being rearended because she decided to stop at a yellow light.

 

Let's see, set it to minimum, install camera. and call it a safety issue. It's a da## racket. Why not set them to 8 or 9 seconds? I think I know why. Everyone would be able to stop in plenty of time, but, There's no money in it. jmo.

 

 

I think we need to install an "OH, SH*#" button on the dash. This would lower a venetian blind over both plates. Once you are past the light, hit the button again to raise the shade.

 

where would they have a traffic light across a street posted at 65mph?

isn't that what freeway offramps are for?

 

Yeah, I know something about it. It doesn't work. Save your money to pay the ticket for running the light.

 

In California some areas are like a speedway. It is not uncommon to have divided highways with a 65 MPH speed limit and traffic signals. As a matter of fact, here in Oceanside, state highway 76 was initially 65 MPH and so many ******* couldn't keep from having all manner of accidents that the speed limit was lowered to 55 MPH. Best place to exercise your right foot here in SoCal is the I-5 freeway between Oceanside and San Clemente, Ca. Little old ladies will blow by you doing 80 MPH seriously!

BTW, my traffic engineer buddy corrected my statement on the yellow light dwell time so I stand corrected by him, and "2KFRC5" too!

 

mythbusters did a test on this. NOTHING worked as advertized....except Jamie's James bond plate

 

I don't know, but if there are any, they would have to have a yellow that lasts at least 5.8 secs.

And there are a lot of 65mph roads in Calif. that are not freeways. Therefore, no freeway ramps.

 

I have to wonder about tractor/trailer drivers. Do they just keep tossin' dollars out the window all day long? They can't stop that quickly.

 

That is very cool, where do you get one of those??

 

OK guys....first let me admit that I am a LEO......

Easy test here:
1. Green light means what?

A. Safe to proceed through intersection at posted speed limit.
B. Proceed through intersection, but watch your @$$ from both sides as someone may be running the red light.
C. Slam on your brakes because someone is surely running the red light.

2. You are driving your Corvette, which is one of the lowest cars on the market. Would you rather:

A. Be rear ended by a pickup with a six inch lift kit while you are trying to obey the law and stop for a yellow or red light, or
B. Catch the bumper of that same pickup right in the drivers window (and your temple) when HE runs the red light from your left at 45 mph, surely killing you instantly?

There seems to be a myth out there that running red lights is impossible for you to avoid "sometimes." That simply is never true. There is no juristiction in the US that adjusts the yellow to catch more red light runners -- as that would likely kill more of our citizens.
Washington state requires warning signs several blocks from both the red light cameras and the speed cameras warning you that you are approaching an enforcement area. There simply is no "right" to risk other's lives running red lights. It is simply one of the most dangerous things that ANY driver can do to another, and if any of you had seen the carnage from right angle collisions that I have seen, I think you would feel the same way. Has anyone held a crying mother who is holding her dead two year old (properly restrained in the back seat) who was killed (nearly decapitated) by a pickup running a steady red light?
I've been "beeped" at for not accelerating right away when the light turns green, as I usually count to 3 then hit the gas. Sad that it has come to that, I think.
Study the technology behind the red light cameras................I can assure you that they NEVER issue a citation to someone who does not richly deserve it. The cameras all give the driver the break -- there is no question as to running the red light. Has anyone seen the videos of red light runners? In some of the cases, the red light has been red for up to 3 or 4 seconds.......makes my blood run cold to see that. Those drivers would be safer to you and to me if they stood on the corner firing a gun into the intersection -- and less likely to hit anything....

 

Pewter Dream has it correct, obviously as the timing of the lights are not shortened to "catch" red light offenders. A few years ago, some genius at the City of San Diego allowed a private contractor to shorten the yellow light dwell time, in order to generate more red light tickets once the cameras were installed in the intersections. All of the tickets issued were thrown out of court as a result and government learned from this. As he points out about the accidents, traffic engineeres agree that red light cameras also change the "type" of accident. Rear end accidents are far safer than a "T-bone" type accident that is usually a result of running a red light. I know it sounds callous as hell but those are the facts of life. Try this one on for size:

45MPH X 5280 feet=237600 feet per hour.
Then,
237600 divided by 3600 seconds in an hour= 66 feet per second.

Given 45 MPH equals 66 FPS, watch that green light as you approach that intersection, and when you are within say, 198 feet you should have 3 three seconds to get through a 4.3 second yellow light!

Is that about right there, Pewter Dream? 200 feet shouldn't be that hard for the average discriminating Corvette owner to figure out, HUH?