Whats Up With Traffic Lights Not Being Obeyed.

Garrett

I noticed a steep increase over the last few year the number of times I been at the lights at the front of the cars waiting for the green and see cars still coming through when my set on amber. It's not like someone was approaching the lights and there changed from green to amber and have to slam on, they must have been amber a while and into red.
Today I was out with my father and the light changed to green and he started setting of when a car came across us from the left and only just missed a van in the next lane (near side).
Do we have to get to a state where cameras are every set to stop this.
I looked for a thread on this topic and found someone asking if a set of lights had cameras on it as they said they been a bad boy and gone though at red. I would not say a bad boy Id say a dangerous driver who put others at risk of an accident.

ShanePJ

I think one of the biggest issues today is the timing on lights have been so optimised to get traffic moving due to the large volume of it on our roads, the old grace from one set of lights turning red and the others turning green has been decrease. This means your just seeing more of from these absent minded bodies.

I don't want autonomous vehicles, but this will stop when it happens.

In the mean time, as many modern cars now have the ability to brake for themselves, why don't the tech wizards create a magic eye which reads traffic lights and thus taking the control away from them, they will learn without it being the hard way for everyone involved when they do make a horrible mistake.

DOBLY

^No, I observe that people think it is ok to follow a car that has just gone through already if they can sit on its' tail, regardless of what colour light they go through - sheep mentality.

amd mad

@ShanePJ the opposite is true around here our traffic lights have a 5to10 seconds delay from red to green. The skeptical would say that's it done in order to cause congestion,and then the council can bring in a congestion charge like down there in the Big Smoke?

aVdub

From what I see locally it has nothing to do with grace periods.
It is more along the lines of those that know a certain set takes roughly X amount of seconds/minutes and will blow through an amber/red light.
One I see often is the driver looking left or right at the other lights, which are now green, knowing they cut it a bit fine this time.
Got some absolute shockers on my dashcam and one that I timed at being 1.5 seconds away from a light jump that could have killed my OH..

Trollslayer

It happens here as well and the timing of the lights is fine.

Bl4ckGryph0n

I don't think people seem to understand that you really should stop at amber if you can. Not the opposite drive if you can.

I'm also noticing an increase (unscientific observation I know) where people go through a red light when turning. They see if it is clear (as I witnessed yesterday) and then just go.

I don't like it either, but I wonder whether it is related to more foreigners (like myself) being on the road and driving to rules from their home country opposed to rules from the UK. Especially regarding turning on a red light.

John7

I put it down to a lack of visible policing on our roads now, with all the cutbacks. People know they stand very little risk of getting nicked now and take a chance. I have seen a notable increase in the amount of driving offences over the last few years, jumping red lights, speeding, mobile phone use, fog lights, lights not working, parking on zebra zig-zags, cyclists with no lights  and riding on the pavement, dangerous overtaking etc.

Garrett

Funny thing on that there is an area in town with a very wide footpath where there an actual pathway for cyclist but of all things it stops just before a very extremely busy road junction where two lanes of traffic either turn to the left or right at a Y junction and there just enough room for two vehicles because of an island also if a lorry turning to the right they take it wide more or less force anyone in the near side almost up on the pavement. If a cyclist were there they be a very bad accident. Ironically the island there for a pedestrian crossing and the reason the cycle path forces you on the road as pedestrians would be crossing there.
Now saying that shortly after the cycle path on the footpath ends there a cycle lane on the road yet I seen cyclist riding on the footpath  on the opposite side on the footpath riding that this cycle lane was provided for.

Mobile phones seem a scourge someone was on the news who been crippled from the chest down and a person killed in the same accident by some one who made 25 text in 23 miles.  Football agent guilty of killing man while texting behind wheel on M6

I seen people set off whilst on the mobile in built areas with lots of junctions  before the main road. And on the motorway someone holding their phone to their ear whilst the the other hand off the wheel gesticulating as though there were giving directions to someone they could see.

NorvernRob

Agreed. Strange how a lot of motorists like to rant about cyclists running red lights, but are seemingly blind to the amount of other drivers doing it right in front of them every day!

On of the main roundabouts into Sheffield centre is terrible. It’s not a case of going when your lights turn green, it’s a case of waiting until the cars coming from the right have decided to stop following each other through the lights that are now red.