Aggressive driver isn't aggressive enough

[EricKei]

I'm not sure if this one falls under "Carma Narrowly Missed" or what...>_>

Ya see, we have a large number of Sucky Drivers in this city who seem to think it's a good idea to floor it as soon as their light turns green -- better yet, they will often inch forward enough so that they can see the cross-traffic's light, so that they can even start moving when the other people are on their Yellow. We also have a large number of SD's who think that Yellow means "Double your speed, even if you're nowhere near the intersection". Predictably enough, these two foolhardy practices to not mesh well...Or rather, they do mesh, along with the fragile contents of the vehicles involved...x_x Fortunately, nobody was hurt on this particular meeting of the two ships

Anyhoo...I was watching this autoballet happen from the parking lot of Mickey D's on one of the Southern corners.

Standard 4-way major street intersection, lights all around, with left turn light for E<>W. E<>W street is 3 lanes plus turn lane, N<>S street is one lane each way, you take your chances turning there on the green.

HotShot is headed South and has a red light. He has been inching forward for some time now (planning to "jump" the green, see above), and is so far ahead of the "STOP HERE ON RED, DUMBASS" line that his rear bumper has cleared it, and there's room for the next car to cross it, should they have chosen to do so. To his credit, his blinker was on, so it was clear he wanted to turn left before the opposite cars could cross and block him (people crossing instead of turning have right of way at this intersection).

He kept up his little jig for a good 40 seconds or better, despite the fairly packed E<>W street before him. You could have used his little movements for a decent drumbeat, if desired ~_~

When the major street's light E<>W hit yellow, and he was apparently preparing to gun it, the other part of my earlier note came into play -- three cars headed West all accelerated to jump the yellow...in perfect synchronization (literally, all three front bumpers were within inches of making a straight line) -- thus, providing a wall of Detroit steel for HotShot to impale himself upon.

Presumably, HotShot saw them doing this, and wisely chose to stay put until they had crossed...and until they got to the next intersection, where the timing of the lights forced THEM to stand on their brakes (morons)...and he still hadn't moved, something like ten seconds later, until the dud behind him honked and Hot Shot finally got both his ass, and his car, in gear.

My questions are (a) why jump the green in a town where you know damn well that other people just like you (fellow future Darwin Award nominees) are all gonna jump their yellow, and (b) what was the point of all that buildup if you're gonna just STAY where you were and not move long enough to become a different sort of traffic hazard? >_<

[blas]

My dad does the "scoot scoot" thing, but for a different reason. He seems to think that every stoplight is controlled by sensors alone. And that is completely untrue. I've noticed later at night, the stoplights go by sensors, when one or two cars are on a sidestreet waiting to go onto a main road, but during the day, they are all timed, naturally the side streets don't get as long of a green light.

He's scooted himself practically into the middle of intersections before.

[MadonnaC]

I have seen payback of sorts for a 'scooter'
He got so far forward, that the sensor could no longer detect him - he ended up being stuck until next light change, when someone happened to pull up behind him

[Polenicus]

I've actually watched someone scoot themselves THROUGH the intersection.

They literally inched forward, blocking traffic, until they had reached the other side, then proceeded normally. The light for us changed shortly afterwards. My friend who was driving and myself had to scrape our jaws off the floor. Even for Toronto drivers that was impressive in a horrible kinda way.

It's like they have the idea that if they 'scoot', it somehow makes it okay.

"No, I didn't run that red light officer! I was scooting! It just took too long so I ended up out in traffic."

[Ironclad Alibi]

I have seen payback of sorts for a 'scooter'
He got so far forward, that the sensor could no longer detect him - he ended up being stuck until next light change, when someone happened to pull up behind him

I once saw motorcycle scoot ahead at a sensored intersection, then motion the car behind him to move forward and trigger the sensor. His motorcycle would not trigger the sensor.

[blas]

My dad can scoot all he wants. During the day, it's not going to change anything. All he's going to do is scoot too far.

It amuses me because my dad always whines about people who "stick their nose" out into intersections and out of parking lots.

[Treasure]

i once got stuck at an intersection where the left turn signal was apparently a sensor (or at least that time of night)

watched the straight traffic go through 3 cycles, as i inched up closer and closer to the rear of the car in front of me, also wanting to turn, but not far enough forward to be detected by the sensor, he finally moved when i was about an inch off his bumper (i don't remember if my horn wasn't working, or if he ignored me when i honked)

[Captain Trips]

i once got stuck at an intersection where the left turn signal was apparently a sensor (or at least that time of night)

watched the straight traffic go through 3 cycles, as i inched up closer and closer to the rear of the car in front of me, also wanting to turn, but not far enough forward to be detected by the sensor, he finally moved when i was about an inch off his bumper (i don't remember if my horn wasn't working, or if he ignored me when i honked)

I've noticed that some sensor-controlled turn lanes require two cars to activate them late at night - as if they are setting us up for a ticket for running the red, as it is rare at 3 am to get two cars turning left onto a 2-lane side street.

There's got to be a better way to regulate traffic lights. Oh, wait - there is, just network them all together so they coordinate traffic better.

[Shalom]

There's got to be a better way to regulate traffic lights. Oh, wait - there is, just network them all together so they coordinate traffic better.

That's the new-fangled way.

New York City does it the old-fashioned way: at each corner with a traffic light, there's this huge green-painted steel box on one of the poles. This has what amounts to a lamp timer inside, and on the dial there are eight trippers to cause the light to change. (green, start flashing Dont Walk, stop flashing + yellow, red, opposing green, opposing flash, opposing yellow, opposing red, and back to the beginning.) These dials, once set, all maintain the same speed essentially forever (they're synchronous motors, tied into the 60Hz of the grid), but they're not networked at all: they all have to be set manually, one at a time, by a guy at each corner twiddling the dial. Obviously this is a labor-intensive pain in the ass, so they try to get it right the first time and forget it. If one light goes down subsequently, it's not all that hard to get it synchronized with the rest of them.

Sometimes, though, there's a blackout and they all go down at once. This wouldn't be such a problem if they all came back at once, but they don't. When various parts of the city get their power back at different times, it screws up the whole system. There are parts of Brooklyn where the stagger still hasn't completely recovered from the blackout of '03.

(Oh yeah, there are a few intersections that are sensor-controlled. Not many in the City. There's one notorious one near the Bronx Zoo where the cops liked to hang out late at night, just behind the sensor. They've got it down to a science: they see a car coming along at speed, they roll forward just enough to trigger the sensor, exactly timed to throw a red light right in front of him. If he blows the light, they ticket him. This was a good source of income for the city until people complained and they stopped. I don't see what their beef is: had they stopped for the light like they were supposed to they wouldn't have been ticketed, and if they were going too fast to stop then they should have been ticketed for speeding instead...)

[Andara Bledin]

I've noticed that some sensor-controlled turn lanes require two cars to activate them late at night - as if they are setting us up for a ticket for running the red, as it is rare at 3 am to get two cars turning left onto a 2-lane side street.

The light not changing properly is actually a defense against running a red. After all, what are you supposed to do? Wait there forever?

^-.-^

[wolfie]

I've noticed that some sensor-controlled turn lanes require two cars to activate them late at night - as if they are setting us up for a ticket for running the red, as it is rare at 3 am to get two cars turning left onto a 2-lane side street.

There's got to be a better way to regulate traffic lights. Oh, wait - there is, just network them all together so they coordinate traffic better.

The light not changing properly is actually a defense against running a red. After all, what are you supposed to do? Wait there forever?

^-.-^

I encountered one (coming out of an industrial park onto SR37 southbound in Winchester VA) that wouldn't detect an 18 wheeler. After about 3 or 4 cycles of the next light down the road, I found a gap where the other lights blocked the oncoming traffic and went. If I get sent to that shipper again, I'm going onto SR37 northbound - different route home, about 100 km longer, but burns about 30 litres less fuel (fewer hills).

[Fly]

I work at a shopping centre (very large) where the traffic lights at its exits are controlled by sensors after the centre closes of a night. There are very slight inclines, so instead of scooting across the line they rock back and forward using the clutch. Which is all fine I think.

Then again, I've nearly been squished by someone ignoring the red altogether and treating it like a 'turn when safe'. And an accident there last week, same thing except someone t-boned him. He was fine too. If the light is waiting for my workmates though, I just hit the crossing button and it triggers.

[Kogarashi]

Back when I was in high school, my family and I were coming back from some late-night thing and got stuck at a light where the sensor was apparently broken. Because it was so dark out (and this was in the middle of the country, so there weren't street lights to wash things out), we could easily see the cross traffic's light go through three cycles while we were stuck at a red. Finally my dad waited for cross traffic to get a red again, then ran our own red light. Never caught flak for that one, but this was also well before red light cams.

Another time, my mother, aunt, and I were driving back to our town after helping another aunt sing a musical number at her church on a Sunday morning. We approached a one-lane bridge that had lights at both ends to regulate traffic on it, lights that were sensor-controlled. It was red when we pulled up, third in line at the light. And we continued to sit there for quite a while before noticing the thin thread of cigarette smoke drifting out of the lead car's window, and the fact that he was a full car-length or more behind the stop line. Essentially, this guy decided it was perfectly in his right to hold up traffic and have a smoke break instead of pulling forward far enough to trigger the sensor so we could all go. At this point, he had something like six cars lined up behind him. Finally, the driver of the second car got out, walked up to his window, and apparently explaned the situation with gestures that implied "You're an idiot." Said driver got back in his car, and the lead car finally pulled forward and our light almost immediately turned green.

[dalesys]

Interestingly enough, most of the sensor loops I've dealt with in my driving career have been *behind* the first waiting position, so a creeper will never trip it. I've had to back up to trip them.