What does this signal mean?

mikea said:
I still almost never see anyone actually running a red light - as in a light that has been red for a while while a car coming up from far away (or not) goes right through. Push the yellow, yeah. It used to even say in Rules of the Road that cars approaching the intersection can enter on a yellow and clear on the red. I know a guy who might rarely get the timing wrong at cruising speed in a Mustang. He cringes looking back to see if there was a camera there. Not yet. Even in Chicago.

The red light cameras are catching people make left turns clearing the intersection after the red (doh!) and as was just kilt off in Schaumburg, not coming to a full stop for a right turn on red. (I almost always do that and a full stop at stop signs - risking getting rear ended.) When they filliy admitted that they were firing hundreds of cars a car and never, ever, ever had an accident or injury at the intersection, they just removed the camera.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-red-light-cameras-12-jul12,0,7945020.story
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-red-light-camerasjul15,0,7535797.story
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The people I'm talking about are going through the intersection when your light is green- their light went through yellow and is now red. It is not uncommon for 6 cars to go through the left turn (27th and Superior, turning north on Superior) when my light is green and theirs is either red or they are supposed to wait for traffic to clear. I can't figure it- out here, I never waited more than 2 lights to get through an intersection if there were no unusual circumstances.

I also once counted 12 cars come off Mountain Road onto west bound Rt. 22 in NJ when I had the green on Rt. 22 when I lived there.
 
I had one incredible karma moment... Was driving in the right lane, at least a car length ahead of a car in the left lane. Needed to turn left at the light.

For some reason, decided to slow down and go in behind him "just to be courteous" even though I wouldn't have been cutting him off.

Got to the red light. Get green turn signal, he pulls out, and immediately gets t-boned. Would have been me.

They were both fine, but I gave the guy my info and said I would be back. Dropped off my passenger...and came back. Cops were there, and waved me off, then told me to "move along". The hittee basically had to scream at the cop that "that guy witnessed the accident!" before the cop would give me the time of day?!

Anyway, caught the other guy in a lie, he got a ticket, and I apologized to the hittee for being nice. :)
 
Cap'n Jack said:
The people I'm talking about are going through the intersection when your light is green- their light went through yellow and is now red. It is not uncommon for 6 cars to go through the left turn (27th and Superior, turning north on Superior) when my light is green and theirs is either red or they are supposed to wait for traffic to clear. I can't figure it- out here, I never waited more than 2 lights to get through an intersection if there were no unusual circumstances.

I also once counted 12 cars come off Mountain Road onto west bound Rt. 22 in NJ when I had the green on Rt. 22 when I lived there.
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What we have - even out here in damn near WI - is the ghetto left turn. You gun the gas the second the light turn green with the timing of Don Garlitts and the oncoming traffic has to wait for you to finish your left turn. You'd think it works best for mega-SUVs but even subcompacts will do it. Again a guy in a Mustang with a manual will see if he can beat you off the line.

In the ghetto it was always a nice long Caddy that came out from the side street 2/3 the way across the through street to make traffic stop for them.
 
I witnessed a crash exactly as you described in every detail. Was this in SoCal. If it is the same crash, I was one of the two guys tending to the other driver until the paramedics arrived. I stayed at the driver's window, and the other guy got in the back seat and immobilized his head and neck.

fgcason said:
Everyone in your car ok?

That signal means do whatever you want...just like all other traffic signs and signals.


You want crazy? About 8 years ago I was doing a left turn on an arrow. The opposite direction 3 lanes had lots of stopped cars backed up quite a few deep, the opposite direction turn lane was stopped and backed up just like the 3 straight lanes. Between those 3 stopped lanes and the left turn lane was a space wide enough for a vehicle but was not an actual lane. A nutcase came through that empty space between all those stopped cars and rammed my side just in front of the passenger door hard enough to break the engine and transmission apart on an old 1986 grand cherokee. Impact speed was officially 3mph however I estimated impact was right around 50mph probably 1/10th of a second before the blamo sound. I paid through the nose for that crash however walked away totally unharmed. That guy, once he regained conciousness lied like crazy about what happened - at least kharma put him in the hospital for a month for being despicable.


The stories I could tell from this year alone...sheesh.
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________
Ford Custom History
 
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I have been very impressed that with 200 yards to go with the light green a long time, the drivers here all "commit to go". It's absolutely amazing. Then when the car in front stops, WHAMMIE!

The solution is 10 miles per gallon. Yes, you heard me. Get the Biggest, baddest 3/4 ton pickup with an eight foot bed and a Huge class 1 hitch so that all that suff ends up in the attacking car's grille.

A dualie is even better.
 
I went through about a 15 year period where I got rear ended so many times I began to wonder if my plates said "Hit me". Most but not all were at stop lights which were red long before the crash. Some were minor with nothing more than bumper damage and a couple were serious enough to break seats and eradicate the trunk. Most were in a car less than 6 months old. Only one involved a drunk and he didn't even get a ticket (didn't have insurance either which is also illegal). The most annoying one was an a-hole who's manhood was tarnished when I had the audacity to pass him on a four lane highway. He was in the right lane going 10 below the limit when I started to pass but sped up beyond 10 over after I got by and pulled back in front of him (with 100 ft of room). Shortly after I got in the right lane we came to a red light I stopped but he was still speeding up and he hit me hard enough to push my bumper into the trunk and wipe out his radiator. He told the cops I "whipped in front of him and jammed on the brakes" so we both got tickets and my insurance had to cover my car. I guess in MN the rear-ender doesn't automatically get charged with the accident. Knock on cellulose, I haven't been rear ended in over 4 years although I did get T-Boned by my neighbor in our shared driveway.
 
Stevel said:
I witnessed a crash exactly as you described in every detail. Was this in SoCal. If it is the same crash,
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Nope, I don't do california. It happened in colorado, where according to the police that handed me a pile of tickets, even on a protected arrow you must yield to oncoming traffic. Can you believe something like 10 minutes of cars going around us on both sides at an extremely busy intersection blowing their horns, screaming rude stuff and flipping us off for blocking traffic? You just gotta love being in an old tank when someone rams you..went flying two days later and bought another near identical jeep a few weeks later as a kinetic energy dampener life insurance policy.


Here's saturday's great idget adventure: I'm 30 miles away working at an art festival and mr idget backs a 41ft motorcoach (pronounced greyhound size bus) across an area large enough to taxi a Cherokee 180 in circles without worrying about the wings. Guess what's at the other side of this huge open area? My motorhome. He has mirrors, a backup camera and an ultrasonic alarm that goes off if any object gets within 5ft from his rear bumper. He still hit my can't miss it even if you're blind with a bag over your head 10,000lb motorhome broadside hard enough to lift all 3 left side wheels off the ground and damn near rolled it over. It's a good thing he wasn't hanging around when I got back..or especially yesterday during the repair session because I would have taken him out behind the barn up the hill with my 1-5/16 combination wrench for a little discussion..with no witnesses. Tomorrow I get to put a custom ordered storage door to the order of $500ish on my credit card...
 
Cap'n Jack said:
It is not uncommon for 6 cars to go through the left turn (27th and Superior, turning north on Superior) when my light is green and theirs is either red or they are supposed to wait for traffic to clear.
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How do you turn north onto Superior from 27th? I've never seen anyone pushing the lights too bad around here (I live on 27th and Fletcher). I do see multiple people in the intersection and sometimes you might get a green before they clear.
 
mikea said:
What we have - even out here in damn near WI - is the ghetto left turn. You gun the gas the second the light turn green with the timing of Don Garlitts and the oncoming traffic has to wait for you to finish your left turn. You'd think it works best for mega-SUVs but even subcompacts will do it. Again a guy in a Mustang with a manual will see if he can beat you off the line.
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Around here, people try to do the same thing...but without the conviction. Just a "quick start" without really trying will sometimes trap them blocking traffic in the intersection. Or they get t-boned by someone barely running the red.

I was once the lucky car flying through the intersection like in the video above. Hydroplaned in the rain and got so, so stupidly lucky. *shiver*
 
mikea said:
What we have - even out here in damn near WI - is the ghetto left turn. You gun the gas the second the light turn green with the timing of Don Garlitts and the oncoming traffic has to wait for you to finish your left turn. You'd think it works best for mega-SUVs but even subcompacts will do it. Again a guy in a Mustang with a manual will see if he can beat you off the line.

In the ghetto it was always a nice long Caddy that came out from the side street 2/3 the way across the through street to make traffic stop for them.
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No, Mike, that's the Boston Left Turn
 
bbchien said:
I have been very impressed that with 200 yards to go with the light green a long time, the drivers here all "commit to go". It's absolutely amazing. Then when the car in front stops, WHAMMIE!

The solution is 10 miles per gallon. Yes, you heard me. Get the Biggest, baddest 3/4 ton pickup with an eight foot bed and a Huge class 1 hitch so that all that suff ends up in the attacking car's grille.

A dualie is even better.
Click to expand...

The two times I've been rear-ended, both happened to be in 3/4-ton diesel trucks with a class IV hitch (higher number = more strength) and a 2 5/16" pintle ball in the hitch.

Both times my vehicle was undamaged. Both times the front end of the car that rear-ended me needed replacement.
 
jesse said:
How do you turn north onto Superior from 27th? I've never seen anyone pushing the lights too bad around here (I live on 27th and Fletcher). I do see multiple people in the intersection and sometimes you might get a green before they clear.
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Sorry- I mean turning north onto 27th. Between 4:30 and 5 PM people tend to do this. It's a fairly narrow time window- I guess its Lincoln rush hour. This isn't clearing the intersection...these are people who have an left turn arrow that turns red and they keep moving through it.

Another intersection where people run the signal is northbound 48th turning onto west bound Superior. I'll often see 3 cars go through the light from 48th and make the turn when the Superior light is green.
 
It means "Speed Up, you're in an area of bad cell phone reception and your call is about to drop"
 
SteveW said:
One of these days, states are going to smarten up and ban the possession of cell phones and internal rear view mirrors
:)
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The Feds will have great incentive to do that if a health care program passes with a Federal option. Any risky activity will be subject to scrutiny.
 
>The Feds will have great incentive to do that if a health care program
> passes with a Federal option. Any risky activity will be subject to scrutiny

except tobacco
 
bbchien said:
10 miles per gallon. That's the solution.
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No need for 10mpg, just choose the right vehicle. I had a Dodge Diesel that got 23mpg around town without a load. I lost my tailgate to a bull though, he wasn't impressed with my hitch, he wanted my a$$ LOL. Much scarier than a woman in a Honda.
 
bbchien said:
I have been very impressed that with 200 yards to go with the light green a long time, the drivers here all "commit to go". It's absolutely amazing. Then when the car in front stops, WHAMMIE!

The solution is 10 miles per gallon. Yes, you heard me. Get the Biggest, baddest 3/4 ton pickup with an eight foot bed and a Huge class 1 hitch so that all that suff ends up in the attacking car's grille.

A dualie is even better.
Click to expand...

I have a buddy in the local Jeep club that, when he was out west, got rear-ended at a red-light so hard that it pushed him into the next car ahead of him. Of course, us Jeep guys follow the "build it strong" mentality. He had full steel 'armor' on his quarter panels, rock sliders, and after-market steel front and rear bumpers. He said the car that rear ended him was crushed half way to the firewall and the person in front of him had the imprint of his winch fairlead pressed into their trunk.

When the cop arrived, he asked the Jeep guy "Why are you here?" The Jeep guy said "I was between both of those cars." The Jeep had absolutely no damage. :D
 
<brag on> I was headed up north about 6 months ago with my wife and sister. We hit a bridge that had just iced up, and watched a car ahead of us spin out and hit the guard rail. The car behind him ran right into him. The car in front of me in the adjacent lane hit his brakes and got traction. I hit mine and got none. With an impending rear-end collision right in front of me I gunned it hard, went around the guy in front of me, turned hard, went past the rear ender, then past the still spinning and casting off pieces car and onward. My passengers were seriously impressed. <Brag off>
 
When I am president for life, besides hybrid propulsion the new cars will be required have 360 degree continuous video/audio recording equipment that uploads to a central database by satellite link... NO more of this he said she said crap...

denny-o
 
Dr. O said:
When I am president for life, besides hybrid propulsion the new cars will be required have 360 degree continuous video/audio recording equipment that uploads to a central database by satellite link... NO more of this he said she said crap...

denny-o
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The new Volvo "city car" already has radar and auto-braking so precious snowflake doesn't have to worry about looking for traffic ahead while she texts. They'll have to add a red light sensor and the photoelectric thing to follow the white line on the highway (which DOES exist in research at such as Carnegie-Mellon) - just watch out for the sharp 90 degree turns at crosswalks. :rofl:

..tie it all into the GPS routing with full auto-pilot and we'll be safe once they mandate all cars not so equipped be crushed.
 
Dr. O said:
When I am president for life, besides hybrid propulsion the new cars will be required have 360 degree continuous video/audio recording equipment that uploads to a central database by satellite link... NO more of this he said she said crap...

denny-o
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As an accomplished speeder, I resent this intrusion on my right to go very fast.
 
mikea said:
Ban low performance drivers, not high performance cars!
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+1.

230,000 miles of breaking the speed limit (often profusely) in the past 8 years have resulted in 0 accidents.

Yeah, sure, speed kills... it's stupid that kills.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
+1.

230,000 miles of breaking the speed limit (often profusely) in the past 8 years have resulted in 0 accidents.

Yeah, sure, speed kills... it's stupid that kills.
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I always say, it's not the speed that kills. It's the sudden stop caused by poor lane discipline and right-of-way failure.
 
I just saw the funniest accident I have ever seen. I was sitting at a stoplight behind about 8 cars. I hear the sound of slow squealing of tires and then a blue Ford Falcon wagon (I'm in Aus, the Falcon is about Taurus sized) comes by my right side slow and steady with the tires locked up. Just as I'm thinking WTF??? the Mack truck pushing him along comes into view. :rofl::rofl::rofl: Now the truck is slowing for the intersection, no worries, he's not out of brakes or anything, he just didn't see the car on his bumper. The timing was perfect, because just as the car was spinning off to the left the light turned green and the car that was just about to get hit by the wagon got out of the way. The car had "L" plates on it, so the kid driving was learning, and his mom was in the left seat. The look on her face as she came by me...:yikes::yikes::yikes: tooo f-ing funny. That made this whole trip to Aus worthwhile....
 
Hope you're feeling better, Scott. Day 3 is often the worst for aches and pains. Hang in there!
 
Well over 10 years ago, the fire dept I was a member of was responding to what turned out to be a false alarm. They were approaching an intersection where a three lane frontage road crossed a three lane frontage road in a construction zone. The fire truck had the red light.

The crossing traffic had the green light, but heard and saw the approaching fire truck. They held their position and didn't move. A few cars back, a local tanker shipping executive apparently DIDNT. He drove around the stopped cars, in a lane blocked with cones, and darted right out in front of the approaching 40,000 lb fire truck. Guess he was in a hurry. The law in Texas says you have to practice due regard when disregarding traffic control devices while responding to emergencies. Never in a million years would I have thought of this scenario.

He died right there in his Benz. His survivors sued and the case was settled for the limits of the fire dept's insurance and the liability limits of the fire apparatus operators PERSONAL vehicle insurance. Despite having the front cars drivers deposed as witnesses with favorible testimony to us, and despite that matching the testimony of our chauffer and lieutenant.

The driver of the truck was never the same, and left our dept soon thereafter, despite all of us knowing it wasn't his fault. It was awkward for me because at the time we were under gag order, and I rode volunteer EMS across town with a high and mighty outfit with some well heeled volunteers that knew the deceased personally, and saw fit to blame the fire dept for their friend's demise..

Sometimes a lapse of judgement means (expensive) bent metal. Sometimes it means you go home in a box.
 
Doggtyred said:
Well over 10 years ago, the fire dept I was a member of was responding to what turned out to be a false alarm. They were approaching an intersection where a three lane frontage road crossed a three lane frontage road in a construction zone. The fire truck had the red light.

The crossing traffic had the green light, but heard and saw the approaching fire truck. They held their position and didn't move. A few cars back, a local tanker shipping executive apparently DIDNT. He drove around the stopped cars, in a lane blocked with cones, and darted right out in front of the approaching 40,000 lb fire truck. Guess he was in a hurry. The law in Texas says you have to practice due regard when disregarding traffic control devices while responding to emergencies. Never in a million years would I have thought of this scenario.

He died right there in his Benz. His survivors sued and the case was settled for the limits of the fire dept's insurance and the liability limits of the fire apparatus operators PERSONAL vehicle insurance. Despite having the front cars drivers deposed as witnesses with favorible testimony to us, and despite that matching the testimony of our chauffer and lieutenant.

...
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I watched recently while I was gassing up when the firetruck came through and everybody stopped except Muffy who leaned on her horn at these jerks making all the noise trying to go through the light! The firetruck stopped.

(Read my post as to one possible explanation: http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30119 )

Chicago ordered the fire department's truck and ambulances to obey traffic lights after they got sued in an incident like yours.
 
dmccormack said:
But it's not universal -- not everyone is incapable of driving while communicating.

On the bike I've passed many people reading, applying makeup, consuming 4 course meals, and swatting bugs in the back seat -- among other distractions.
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Actually...hate to burst your bubble, but it is universal enough that the 1% that can do it just have to deal with the fact that 99% cannot and thus it needs to be banned while driving. Sorry.
 
Be careful with that "logic" - what % of the population is capable of flying an airplane? I guess we should just ban flying.
 
Smart people are banning themselves effectively - not enough of us are reproducing. Wait a few generations and watch what happens.
 
Henning said:
I just saw the funniest accident I have ever seen. I was sitting at a stoplight behind about 8 cars. I hear the sound of slow squealing of tires and then a blue Ford Falcon wagon (I'm in Aus, the Falcon is about Taurus sized) comes by my right side slow and steady with the tires locked up. Just as I'm thinking WTF??? the Mack truck pushing him along comes into view. :rofl::rofl::rofl: Now the truck is slowing for the intersection, no worries, he's not out of brakes or anything, he just didn't see the car on his bumper. The timing was perfect, because just as the car was spinning off to the left the light turned green and the car that was just about to get hit by the wagon got out of the way. The car had "L" plates on it, so the kid driving was learning, and his mom was in the left seat. The look on her face as she came by me...:yikes::yikes::yikes: tooo f-ing funny. That made this whole trip to Aus worthwhile....
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man, i wish you had a video of this...hilarious
 
dmccormack said:
Precisely..

"Since the majority has an IQ around 100, we should ban smart people..."
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Vonnegut's "Welcome to the Monkey House."

Law requires that everyone of above-average intelligence wear a device which periodically blasts noise, intended to disrupt their unfairly-superior thought processes, into their ears.

Other things, too, which seemed ludicrously improbable when I read it thirty or so years ago, perhaps not so much now...

Good read.
 
SCCutler said:
Vonnegut's "Welcome to the Monkey House."

Law requires that everyone of above-average intelligence wear a device which periodically blasts noise, intended to disrupt their unfairly-superior thought processes, into their ears.

Other things, too, which seemed ludicrously improbable when I read it thirty or so years ago, perhaps not so much now...

Good read.
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It's only fair -- and "fair" is the new morality.
 
bbchien said:
I have been very impressed that with 200 yards to go with the light green a long time, the drivers here all "commit to go". It's absolutely amazing. Then when the car in front stops, WHAMMIE!

The solution is 10 miles per gallon. Yes, you heard me. Get the Biggest, baddest 3/4 ton pickup with an eight foot bed and a Huge class 1 hitch so that all that suff ends up in the attacking car's grille.

A dualie is even better.
Click to expand...



May not always take that much.... Grant and I were in the SUV, stop-and-run traffic on a busy road - everyone knows that this is the pace of this particular road, just stay alert and you'll be OK. We're in 'stop' mode in rush hour... BAM!!! Rear ended by a 16-year old boy who was to busy chatting with his friends to pay attention; however, the discussion apparently ended at that point....

We both pull over to the side of the road - everyone's OK. I'm pacing in circles in the gravel lot, pi$$ed like all get out because "some stupid-a**-irresponsible-non-insurance-card-holding-prob'ly-doesn't-even-have-a-job punk with his idiot friends hit MY Mercedes!", while Grant more calmly inspects the damage. The occupants of the other vehicle spoke with Grant and the police; they chose not to approach me....

The SUV - the bolt on the trailer hitch was sheared on one side, some knockout panels on the lower bumper knocked out, otherwise OK. The Jeep being driven by the punk: front grille is very much messed up, hood bent, gonna take some work to get that one fixed.

At that point, I notice the 'United States Marine' sticker on the rear window...... this kid's too young to be a Marine, I think....... In court, we learn that it's his Dad who is the former Marine..... and the kid is driving his dad's car because he recently messed up his mom's car (why he was given another car, I have no idea)....

Eventually produced the insurance card in court, they paid for our damage.

If I were him, I would have been begging the police to take me ANYWHERE but home after that little incident :)
 
ron22 said:
Glad everyone is OK.
My wifes last car got rear ended 3 - 4 times sitting at red lights. After she got a new car she has not be rear ended once. Not sure about the last car why it kept happening but it was funning it stopped after she got the new car.

My daughter just got accused of hitting a car in the parking lot. The person she was accused of hit had witnesses too. There was even silver paint transfer on the car off our car. It all got dropped when they inspect our car. The car is GOLD not silver.
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Interestingly enough, when a collision happens, a paint transfer smear can actually change colors, so the smear is a different color of paint from the color of the same paint that was not transferred... so just the fact that the smear was silver looking doesn't mean it didn't come from your gold car. But we can just keep that between ourselves. ;)
 
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