Revenue police?

[Dreepa]

http://concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060227/REPOSITORY/602270310/1031

[aries]

Here in Twin Mtn at the intersection of 3 and 302, I see police breeze through yellows/red lights all the time, going 50+ (in a 40).

I clock the light at almost 4 seconds so I usually estimate when is a good point to stop if the light goes yellow. If it was shorter, I would have to jam really hard on my brakes to stop in time.

[Dave Ridley]

Sending this to Concord Police via e-mail

Dear folks at CPD:

I read the article in the Monitor about your potentially "revenue enhancing" short yellow light at Everett Arena.   As I drive through that spot fairly often, I don't appreciate this.   You guys are supposed to protect me from the bad guys, who on a good day might be able to rip fifty bucks out of my wallet if they stole it.  But who protects me from you and your $75 tickets, which might in this case be issued simply because I don't slam on the brakes?

A lot of accidents are caused when people stop suddenly at red lights are they not?  Yes that is sometimes their fault and the fault of those behind, but why encourage such sudden stops by engendering hair trigger braking responses?  Are you guys part of the problem or part of the solution?   Please be part of the latter!

Thanks for listening,

(sig)

[Atlas]

Sending this to Concord Police via e-mail

Dear folks at CPD:

I read the article in the Monitor about your potentially "revenue enhancing" short yellow light at Everett Arena.   As I drive through that spot fairly often, I don't appreciate this.   You guys are supposed to protect me from the bad guys, who on a good day might be able to rip fifty bucks out of my wallet if they stole it.  But who protects me from you and your $75 tickets, which might in this case be issued simply because I don't slam on the brakes?

A lot of accidents are caused when people stop suddenly at red lights are they not?  Yes that is sometimes their fault and the fault of those behind, but why encourage such sudden stops by engendering hair trigger braking responses?  Are you guys part of the problem or part of the solution?   Please be part of the latter!

Thanks for listening,

(sig)

Well, we all know that that the cops are part of the problem. They'd rather write out some revenue slips than give somone the benefit of the doubt.  Hopefully, at some time , we will be able to pass that bill in the state house which will allow people to cruise thru lights while stopping first and then cautiously heading thru the light after they have individually checked and decided that all is safe. This is the only way to treat free people. 

[maxxoccupancy]

Maybe there should be a line drawn on the ground before on intersection.  If you pass that line while the light is still green, you have a legal right to clear the intersection.

In fact, roundabouts (traffic circles in America) have no lights at all and manage about twice the traffic flow.  Long waits are very rare, so people take fewer chances.  Three intersections in California saw 19% fewer accidents and 89% fewer fatalities when they were replaced with traffic circles.  There are fewer deadly head on and side impact collisions.

Once you make the initial investment in real estate, they are much cheaper to maintain that traffic lights.  Every pro-liberty candidate can count that as savings to the taxpayer.

We have a few of them in NH, but the proper way to design them is with one to four inner lanes, and giving entering traffic free right turns.

--Max

[KBCraig]

Maybe there should be a line drawn on the ground before on intersection.  If you pass that line while the light is still green, you have a legal right to clear the intersection.

There is such a line. It's called the "stop line".

There are minor variations from state to state, but here's the Texas version: you may not enter the intersection after the right turns red; if you do, it's "failure to yield", same as running a stop sign. Entering the intersection is defined as crossing the stop line. (Yes, lots of yahoos do this all the time when they're coming to a stop... they just charge on up, half a car length past the line. I know one cop who's ticketed people for stopping at a red light, but passing the stop line.)

Of course, you're also obliged to make sure you can clear the intersection when you enter it. If you enter on a green, but there's already traffic backed up in front of you so that you can't get all the way through, then you've "failed to yield" to the cross traffic, because you're sitting in the middle of the intersection blocking them when the light changes. That's how gridlock happens. I see this a lot at some of our busier intersections. Every single one of them was designed by the government. 

Kevin

[Pat McCotter]

I watched a mother with a carriage berate a driver through a whole green light cycle for stopping across the crosswalk for the previous red light. Yes, it caused me and the drivers behind us to wait also but I honked and gave her a "Give 'em hell" as I went by.

[Dreepa]

In fact, roundabouts (traffic circles in America)

We call them rotaries here.

[aries]

In fact, roundabouts (traffic circles in America)

We call them rotaries here.

I always call them roundabouts. But I've had my license for over a year and I've yet to come across one.

Only one I can think of I've ever seen is in Nashua.

[Dreepa]

I know there is one in Epsom.

They are debating about one in Concord.

[Kat Kanning]

There are two that I know of in Keene.