It would still be illegal, but if there is absolutely no one else around then you could probably get away with it.
Driving question.
- Thread starter Trekker4747
- Start date
It would still be illegal, but if there is absolutely no one else around then you could probably get away with it.
Once again Trekker believes he knows better than traffic engineers, cops, lawyers and doctors. Can you not just wait for an extra five minutes?? Where do you have to go that is so important that you risk your life and the lives of others?
On second thought, go ahead. Do it...you'll make some lawyer a lot of money with your attitude.
Haven't read the thread, but, if turning right at the red light is legal in OP's state, maybe it would be better to make the right lane right-turn-only and the left lane left turn plus straight ahead. If turning right at red light is illegal maybe a seperate right-turn traffic light would be useful, but that stuff is surprisingly expensive. The crossing is kind of a shit design though imo.
This is too good to be true...
What attracted me to this thread was not the topic itself so much as the way it appeared on the discussions list at the moment I happened to see it:
Driving question.
by Alpha Romeo
I'm ashamed to say it actually took me a moment to get this, what with the different spelling, but lol'ing now.
Your option sounds great, except that cars 1 and 2 have a standing red light. And it's illegal to make a left turn against the light. However, if there were NO cross-traffic whatsoever, I wouldn't blame car 2 for making that left turn, then u-turn or y-turn, then through the red light.
Which makes it just as illegal as going around car 1.
Yeah. As I said before, I missed the fact that the light doesn't change while the train is going by. And that's dumb. People should be able to make left turns with the light just like any other time. That wouldn't even be difficult to program into the software.
It's a dumb intersection, by far. As noted people should at least be allowed to make left turns, when the way is clear on the red or just have the light treated as a 3/4-way stop.
I really don't even know why there is a light there given that it's not a busy intersection, one side of it being a dead-end and the other side pretty much leads nowhere and passes by no meaningful businesses.
I really don't even know why there is a light there given that it's not a busy intersection, one side of it being a dead-end and the other side pretty much leads nowhere and passes by no meaningful businesses.
No. With the train out of the equation the light behaves normally in cycling the lights so the wait for the light to change to allow traffic to move forward is a normal length of time, a couple of minutes. With the train there the light instantly changes to red, I've seen it happen. The light is green and the instant the arm goes down and signal lights flash the light goes from green to red and it stays red until the train has finished passing which can be anywhere between a couple of minutes to as long as 20 minutes depending on the length of the train and its speed. Hell there's been times I've seen a train parked there.
So there's the problem. When that light is red and a train is there that guy wanting to go forward is essentially parked there for indeterminate length of time, meanwhile the second car simply wants to turn right but can't do so, legally, until the first car is gone and during this time other cars are lining up in back, it's not a super busy road through here but when one car is stopped at a light for 10 minutes things back up pretty fast.
But I think a valid point is that traffic always backs up waiting for trains. Or wrecks. Or construction. It's part of driving. That doesn't provide an excuse for illegal maneuvers to avoid the wait. If it was a two lane highway somewhere you couldn't justify pulling a U-turn, could you?
We must have shorter trains here in Oklahoma, as well. I don't recall one ever making me wait more than 5 minutes or so. In fact, I can't remember the last time I had to stop for a train. Maybe they don't run through here at all anymore. Is this really a big problem in Kansas?
Yes, but only the cars going straight ahead are even bothered by the train, so it doesn't make sense to make cars going in a different direciton wait as well. Obviously OP's maneuver isn't legal, but that doesn't necessarily mean it isn't justified. Sometimes traffic planners do get it wrong.
Illegal maneuvers are never "justified." That's what causes accidents. Drivers who think the rules don't apply to them or think certain conditions make it somehow "ok" to violate the laws.
No, accidents can happen for lots of different reasons too.
I didn't mean to say illegal maneuvers are they only cause of accidents. Of course they're not. But they have a much greater chance of causing one than simply obeying the traffic laws.
Sure, under regular circumstances I would agree, but the scenario is about still traffic and I don't see what the big deal is as long as you're doing it carefully and maybe even with communication to the driver of the other car (eye contact works surprisingly well even through the windshield).
Some laws are stupid, and other can even be dangerous. Granted, I'm commuting by bike every day and I'm probably what some people would describe as a "scofflaw cyclist" but for example one thing I often do is start accelerating through an intersection a moment before the light turns green (assuming the crosstraffic has stopped already) so I get a headstart on the cars since getting right-hooked by drivers who don't check their mirrors is one of the most common ways for cyclists to get hurt (might even be #1, but I don't know that for sure).
Laws shouldn't override common sense and the guys who write the laws can't have all possible situations planned out ahead.
Some laws are stupid, and other can even be dangerous. Granted, I'm commuting by bike every day and I'm probably what some people would describe as a "scofflaw cyclist" but for example one thing I often do is start accelerating through an intersection a moment before the light turns green (assuming the crosstraffic has stopped already) so I get a headstart on the cars since getting right-hooked by drivers who don't check their mirrors is one of the most common ways for cyclists to get hurt (might even be #1, but I don't know that for sure).
Laws shouldn't override common sense and the guys who write the laws can't have all possible situations planned out ahead.
I lived in Muncie, Indiana for several years and we had trains that would actually stop, meaning you had no idea when you'd get through that intersection. However, every intersection I ever saw blocked by a train, if it had a stoplight, the stoplight would flash red making it an all-way stop rather than halting traffic in one direction. If the one in Trekker's example does not do that I would say it's a fault in the design of the stoplight system for that intersection. Doesn't justify an illegal maneuver, though. Just wait for the end of the fucking train.
I would say the only time an illegal maneuver is justified is when it prevents an imminent accident. But if you make an illegal maneuver to prevent an accident and you end up wrecking anyway, I wouldn't expect the cops to take pity.
I would say the only time an illegal maneuver is justified is when it prevents an imminent accident. But if you make an illegal maneuver to prevent an accident and you end up wrecking anyway, I wouldn't expect the cops to take pity.
Yeah, I see you did post that. I hadn’t read all the posts.
Fresno has trains running right through it, including literally right next to City Hall.
They use flashing red lights for train stops like this. It eliminates OP’s problem. Except for numbskulls who don’t realize what a flashing red light means. Many stupid drivers in Fresno--but that lets you get away with pulling shit and looking like just another stupid driver.
I'm a little curious about this now.
Trekker, if you were "Car 1," and (as you said in another post) you could turn right, go a little ways up the road to an underpass, and pass under the train...
Why were you just sitting there this time? Seems to me you would use the method that's worked for you before.
Are you sure this isn't just made up?
What is Pflumm and Sante Fe Trail Drive, Alex?
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