Have you ever hit the throttle when a traffic light turns yellow, and then it turns red faster than you thought? We know it's happened to us, and for the most part we thought the problem was our bad timing. In six cities across these United States, missing a yellow light has less to do with bad timing, and more to do with shorter amber signals. Six cities have been busted recently for having an amber light that lasted less than the minimum timing at an intersection, and millions of dollars in fines have been collected when drivers went through the premature red and got caught on camera. Chattanooga, Tennessee; Dallas, Texas; Springfield, Missouri; Lubbock, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; and Union City, California all cut the timing on their lights, and while some have paid back the fines, others have not. In Dallas, over $700,000 was collected in a matter of eight months, and in Tennessee the light timing was changed at only a few intersections, which just so happen to be the areas where local law enforcement set up traps.
While the millions of dollars in fines collected in these six cities is horrible, what's worse is that shorter amber lights mean more accidents and more injuries on the road. Hit the link below to read more information regarding the cities that were caught cheating, and if you get pulled over for blowing a red, make sure to time the light. The problem may not be you after all. Thanks for the tip, Thunder!
[Source: National Motorists Association]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
DCragtop @ Apr 14th 2008 8:12AM
Interesting and disgusting story but what exactly is the minimum timing for a yellow?
Does it vary state to state or is there a DOT standard across the board?
geo.stewart @ Apr 14th 2008 8:30AM
rules are set by state DOT but
"the federal guidelines state that a yellow light should be from 3-6 seconds in length, reserving higher intervals for use on approaches with higher speeds"
Notable is how frequently 1) these are not adhered to and 2) that individual lights can be inconsistent. I have seen a couple of cases where the arguments are that there have been 20% variances on the stated time by the governing body.
jake @ Apr 15th 2008 3:14AM
F*CK THE POLICE!
And the same for rapacious city councils as well.
The fact is that by simply making yellows LONGER there would be far fewer accidents.
Big Brother has arrived and he is watching YOU.
Gene @ Apr 15th 2008 4:34AM
The minimum time an amber light must stay lit depends on several things. First the speed limit coming into the intersection. The speed limit coming into the intersection may require a longer amber light. The amber light must allow all traffic a safe time to stop for the light. The next is the type of traffic that is encountering the amber light. I mean if there is heavy truck traffic encountering these lights they may need a longer amber light to stop safely. The next is the condition of the road. Are you going to encounter the light going down a steep grade or on a level road. Remember, all traffic must be allowed enough time to stop safely. A loaded tractor trailer coming down a hill may need 7 or more seconds of time to slow down and stop for the signal. The fuel consumption raises sharply for a loaded tractor trailer when it has to stop on a suburban area heavily laden with traffic lights. I have seen stop lights change to red at each intersection driving on rural roadway. This stooping and starting reflects on higher grocery bills as needed to defray the transportation costs. The road condition also plays a vital role in how fast a car, tractor trailer can stop. If there is snow, ice, or wet pavement then the stopping distance will be greater. Many drivers are taught the 2 second rule. The actual safe stopping distance recognized by transportation officials is 7 seconds. Cities and state officials that do not allow for a safe stopping distance should be fined. This unsafe practice of shortening amber lights contributes to many accidents that could have been avoidable. How many state officials stand up and say that prices are to high? Do they go out and give drivers a safe driving condition on the road? No, they are busy collecting fines. Do your insurance rates raise because of these situations? Yes, The more accidents there are in an area, the higher the insurance costs will be. Who ends up paying in the long run from increased accidents? All of us. Someone needs to pay the cost of the injured, damage, and liability. We need a change!!! Elect me for the Federal Transportation Official!!! I will make a safer America!!! I will drive costs of driving down!!!
psarhjinian @ Apr 14th 2008 8:21AM
Putting aside that, yes, this is dirty pool on the part of the municipalities, you _are_ supposed to stop (if possible) or proceed normally through a yellow, not gun it.
Yankee @ Apr 14th 2008 8:29AM
Do away with Stoplights 4 way Stop signs work beter at least everybody has to stop
Derek @ Apr 14th 2008 9:11AM
Are you kidding? 4 way stops are the worst traffic disaster ever. Let's only have one car going through the intersection at a time - ever. Recipie for tremendous backups because you are not efficiently using the road. They work marginally in communities with low traffic and low speeds. Completley miserable with higher traffic volumes and speeds. You always end up with several seconds where 2-4 drivers are staring at each other trying to decide who got there first and who is going to move first? It also does not establish right of way so any collisions simply become a he-said, she-said argument where both parties are sure that they were at the sign first.
Andrew @ Apr 14th 2008 9:36AM
You've obviously never left the country. For the rest of the world's sake, please stay there.
jv2k @ Apr 14th 2008 12:29PM
A stop light that usually has a moderate amount of traffic in my area broke down earlier this year. Instead of fixing it immediately the lights got replaced by a 4 way stop sign for about half a month.
Let me give you 2 major reasons why it sucked.
1.People are stupid. Yes you are suppose to wait for the guy who got to the stop sign first but many times an idiot would get to a stop sign last and go first or even run the sign all together.
2. Traffic sucked. Late at night I'd be behind one or two people if there were people at all, but the traffic would be a pain during the day when there were way more cars on the road. There'd be long lines of cars taking turns to go and a turn would occasionally be proceeded by an awkward pause when the turn taking pattern was broken.
psarhjinian @ Apr 14th 2008 11:17AM
In a city with a few hundred thousand people and at intersections with three or four lanes per direction, plus left- and right-turn lanes, a four-way stop is flat out impractical.
You could make a case for a roundabout, sure, but a four-way? Even with two lanes per direction it wouldn't be feasible.
CurtesyDriving @ Apr 15th 2008 12:09AM
I agree with Derek that 4 way stop signs at every intersection would be a traffic nightmare. Here in most of the Bay Area, people don't even stop, they slow, roll and just go. Yellow/Amber lights should be lengthened according to at least how long it would take to cross the intersection at the speed limit plus a number of seconds for the # of feet before entering the intersection. In San Francisco, most amber lights have been lengthened in this manner and done mostly to minimize accidents and save lives.
Andrew @ Apr 14th 2008 8:29AM
That sucks. I've read before that lengthening the yellow to allow more people through saves many more lives than scaring them with cameras. I suppose it only encourages them to get used to long yellows and go for it all the time, but just a second or two would probably be a big help in those very busy intersections where folks are already impatient and frustrated. Also, I've noticed some intersections where ALL lights are red for a second, rather than the reds turning green as soon as the cross traffic yellows turn red. Just a little extra insurance that the intersection will be clear. Having said all of that, I still remember being taught in driver's ed, "never be the first one through the intersection". I've seen way too many accidents in my time, and when I'm in my small car parked next to a big truck or SUV, I can't see if anyone is coming. I let the guy in the Super Duty go first and act as a blocker.
madrouter @ Apr 14th 2008 10:21PM
back in 2001 I was the 2nd car to go through the green light on a left turn signal and got sideswiped by an imature 20 yo female who purposely went around stopped cars in her lane to go through the red light. I am lucky to be alive because I saw her out of my peripheral vision and stopped, otherwise i would have caught it flush on the drivers side door
Phil @ Apr 15th 2008 12:05AM
In Japan there is an almost three second pause between lights where all signals are red.
As an American living in Japan I find US yellow lights pleasantly long...I hit a yellow light at about ten yards before the intersection today, and breezed through the intersection on pure yellow the entire way through.
jgp @ Apr 14th 2008 8:35AM
I'm not surprised Dallas is on this list. We have the worst traffic lights in the world. And I think we're second only to Houston for having the worst traffic in the world.
C.W. @ Apr 14th 2008 10:35AM
I don't know about the worst, but Dallas is certainly terrible. Downtown and around the convention center district I think the lights just skip yellow alltogether. Well, maybe not, but you do get 1 second, 2 tops of a yellow light. Then as you pass under the red you see the sign saying "Dallas police are here" pointing to the camera on the light pole. Go west to Arlington and it's no better. The cameras will change for whichever side of an intersection has someone waiting to cross and if you're the only car waiting they give you all of a second to go. Better hope your car has some get up and go!
Judy Zik @ Apr 14th 2008 12:28PM
You folks every seen what traffic looks like in Asia? Half the people are ridding on mopeds and bikes and there is no such thing as respect for personal space and they are still jammed up for hours. They would qualify as the worst traffic in the world. As far as the busiest highway goes last I heard that title belonged to Highway 401 in Toronto (for North America at least). 18 lanes of pure gridlock every day.
mike @ Apr 14th 2008 8:42AM
Your headline is misleading. The cities are accused of having _short_ cycles, not _shortening_ them; there's a enormous difference.
I live close to one of the lights in Dallas; that intersection had huge problems with people running lights well before the cameras went in.
Seminole @ Apr 14th 2008 8:51AM
Reading comprehension, it does wonders.
This is from the Autoblog summary:
"and in Tennessee the light timing was changed at only a few intersections, which just so happens to be the areas that local law enforcement set up traps."
And this is from the actual article:
"Union City’s traffic engineers admitted that they had set the yellow signal time at Union City Boulevard and Lowry Road at 3 seconds, despite the state law mandating the time be 4.3 seconds or greater."
So is this:
"In 2006, Nashville resident Joe Savage obtained the data on every red light running ticket issued on Broadway street since 2000. He said that yellow lights are longer at intersections along Broadway until the areas where police are issuing tickets. At those locations, Savage clocked the yellow signal time at less than 3 seconds, in violation of both state law and federal regulations. A local newspaper, The Nashville Scene, then confirmed his findings."
Learn to read.
mike @ Apr 14th 2008 10:33AM
I did read it. You, however, apparently didn't.
The headline clearly implies that amber signals were shortened in order to increase fine revenues. None of the articles say that. The articles clearly do state that shorter amber timings result in increased fines; Not a single one says that the shorter timings were implemented after the cameras were installed.
Critical thinking skills … they’re not just for show.