# I swear there's some bastid on every street corner **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 11, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-swear-theres-some-bastid-on-every-street-corner/528502 "2010-02-11T00:18:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-swear-theres-some-bastid-on-every-street-corner/528502/1 "2010-02-11T00:18:36Z")
…and he has a remote control set to trigger the red light as soon as he sees me coming. I know this rant isn’t really Pit-worthy, so I’m posting it here, but it really seems as if the only thing I’m ever first in line for in my life is a red light. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-swear-theres-some-bastid-on-every-street-corner/528502/2 "2010-02-11T00:34:38Z")
Every time I’m driving at the speed limit in the righthand lane of two and I see all the cars speeding past me in the lefthand lane, I say to my self or my riders, “They are all in a hurry to get to the next red light”. Sure enough. Slow down and live, and coast thru on the green. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-swear-theres-some-bastid-on-every-street-corner/528502/3 "2010-02-11T00:58:45Z")
> [@Ignatz](#): > > Every time I’m driving at the speed limit in the righthand lane of two and I see all the cars speeding past me in the lefthand lane, I say to my self or my riders, “They are all in a hurry to get to the next red light”. Sure enough. Slow down and live, and coast thru on the green. That’s the trouble. I don’t get a chance to coast through. I don’t exceed the posted speed limit and do drive at a safe and sensible speed when approaching an intersection. The light turns yellow long before I get there. I don’t try to run the light. I slow down and give myself plenty of distance to stop safely if I see the light change color. I’m not even coasting through on the yellow. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-swear-theres-some-bastid-on-every-street-corner/528502/4 "2010-02-11T02:29:35Z")
No, it’s the evil leprechaun hiding under the street whose sole purpose in life is to create maximum gridlock. Yes, I really believed that when I was a kid-the only logical reason why traffic signals worked so suboptimally-if we can put a man on the moon…(I was 7 in 1969). Even now few streets in my city have them synchronized. ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-swear-theres-some-bastid-on-every-street-corner/528502/5 "2010-02-11T04:15:18Z")
I’ve often noticed, when stopped at a red light that I won’t get a green until a car is approaching the green light on the cross road. It is a real problem late at night (eg 2am) at one particular intersection near where I live, because I often can wait 15 minutes for an approaching vehicle to trigger the lights to change. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-swear-theres-some-bastid-on-every-street-corner/528502/6 "2010-02-11T05:04:30Z")
I drive down a 4-lane road near my house every day, 2 lanes in each direction. There is a side street coming out of a residential neighborhood with a stoplight where it meets this 4-lane road. As soon as a car on the side street approaches the light, it will turn green for him and red for us. Every single time, as soon as the car approaches. It doesn’t matter how busy the traffic is, this side street overrules it. I’ve complained about it, but nothing changes. Going the other way, there is a series of 2 stoplights about 1/2 block apart from each other. In 26 years of living by here, I have not once gotten through both lights at the same time. One or both will be red, even though the street I’m on is busier than the other two cross streets. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-swear-theres-some-bastid-on-every-street-corner/528502/7 "2010-02-11T11:38:07Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > …and he has a remote control set to trigger the red light as soon as he sees me coming. I know this rant isn’t really Pit-worthy, so I’m posting it here, but it really seems as if the only thing I’m ever first in line for in my life is a red light. I have assumed it was my useless super power that makes this happen for me. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-swear-theres-some-bastid-on-every-street-corner/528502/8 "2010-02-11T15:00:08Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I drive down a 4-lane road near my house every day, 2 lanes in each direction. There is a side street coming out of a residential neighborhood with a stoplight where it meets this 4-lane road. As soon as a car on the side street approaches the light, it will turn green for him and red for us. Every single time, as soon as the car approaches. It doesn’t matter how busy the traffic is, this side street overrules it. I’ve complained about it, but nothing changes. Sounds like my commute. And the car approaching on the cross street, that gets to pull out in front of me, is either a huge pickup truck I can’t see around, or a Ford Explorer, preferred vehicle of village idiots everywhere. :rolleyes: