It seems that I cannot take a trip away from thr house without seeing a least one light runner. The other day my daughter and family were driving down the street when they saw a pickup run a light, hit a PT Cruser which skidded into a van. The 19 year old driver of the truck was unhurt but the 30 year old driver of the PT was killed.
I never go forward when the light turns green until I check for some idiot trying to save 30 seconds. For some drivers yellow means punch it.
Just venting.
Dono

 

Thats what happened to my old red truck and I. I was turning and he missed the light and slammed into the side of me at 45mph. Almost rolled me over, I went up on two wheels and did a 180 w/o leaving skid marks. His passanger has a metal plate in his cheek and an eye that is slightly out of place but he can see ok. Pics of his car and my truck in my gallery.



Primary rig is Green Thunder:
95' F-150 XLT 4x4, 302, 5 spd, MSD 6A, Flowmaster American Thunder Exhaust, Sunroof, Clear corners w/ Diamond headlights, CD player with 2 10" subs and some 32" BFG Muds .

Check out my Gallery for a look-see.

Then theres:
99' Mustang GT 4.6L
88' F-250 Heavyduty 4x4 351/c6
95' Mercury Cougar 4.6L V-8
80' E-350 300/6 with a
3 spd column shifter. Weighs around 7,000lbs w. 65mph top speed, who wants to race me!

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 01-Aug-02 AT 07:50 PM (EST)] driving for a living(there's a song there somewhere) ive seen it all! like you i look both ways when the light turns green cause you never know.

one thing though, the duration between yellow and red varies from intersection to intersection and for a big truck its hard to stop, especialy when the road is slick. i know ive blown a few lights in my truck(a 1500gal tanker that can be 50,000+lbs) that i knew i just couldnt stop for. the last thing i want to do is lock my brakes up and slide into or over something. im not trying to make excuses, just tell ya'll that ya gotta watch out. be a careful driver cuz god knows there are plenty of folks who arent, big truck or not.

 

Hey Icelander. My hats off to you folks who grind the gears. Most folks dont have a clue about what it takes to stop a 18 wheeler. Some stoplights change faster than others, and when you have 50,000lbs of tractor trailer you dont have a choice, but to go on through the red light. If you jam on the brakes you might get hit in the rear by the tailgater on your rearend, you might slide out of control on a wet road etc. The best choice for the situation is to go on, and stop whenever we can. Lets all give the truckers a hand, by not tailgateing, help them merge into traffic, use your signal lights early. I am getting off the subject, but one more thing. If you cant see the mirrors on the tractor cab. HE cant see you.

Dave Powell

 

I think those people that run lights believe in this: Green means go, Red means stop, Yellow means go faster.


Cody, Coutts Alberta

82' Flareside: zoom zoom doesn't even begin to describe it, 2/4 Drop, Soon to have 325hp 351 Clevo (maybe more,in a 3600lb truck)Backed by a C6 with a 2000 rpm stall and a 3.50 9 incher, American Racing AR-23 (series 23) wheels, Upgraded interior, Sony Xplod stereo

 

Lets all give the truckers a
>hand, by not tailgateing, help them merge into traffic, use
>your signal lights early. I am getting off the subject, but
>one more thing. If you cant see the mirrors on the tractor
>cab. HE cant see you.
>
>Dave Powell

A trucker saved my daughter. She told us this story when she got home. She was in the left turn lane waiting for the light to give her the go ahead. In the next lane on her right was a big rig waiting for the same light. She was driving her little Volkswagon beetle. The truck blocked her vision to the right so she could not see oncoming traffic, but she just trusted the light. The light turned green as she proceeded to pull out into the intersection when the big rig layed on that big air horn of his. She was already well past the crosswalk when she hit the brakes. At first she was not sure why the truck had not moved or why he sounded the horn, but it caused her stop and then she realized why. Because just then a car sped through the intersection, running the red light. The truck driver seeing my daughter pulling out and knowing the she could not see the oncomming car, gave warning by sounding his horn. She looks both ways now before pulling out into an intersection. I've told her before about this, but this really drove it home for her.

As for that truck driver, who ever you are, thanks!

 

I almost was wiped out by a pirate tow-truck that was pulling a bus way too heavy for his truck, and he skidded through a red. Luckily, I saw it coming and darted out of his way at the last second. He stopped right about where my four kids would have been in the back seat. When I got out to rip his throat out he took off down the road. His steering wheel had also come off in his hands, not having been secured. Unfortunately, he escaped and this loozer is probrably still driving his junk truck in a dangerous manner, destined to kill someone

 

People who run stop lights and/or don't use turn signals are telling the world they are so entirely selfish that:

a) In the case of the stoplight, 30 seconds of their precious time is more important than someone's life. The Discovery channel is airing a show this month about stop lights, highlighting young mothers with dead children. Shame on you if you run lights on purpose.

b) In the case of the blinker, you are telling the world you have no regard for common courtesy and your laziness is more important that giving someone a little warning that you're changing lanes or turning.

 

I agree. Too many people are in too big of a hurry all the time. I absolutely couldn't believe the number of stoplight runners I saw when I first moved to Cleveland, Oh. It seems as if everybody runs lights here, school busses, police cars, you name it. Its crazy. I rarely saw anyone run a red light when I lived in small towns down south. I just can't figure these people out. I honestly believe that as a whole, Ohio drivers are the worst in the country. I'm just glad that the roads here are super wide so that I can at least have a chance at getting out of the way of these senseless people.
-Cope

95 F-150 4x4
4.9L M5OD
Front Truetrac Rear Detroit
3.73 Precision Gears
Warn Premiums
4" Superlift Superunner

 

Unfortunately, the South isn't immune. Big cities here have the same problem. It's common in Atlanta. I once sat at a light and counted 6 cars running a red light with a police car sitting there ignoring them.

 

Just another sign of the impending apocolypse, huh. Morons. One thing I've noticed -- My 64 has no seat belts, no air bags, no padded dash, all steel -- near as I can tell it has one piece of plastic in the dash cover, window *****, and the turn signals. Everything else is solid steel. I tend to drive pretty damn carefully

Today, everything is air bags, seat belts and cushy comfort. People drive like maniacs because they don't care and dont' realize what they are doing -- their insurance will pay for the damage, and running someone over or hitting somebody is just an excuse to get out of work.






Keep 'er between the ditches.

 

I saw a thing on tv of how much better a rotary (or around-a-bout in England) is than a stop light. You don't have to completely stop and wait, building up traffic. Everybody is moving so they don't have to get irritated. It forces you to slow down and be cautious, and even if there was a crash, it would probably be from someone merging in, not someone completely smashing into the side of a car at it's weakest point(the door). With a rotary you avoid the side impacts like I was in from my accident. Thank god for lift kits, if only my parents will let me buy a 6" instead of a 4" .


Primary rig is Green Thunder:
95' F-150 XLT 4x4, 302, 5 spd, MSD 6A, Flowmaster American Thunder Exhaust, Sunroof, Clear corners w/ Diamond headlights, CD player with 2 10" subs and some 32" BFG Muds .

Check out my Gallery for a look-see.

Then theres:
99' Mustang GT 4.6L
88' F-250 Heavyduty 4x4 351/c6
95' Mercury Cougar 4.6L V-8
80' E-350 300/6 with a
3 spd column shifter. Weighs around 7,000lbs w. 65mph top speed, who wants to race me!

 

good post. I was just having this conversation last night!
Anyway, I almost got tagged once outside of work. We have a trigger light that lets us out of the base onto a busy, four lane road. I watched in horror as one, two, three, four cars busted through the light. When I thought it was safe to proceed, another car almost t-boned me. Man, was I scared. I looked up to see if the light was really green for me or them. They had the red. Now, this guy in the car that almost hit me starts cursing me bad, saying he was in a funeral procession & saying that he had the right of way! These cars had no flags or anything! It worked me up so much, I went to the police station and asked about this so-called funeral procession rule. The cops said there was no special rule & that alot of people think that, but they're wrong. He also said that funeral homes sometimes coordinate traffic control but usually only for special circumstances. Boy, I am glad I watch through the intersection too. Coulda been my procession later on.

 

Here in Georgia funerals have a police escort that usually stops cross traffic at intersections.

 

Move to California where we invented the "California stop". The rule out here seems to be who ever has the most expensive car and the sleekest cell phone has the right of way.

Personally I think it should be who ever has the highest GCVWR has the right of way