CG wrote, and mind you, we don't always agree -- but here we do,
> When I hear people who willfully violate a law or a set of them and
> then claim they've been victimized, I wonder which group they fall in.
So true. Society seems to not be able to live unless it can find
SOMEONE ELSE to blame for its own stupidity!
> Consider the complaint that the authorities have shortened the
> duration of the yellow light where there's a camera installed. If
this
> be true, the obvious and best response is: don't go through the light
on
> yellow! Huh? Wuzzat? Are you kidding? Hoo boy.........
We are creatures of habit. Unfortunately, we drive by habit -- and
that is what gets us into trouble. Going through a yellow light can
happen
for many reasons;
(1) Intentional abuse of the signal. This is the one that hacks CG off,
if
I read him correctly. It pisses me off too. My family is out there
on
those streets!
(2) Accidental abuse of the signal from non-attentiveness. This one
hacks
me off. South Tulsa is full of raisin-farms and they spawn
incompetent
drivers. Into that class I should also include all the SoccerMoms in
their SUVs or minivans, putting on makeup in the vanity mirror, while
on the way to drop the kids off at school.
(3) Driving one's (read: my) wife's darned 4000+ pound SUV and not
remembering that one can't stop one of those massive beasts like one
can a sports cars! That is still 100% the driver's fault but it is a
valid
REASON the light might get run, although not an EXCUSE. In all
cases, one deserves the ticket one might get.
And in all cases, I stand my ground: Cars have become too easy to
drive, what with cell phones, cup holders, power-points, automatic
windows and DOORS, cruise-everything, etc.. Make cars difficult to
drive again and we might just pay attention to DRIVING.
The complaint I read in the previous notes is not that we should be
able to run yellow lights at will, but rather it is a complaint against
entrapment knowing that we drive by habit, not thought. There has
to be a better way and one that is not easily corrupted by profit. We
are used to judging yellow lights and can safely go through many of
them (assuming that stopping sometimes causes a GREATER risk of
rear-end collision). I have to watch that ALL THE TIME. I can stop
in a heartbeat in my sports cars. They have BIG BRAKES. The SUVs
behind me that are trying to beat the light and are on my tail cannot.
I have run RED lights to avoid being hit in the rear end after stopping
for a yellow light!
When my daughter drove a BMW that was what I taught her. She
could stop in a very short distance. The guy behind her probably
couldn't.
In Tulsa, the trick seen too often is for cars to bunch up tightly
(read: tailgate) if the green light has gone stale. That way they can
shoot through the yellow all together. Try stopping if you find
yourself in that mess! It is especially bad at lunchtime when everyone
is rushing to get back to work. Quite dangerous. Yet, I don't know
the solution. Perhaps tapping their wallet IS the better solution. It
is
just so susceptible to greed-based abuse.
I guess I am saying, I drive within the guidelines of the law but if
committing a misdemeanor prevents an accident, that is a risk that I
will
sometimes take. Make any kind of sense?
rick
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