Home › Forums › Open Discussion › Do lights malfunction or are there just inattentive drivers
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April 23, 2014 at 9:52 pm #611123
sam-cParticipantdoes anyone know if any lights around Seattle ever malfunction? ie, show green in 2 different directions?
my question;
today at 10:35 AM, we were headed west on SW Avalon Way. Our light at 35th Ave SW was green for a while as we approached (the entire time it was in our view), and was still green as we got to the intersection. my driver and I both scanned around, and simultaneously noticed someone heading south on 35th ave sw (ie, coming from the bridge), and not slowing down. i mean i know people run red lights if they just turn red from yellow, but do people really run red lights that are and have been red for a while? this guy ran right through the intersection and kept on going like there was no red light…luckily we stopped at our green light, as did the car in the left turn lane.
I was / still am bewildered at this type of red-light running that I am having a hard time believing it. luckily we didn’t become another WSB front page rollover story.
April 23, 2014 at 10:35 pm #807390
CMPParticipantDid they look distracted i.e. cell phone in hand or head looking down at their lap? If so, I think that would explain it. Running a red light is not uncommon, sadly, as I was in a similar situation recently and now drive even more defensively than before. Or ride the bus. Remember, Seattle has some of the worst drivers in the country, statistics prove it!
April 24, 2014 at 7:43 am #807391
metrognomeParticipantany electromechanical or computerized device can screw up. Humans screw up far more frequently.
I would do two things:
1) continue to ‘drive defensively’ even if you are the passenger. Too many people die because they think having the right-of-way protects them from someone else’s stupidity. It doesn’t.
2) report the situation to SDOT on the off-chance there is a problem with the light or the computer.
April 24, 2014 at 3:42 pm #807392
trickycooljParticipantI recommend extreme caution on East Marginal Way for the same reason. Semi-trucks cruise along at a fairly high speed and never expect the traffic lights to change. Many of the lights are at business entrance/exits so they only change when someone is trying to enter/exit. I’ve seen semis stomp on their breaks and smoke their tires so bad the whole truck shudders as they try to scream to a stop for these lights. They’re totally on auto-pilot. Most just run right through them no matter how “stale-yellow” (to borrow a term from my driver’s ed book) they are. I always always look both ways when I leave work because some guy is probably on a race to get to the Port before 5:00 and could care less about the red lights.
I suspect in your instance it was just a really inattentive driver. I hope that it was just a bad day/autopilot situation for the driver and not a regular habit!
I’ve noticed erratic behavior of a traffic light at 2nd and Highland Park Way down where Nickelsville used to be, anyone else have weird things happen there? For me I end up hitting the breaks hard because it turns yellow in a string of cars with no waiting cross traffic, and as soon as I stop it’s green. Literally red for 10 seconds or less, not even enough time to let cross traffic pass on 2nd even if there was any.
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