Traffic signals out are a 4-way stop

[freestyle55]

Is it me or are there that many stupid and careless drivers out there. Driving home last night from Hamilton to Fairfield, I saw countless drivers pass me when I was stopped at the various traffic signals...

Is it not that well known, or are people just not caring?

[Caveat Emperor]

Combination of a few things -- law not being that well known, not caring, and the fact that it was so damned dark out last night during the power outage that 1.) you could easily see at any intersection whether or not there was light coming from other cars approaching the intersection and 2.) sometimes it's hard (in the dark) to see if an intersection has a light.

I know where I live there are a lot of pointless lights that got thrown up to guide traffic in and out of mini-malls, large subdivisions, etc. I don't pay attention to where they are other than to obey the signal when I see it. Driving in the dead of night with no light, though, sometimes its hard to remember if the intersection you're coming up on is a 4 way light or a standard straight-through with stop signs on either side.

[*BaseClogger*]

I drove through an out traffic light in the same area so maybe you saw me!

Seriously though, I had no idea where I was in the middle of nowhere and I could not see and did not know there was a traffic light at the intersection I blew through...

[SunDeck]

I drove all the way across town from Western Hills to East Walnut Hills on Sunday and I only saw one person violate the "all stop" rule. The dangerous intersections are the ones you come to where no one is stopped. I think that is where the potential for a person to drive through is greatest; the absence of a light seems to not register with people and they just cruise on through.
But all things considered, I was impressed with the caution people were exerting.

[TeamSelig]

I saw a guy blow through one right in front of an officer, almost caused a wreck too. He was pulled over.

[Roy Tucker]

In the driving around I've done, people have done pretty well with it all.

It is an interesting human study though. Most people have a good idea of what they're supposed to do so and cooperate and a certain rhythm will get going at busy intersections.

But then you have the timid souls that don't go when its their turn and then that rhythm breaks down. And you also have the morons who are too busy and important to be bothered with civil behavior and blast through. But those two ends of the spectrum are few. Most everyone does pretty well.

[Chip R]

I honestly think people forget. Especially if they are used to going through a light that is green most of the time. I about did that a couple of times on Sunday. Plus with lights running in one area and not in another it gets tricky,

[KronoRed]

Other then the drivers handbook how often do people run into that rule? makes me think every 4 years you should have to retake the drivers test

[OldRightHander]

Originally Posted by KronoRed

Other then the drivers handbook how often do people run into that rule? makes me think every 4 years you should have to retake the drivers test

At the minimum I think a written test should be required every time you renew your license, and I think the test needs to have a lot more information on it than it currently does. The test needs to cover things that go beyond the letter of the law to mention things like which lane to drive in and which lane to pass in. The biggest thing I see on the road is people who can't seem to get that you are supposed to drive on the right and pass on the left. I don't know how many times a day when I will be in the middle lane and some moron will try to pass me on the right when the left lane is open.

[Matt700wlw]

I think everybody should just be able to drive through the intersections at the same time....see who wins...

[SteelSD]

Originally Posted by OldRightHander

At the minimum I think a written test should be required every time you renew your license, and I think the test needs to have a lot more information on it than it currently does. The test needs to cover things that go beyond the letter of the law to mention things like which lane to drive in and which lane to pass in. The biggest thing I see on the road is people who can't seem to get that you are supposed to drive on the right and pass on the left. I don't know how many times a day when I will be in the middle lane and some moron will try to pass me on the right when the left lane is open.

I swear, where I live I think that the ajoining state's driver's licence test reads like this:

QUESTION: "Do you know what a car looks like?"

If the answer is "Maybe", that person gets a licence.

The biggest thing I see around here is that an almost-unbelieveable number of drivers can't simply merge into interstate traffic from an on-ramp. It's as if they don't have half a mile of clear lane, they just want to stop at the "Yield" sign and hope those behind them don't smash into their back end. We've near-missed about three accidents due to that.

Also, I'm a firm believer that once you reach 65 years of age, you need to take a road test to renew your licence. I have no issues with seniors driving as long as they can actually handle the vehicle, but I've seen too many issues even within my own family where licences are handed out to folks who really shouldn't be behind the wheel.

[Stephenk29]

Originally Posted by OldRightHander

The biggest thing I see on the road is people who can't seem to get that you are supposed to drive on the right and pass on the left. I don't know how many times a day when I will be in the middle lane and some moron will try to pass me on the right when the left lane is open.

Maybe my biggest pet peeve ever. I don't understand why people continuously drive down the left lane when you are supposed to be in the right. Left is for passing only, I thought it was easy.

[redsmetz]

I saw it quite a number of folks going through them, but as for folks not knowing, I can't imagine how they wouldn't since they've been drumming it into folks heads that they're four way stops.

I agree with the darkness factor, I think that is some of it. Coming up Winton hill, someone flew through the light going southbound even though I was stopping on the way up. But coming back down the hill, I almost missed it myself and I've driven that way many times.

I was up in Clifton yesterday heading over MLK and most of the lights were working. But when I came to the light at the library parking garage, I didn't even realize that that one light was out and floated through it.

Tonight, we came off I-75 at Mitchell and were turning onto the street for Krogers and it was my turn to go and make the left turn, but I saw a westbound car speeding up and sure enough, he blew right through even though I was already turning into the intersection. That one ticked me off. I wished there had been a cop there.

On another note, a crew came to cut down a tree across from my office so Duke (actually more on that later) could put the wires back up. Not a one of the tree crew had helmets and only one had eye protection. And they nearly dropped a heavy branch on one of their guys. Some cheap *** owner unwilling to shell out the $50 or so for that protection. That ticked me off too. One of the electric guys said they'd better hope OSHA didn't show up.

Back to the electric crew. Their trucks said Pike Electric Co. Mt. Airy, NC. I texted my son and daughter and told them the Mayberry Electric Company had shown up. Wasn't that the town that the Andy Griffith Show was modeled after? Whoever they were, I was glad to see them. Power came on at my office around 3:30 and tonight while we were out. It was funny to see the lights we'd had on when the power went off (and our stove's timer was buzzing - my wife had a potato casserole in for a picnic we were supposed to attend - the casserole was not in the oven anymore).

[Joseph]

Pike is a large electrical group that basically rents itself out like a cheap hooker. Anytime lines go down, Pike is there.

Thankfully.