Worst Traffic Laws

[FUNKED1]

IMHO the worst thing ever is the red left turn arrow.

The green ones are fine.  They give people a right of way to turn left.

And some red ones are fine too.  If the cross traffic is green, then it makes sense to stop people from turning.

But when the cross traffic is red (i.e. traffic going your direction is green), the red left turn arrow is pointless.  In this case all it is doing is stopping people from turning left across oncoming traffic.  

Why not just have no arrow at all in this case?  We're quite capable of judging whether it's safe to turn or not.  Think of the zillions of hours of lost productivity, sitting there at a red arrow when there is zero oncoming traffic.

I (and my spiritual mentor Adam Carolla) call on you to join us in our civil disobedience campaign.  If it's safe to turn left, do it.  Screw the man and his crappy lights.

[Lizking]

That must be some kind of liberal, homosexual, mexican lovin, gun hating Kalifornication of the traffic lights.

[JB73]

i hate more the "timed" light to the onramp near me...

imagine the direction i am headed has 20+ cars backed up at the straight light, and 35 at the left turn light.

opposing traffic has 3 cars at the straight light an there is no other option for them


light turns green, both left arrow, and straight.


6 left turn cars pass through, and the left arrow goes red.

now the oncomming traffic gets to go straight. the 3-4 thatwere there, and a max of 2-3 stragglers.


the is at an on ramp BTW so the only cross traffic is people getting off the expressway (MAX and i mean MAX 3-4 in the whole cycle of the light)

now this red arrow stays red for 1 minute, and 13 seconds (yes i have gotten so mad i timed int AND sent a message to the local traffic beureau)

now the whole thing cycles, but the 35 original left turn cars has become 40, yet only a MAX of 6 get through before the 1 minute 13 second wait for the next cycle.

this whole thing happenes at rush hour 7:30 AM in the suburabs where 95% are trying to get to the city to their jobs.

oh yeah, this road has a 50 MPH speed limit on it too, not some super busy metro traffic area


<<>>> traffic laws

[bunch]

the 250kts rule below 10k sux

[Fishu]

Originally posted by bunch
the 250kts rule below 10k sux

XXXXXX, no speed restrictions.

In the correct ICAO format  

[Gunslinger]

Why not just have no arrow at all in this case? We're quite capable of judging whether it's safe to turn or not. Think of the zillions of hours of lost productivity, sitting there at a red arrow when there is zero oncoming traffic.

Because at least 50% of the drivers are liberals.  They have no judgment as the govt. tells them what to think, how to think, and when to think.  If these people would be given there own judgment they'd:

1. Give to many the right of way becuase they may have been minorities and lived hard lives
2.  Be woman drivers and never think its "Time" enough to turn or turn while talking on the phone and applying today's makeup in front of a city bus
3.  Stop to discuss the legality of lack of turn lights with their lawyer to sue the city for a large sum because the city lacks proper traffic supervision and they may spill their low fat double shot soy mocha expresso and burn their tiny genitailia


take your pick  

[Stang]

LOL yeah they really do suck.  I usually just look around to see if there is a cop around then gun it if I'm in a hurry at all.  If not I sit there spewing 4 letter words.

People who can't merge getting onto interstates are far worse though.  They crawl onto the highway at extremely low speeds then expect everyone to hit the breaks and "let" them in.  All of a sudden 4 or 5 cars entering the freeway cause a 1 mile backup because the chain reaction of everyone behind having to slam on the breaks as well.  I wish every other commercial on TV was a lesson on how to drive lol.  Merging is simple, you have to be going at least as fast as traffic on the highway or FASTER, that way you can choose where to fit into the stream of traffic and it causes no slowdown whatsoever.  If you're afraid to drive, don't.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrr

 

[beet1e]

What really sucked in America was that nationwide 55mph limit in the 70s/80s.

Things I liked - being able to turn right on red, or even left on red if turning from a one way street into another one way street.

[Swoop]

Try Holland.  Some traffic lights there dont recognise motorbikes, so unless a car pulls up behind you can sit by a red light forever......

Or ignore em like I used to.

[Mini D]

You can turn left from a two way to a one way street on a red too.

That's a california thing funkypants.  It was invented because californians can't be trusted to make any decisions that are based on judgement.

[AKS\/\/ulfe]

So, unless there is a sign explicity saying "No turn on red arrow" - I can turn left on it?

I don't think you can... legally anyway.
-SW

[mora]

The most ridiculous things here are the PedXing traffic lights. Because pedestrians are the most important road users they are usually not bothered with pushbuttons so the lights are usually red until a car STOPS at the PedXing with no pedestrians in sight.

I mostly ignore them allthough I usually slow down a little. Also after driving around in the US I've started turning right on red if there's no cops in sight.

[Krusher]

Originally posted by Swoop
Try Holland.  Some traffic lights there dont recognise motorbikes, so unless a car pulls up behind you can sit by a red light forever......

Or ignore em like I used to.

we have lights like that here too. What i used to do was put my kickstand down and lean on it.  It seemed to work for me.

[storch]

Originally posted by FUNKED1
IMHO the worst thing ever is the red left turn arrow.

The green ones are fine.  They give people a right of way to turn left.

And some red ones are fine too.  If the cross traffic is green, then it makes sense to stop people from turning.

But when the cross traffic is red (i.e. traffic going your direction is green), the red left turn arrow is pointless.  In this case all it is doing is stopping people from turning left across oncoming traffic.  

Why not just have no arrow at all in this case?  We're quite capable of judging whether it's safe to turn or not.  Think of the zillions of hours of lost productivity, sitting there at a red arrow when there is zero oncoming traffic.

I (and my spiritual mentor Adam Carolla) call on you to join us in our civil disobedience campaign.  If it's safe to turn left, do it.  Screw the man and his crappy lights.

some communities have been installing cameras at intersections that take remarkably clear images of your vehicle and license plate.  they just forward the proof along with a fine.  I hear the people's county of Broward is in the process of doing just that in my beloved Florida.  I think they got the idea from Beet1e.  

[storch]

Originally posted by Swoop
Try Holland.  Some traffic lights there dont recognise motorbikes, so unless a car pulls up behind you can sit by a red light forever......

Or ignore em like I used to.

they must be utilizing Intersection Developement's loop detectors, easily the worst product on the market or perhaps the cloggies have the sensitivity set too low. it happens here occasionally also.