Do you ever run a red light that never turns?
By mommyboo
@mommyboo (13174)
United States
August 2, 2012 5:05pm CST
I'm sure you've all happened upon one of those... where you sit and sit forever in front of a light that never changes. This can happen just going forward but it happens more often in a turn lane. Do you just continue to sit or do you eventually go through it? I've gone through if there are no other cars on the road or at the intersection for sure, and I have also gone eventually if I've sat through several cycles of the light and nobody is coming the other way and I'm trying to turn and it doesn't change.
I'm not quite sure why some of them don't function correctly, the sensors should be able to tell there is a CAR on top of them! It's irritating if you have somewhere to be and need to get through the light, not sit there for 10 minutes.
If you DON'T eventually run the light, what do you do? Get in the other lane and go straight... or pull off the road and turn around? LOL! I'm curious to see what you all say!
1 person likes this
4 responses
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
3 Aug 12
I never really come across this as most intersections here in Australia are pretty well timed and you get to go pretty soon. Sometimes I think it seems as though they take longer to change but in reality this usually only happens when I am running late and desperate for them to change. 
On a related note, I did sit at quite a few intersections while driving in LA when I could have actually gone. That whole turning right on red thing threw me out and took awhile to get used to. Even though I knew I could do it, it just took a week or so for it to sink in and become habit. I kept just sitting there at first until I either realised or someone behind me honked! 
On a related note, I did sit at quite a few intersections while driving in LA when I could have actually gone. That whole turning right on red thing threw me out and took awhile to get used to. Even though I knew I could do it, it just took a week or so for it to sink in and become habit. I kept just sitting there at first until I either realised or someone behind me honked! 
@skyandgrassplot (1497)
• China
3 Aug 12
I will get cross the road definitely if the red light never turns,but apparently I will check the road is safe or not just as you,if there are no cars are coming then I will cross the road in cautious,I think every one can understand that if the light get broken,everyone is busy so we can not waste our time for the light go right.
@freqspaz (220)
• United States
2 Aug 12
I've ran a couple of them, but if there looks like they have a camera on the light then I will get into another lane and go straight or turn or whatever will get me unstuck, then flip a u-turn to get to where I need to go. I used to live on a road with one of those 'knit a house' lights as my mom call them, and I would go through the parking lot of the corner store instead. That also gave me an excuse to stop in and grab morning coffee.
I hate those lights though, and sometimes I really do think that the engineer that set up the system was really frustrated and wanted to share his feelings with those around him.
Great question!
@fencer07 (98)
•
3 Aug 12
Sometimes if you do not pull up far enough, your car will not trigger the sensor. Therefore, it may take a while if at all before the light changes. This was the case with a traffic light near my school. Sensors were placed leaving the school parking lot, so that when school was in session and there were a greater number of cars leaving this area at the end of the day, the traffic light pattern would change to accomodate them. However, often times, parents became very frustrated and had to actually get out of their cars to ask the cars at the light to move forward in order for the sensor to register. Otherwise, traffic would build up. Therefore, what was meant to correct a traffic problem only became one when drivers who were unfamiliar with that light drove on that road.
