Stop light in the middle of nowhere

[Satty]

I'll yield, but wont always come to a complete stop.

[Cory Wolfe]

If it's not a place I'm familiar with, I'll stop, look, and run the damn thing.

If I'm accustomed to the area and its not a blind crossing or anything, not to mention a stop sign and not a stop light, stopping at all is fairly inconvenient. There are a few stops out here that, in the middle of the night, are dead that I'll disregard. There's never traffic and in the event that there is, I'm able to see it before I arrive at the stop.

[Robert Hall]

There were a number of lights that were on wierd timers in both the Colorado Springs and Denver area that would take forever to change at night. I would often back and up then pull forward a few times to try and trip them. At one in the city, I'd occasionally get out of the car, run across the street, and manually hit the cross walk button to trip the light. At other lights, I'd make a right turn, then a u-turn and then go right again if I had to wait too long..

[Satty]

At other lights, I'd make a right turn, then a u-turn and then go right again if I had to wait too long..

Way back in the day, when I was delivering, I got stuck in a line of southbound traffic waiting for the police to lift a barricade they had set up for a parade or something. So instead of waiting like a normal person, I turned right into a parking lot, shot back to the other entrance to the lot, gunned it to get into the northbound lane, in the process forcing a minivan to slam on their brakes, then I made a quick right turn to get on a side street so I could take an alternate route. All this with a handful of police officers no more than 300 feet away. To make matters worse, I had the goofy "Pizza Hut" sign on my car that day. Apparently one of the cops decided to call the manager on duty to tattle on me or something. The part thr cop apparently stressed to her was that my running through the parking lot was illegal. Your post made me think of cutting through gas stations instead of waiting in line to make a right hand turn, which reminded me of that.

[Justin Bimmer]

Been there, stopped there. Out here in the kontry when you have orange trees or almonds blocking the view, you better wait then look when your light turns green. Especially in the fog.

[Oracle of Delphi]

You're supposed to stop at red lights?

[!!!TED!!!]

You're supposed to stop at red lights?

YES

After seeing a late 90's Protege get t-boned by a truck after running a red, I would say yes.

This happened last year. It was 3am, with almost no cars around. He was infront of me (about 2 car lenghts), and was hit so hard, he ended up facing the wrong way in the opposite lane of the cross street.

[Croc]

Of course I stop. If 20 seconds to a minute have passed, though, I chalk it up to a broken loop detector and cautiously evaluate how to procede.

[ocnblu]

Ppl go out driving late @ night?

I would stop, look and go if it looks clear.

[mustang84]

One time I was coming out of Culver's on a side street and approached a major road with a stoplight, wanting to make a left turn. It was night and there wasn't much traffic, even though the road I had to cross had six lanes. I sat there at the light in the left turn lane and after about a minute someone else pulled up next to me in the center lane, but it never changed. We both waited a couple more minutes, nothing happened. Finally after about four minutes we looked at each other, then both gunned it through. Stupid light.

If I know the area and it's clearly visible that there is no traffic coming, then I'll go through after stopping briefly.

[Lamar]

I vote "wait for the green."

I'd be that one lucky person who ran the light that the cop was waiting behind with his lights off...

[Satty]

There is one light that takes forever to change late at night. It really pisses me off, so I usually make sure there is nobody coming, then I run it. I pulled up to it on night and a county sheriff pulled up behind me. So I sat there and waited. And waited. Finally the cop flipped his lights on, went around me and went straight through. Jerk probably sat there waiting to see if I'd run the light, but I didn't, it changed soon enough.

[Satty]

Completely unrelated to red lights, but it was the same road the stop light posted above is on, and it involved a sheriff. I was in the Sebring going about 65 (in a 45 at about 10 at night) when I saw an oncoming car, I didn't think anything of it until the car was passin me and I saw it was a sheriff's car. I looked in my mirror and saw him slam on his brakes and flip on his lights. He didn't have anyplace wide enough to turn around for about a quarter-mile, so I sped up to get to a side road that had several artery roads. It took a couple minutes longer, but I made it to where I was going without getting ticketed.

[Sixty8panther]

Yeah.... the law is often times.... above the LAW.

I voted "stop, wait 20 sec."

Although I usually wait more than 20se.... usually I wait like a minute at least.

I run into this basic scenario in the suburban/urban areas I rive through to get

to UPS. Because I'm typically going into work at 3:00am or so, I get quite

frustratd because many of the lights on my commute are on pressure sensors.

For some dang reason long wheelbase cars like my B-59 that I was driving in

last year & like the Suburban now, often times do not trigger the light to turn

green. I had at one point, about a year ago in the 59, rocked the car back &

forth to get the light to tur an it honestly took about 90sec. even though NOT

ONE CAR had traveled the otehr way in the whole time I was there.

That' flippin' annoying.

As far as blatantly running a red light, unless it's in the middle of the desert &

you've got a clear view for 1/2 mile plus in all directions, that's asking to die

or worse, kill someone else!

Edited February 7, 2009 by Sixty8panther

[loki]

i've only ran one red i think... back in HS i drove every morning through a string of lights...when the first one was green they all were green before the time you got to them at speed. one morning i was wrong but didn't realize till i was under it, luckily no one was turning into the lane i was in.

I agree'd with your first post Satty.

[daves87rs]

I vote "wait for the green."

I'd be that one lucky person who ran the light that the cop was waiting behind with his lights off...

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

I always stop and wait, unless it's a very long amount of time.

Here in NC, most of the lights used to go to flash mode around midnight. It was the greatest thing ever! I could make it all the way across town in a matter of minutes. Now, they've stopped doing that for some reason.

[Sixty8panther]

Here in NC, most of the lights used to go to flash mode around midnight.

That' way too logical for the state of Mass, or the 2st century.

[Intrepidation]

Almost always stop. I can spare a whopping minute and a half. I hate it when people run through lights and stop signs so they can get to the next damn one.

I've intentionally run a light twice. Same one. It's a left turning arrow to get to a gas station that was built not that long ago in Salem NH. It's supposed to be sensored, but was faulty and wouldn't actually work. This was also at like 3am when there was no traffic around.

[Sixty8panther]

I can spear a whopping minute and a half.

What about SPEARING a WHOPER?

Did you bring a spear gun into BK again...?

[Intrepidation]

What about SPEARING a WHOPER?

Did you bring a spear gun into BK again...?

Oh please, you're one of the last people who should be calling someone else out on typos. If I made a thread containing all of yours it would rival Word Association in pages.

[Croc]

I always stop and wait, unless it's a very long amount of time.

Here in NC, most of the lights used to go to flash mode around midnight. It was the greatest thing ever! I could make it all the way across town in a matter of minutes. Now, they've stopped doing that for some reason.

That' way too logical for the state of Mass, or the 2st century.

Actually a lot of places are phasing this out because of problems with drivers not knowing whether the phasing is 4-way stop, or 2-way stop. When a signal fails, it's default is the all-way flashing red. This can easily be confused for a 2-way flashing yellow, 2-way flashing red phase by motorists on the red sides, who think cross traffic is going to have to stop, when they do not have to.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Actually a lot of places are phasing this out because of problems with drivers not knowing whether the phasing is 4-way stop, or 2-way stop. When a signal fails, it's default is the all-way flashing red. This can easily be confused for a 2-way flashing yellow, 2-way flashing red phase by motorists on the red sides, who think cross traffic is going to have to stop, when they do not have to.

I can see that.

Actually, that's how I totalled one of my cars. The light was malfunctioning and flashing yellow in my direction (which means go with caution) and flashing red to the perpendicular traffic (which means stop, look and go) I was doing the speed limit (45) and an old lady ran her side of the light and I t-boned her.

I was in the Starlet (Tercel) and she was in a Crown Vic. I ran up to see if she was okay and the first words out of her mouth were "What in the hell is your problem, did you not see me." I had to bite my tongue really hard. Then the cop had to spend 20 minutes explaining to her WHY she screwed up and why I wasn't being ticketed.

[Cory Wolfe]

Our area has the flashing lights at night. Hasn't caused any problems here, though.

[deftonesfan867]

I would stop and wait for green because you never know what the jerks from NY or NJ are going to do. I've already concluded that most of them can't drive for $h!.

[Oracle of Delphi]

Our area has the flashing lights at night. Hasn't caused any problems here, though.

I read an article not long ago which stated that some people went into epileptic fits when stopped at PA's red flashing lights, the ones that look like strobe lights ...

[Cory Wolfe]

I read an article not long ago which stated that some people went into epileptic fits when stopped at PA's red flashing lights, the ones that look like strobe lights ...

We don't have those around here, but I've come across them and they are, indeed, awesome.

[deftonesfan867]

I read an article not long ago which stated that some people went into epileptic fits when stopped at PA's red flashing lights, the ones that look like strobe lights ...

They only have those in the higher elevations like Mount Pocono so they're easier to see in blizzards.

[Oracle of Delphi]

They only have those in the higher elevations like Mount Pocono so they're easier to see in blizzards.

Actually no, they have them on 202 near West Chester and the Delaware line ...

[deftonesfan867]

Yeah I would know this because I've been all over PA..... I'm speaking of the area I live @.

[Oracle of Delphi]

Yeah I would know this because I've been all over PA..... I'm speaking of the area I live @.

I think your quote was "they only have them in higher elevations".

[Robert Hall]

Our area has the flashing lights at night. Hasn't caused any problems here, though.

I remember stopping at those in small towns late at night in E. Ohio/W. Pa....the song 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' running thru my head...while 'California dreaming on a winter's day'... (when I was young and living in E. Ohio, I wanted to get out soooo bad...finally did, to Colorado, via Michigan).

Edited February 8, 2009 by moltar

[Croc]

Speaking of "California Dreaming," check out the DJ Sammy cover if you haven't already...I like it a lot better than the original.

[Justin Bimmer]

Oh please, you're one of the last people who should be calling someone else out on typos. If I made a thread containing all of yours it would rival Word Association in pages.

Dodgefan. . . FTW!!!!

that made me laugh really hard (no offense 68)

[Intrepidation]

All in good fun.

[DetroitNut90]

I'd never do that at a light, because all of them in the area are camera-equipped and they go off whenever something crosses their intersection when it's not supposed to.

However, the stop sign in my neighborhood gets roundly ignored at night, when there's no one around.

[Satty]

The Prius no longer has a front plate ('cause it no longer has parrt of the front bumper) so camera equipped lights are no prob for me.

[cletus8269]

we have a light down below the hospital i work at. if you pull up to the white line like you are supposed to the light will not trip because the sensor is set back too far. it wont trip until a second vehicle pulls in behind you. it took me a few weeks to figure this out until one night i stopped 10 ft short of the line. it cycled almost immediately. i ran that light proll 15 or 20 times before i figured it out. interestingly enough SC just signed into law last year that motorcycles have the right to run a light after sitting there for a full 30sec or a min i cant remember. they say that the light sensors dont pick them up. we'll see how that goes in the next year or so i guess.