New traffic light cameras

talksalot81

Have any of you guys seen these new 'traffic light' cams which have been going up? I read something truly laughable about the justification. They claim to be put up in places where accidents tend to happen. Now fair enough you say but think harder. I certainly encounter several sets of lights every day where people run reds, the markets junction coming towards Belfast having passed central station is a great example. Every morning, several cars will drive straight through the red, not the amber, clearly red. But no accidents. Why? Because the delay is sufficiently long that someone could be through a red of 2 or 3 seconds and still not be hit by traffic coming against them. So why not just up the traffic light delay in these 'accident hotspots' instead of spending money on cameras? The fact that they are hotspots at all is very probably just a function of the delays on the lights.

Instead of spending money, why not just accept that people will run a red if they are within a short distance of it and adjust the phasing so it does not cause accidents. The solution they have come up with is a localised, short term, solution.

roddydogs

Its to raise Money!!

LuciferTDark

Slow down when approaching any traffic lights.

belfastgirl23

I think the cameras are up to prevent people from driving through red lights which they do. Increasing the delay time will mean even more people driving through red lights. I'd guess detection is the only way to go in this case to prevent us from becoming downtown naples. Although we aren't far off it at present.

Sorry but people driving through red lights and then sitting across the road preventing traffic from flowing on the other side drives me nuts :mad: :mad: :mad:

steamin_jobby

l think it was some comedian that said the irish use traffic lights as a guide or advice but certainly not as a command
defo my experience

motorguy

LuciferTDark wrote: »

Slow down when approaching any traffic lights.

... and wait for them to go red. Cool.

Most traffic lights are in 30mph zones. If you're driving at 30mph there is no need to slow down from that - all cars are capable of stopping from 30mph safely given the length of time it takes to go from green to amber to red. If you cant do that, i'd question either your driving ability or the speed you were doing in the first place.

You're more likely to cause an accident braking coming up to a green light by catching the people behind you unawares - particularly in heavy city traffic.

Also the highway code makes no mention of 'slowing down' when you come up to a green light.

motorguy

belfastgirl23 wrote: »

Sorry but people driving through red lights and then sitting across the road preventing traffic from flowing on the other side drives me nuts :mad: :mad: :mad:

Or people who drive on at a green light knowing they have no mission of clearing the junction

Sigur_2

Increase the delay so as to encourage more people to break the law and possibly increase the chance of a pedestrian or other car user being injured?

I have no problem with the government raising revenues from people who can't adhere to basic road traffic laws.

Step_7

Totally agree with you there!

I had a very near miss a couple of years ago when an idiot in an X5 went straight through a red light. He hit the car in front of me who had waited for green lights before moving off - he got done for careless driving. Luckily he hit the empty passenger side of the other car not the drivers side. There was nothing left of the passenger seat in the car he hit...... :eek:

george_2

talksalot81 wrote: »

Have any of you guys seen these new 'traffic light' cams which have been going up? I read something truly laughable about the justification. They claim to be put up in places where accidents tend to happen. Now fair enough you say but think harder. I certainly encounter several sets of lights every day where people run reds, the markets junction coming towards Belfast having passed central station is a great example. Every morning, several cars will drive straight through the red, not the amber, clearly red. But no accidents. Why? Because the delay is sufficiently long that someone could be through a red of 2 or 3 seconds and still not be hit by traffic coming against them. So why not just up the traffic light delay in these 'accident hotspots' instead of spending money on cameras? The fact that they are hotspots at all is very probably just a function of the delays on the lights.

Instead of spending money, why not just accept that people will run a red if they are within a short distance of it and adjust the phasing so it does not cause accidents. The solution they have come up with is a localised, short term, solution.

Have you, ahem, got a letter in the post this morning per chance??

talksalot81

Well I was playing the wall earlier.... I tend to agree with many of the comments made but refrained from saying initially. Normally when I support traffic penalties, i get flamed!

The other side of the arguement is that you dont have any lights with long delays and you have many more cameras to catch people out. Maybe increase amber time so that it is a function of the speed limit and make a red as a serious offence.

It bugs me, as it clearly does others, that so many people run reds. I see several examples of it every single day. I spend little more than 30 mins on the road. We should have unmarked police cars stopping and fining every single one of these instances. In reality, I have yet to observe one single red light runner being caught out in this way.