Stoplight won't turn green-who do I contact?

I live in NC if it matters… There is this one stoplight that WILL NOT TURN GREEN. Late at night this is a problem and you have no choice but to run the light because if not you will be there forever. Who should I contact about this?

Oh yeah as a side note…is it legal to run a broken stoplight after a certain amount of time?

You do not say where you live, but I would start by calling the city building, or whatever the name of the office is that takes care of city repairs to report it. How long has it been that way? If it has been more than 2 workdays I would raise heck. If I were ticketed I would take video of the light not changing to show to the traffic judge also, to prove that the light was broken. I might also show it to the court clerk and let them know how long it has been broken, in case there are any other tickets involving that light during the time that it was broken.

Er, NC as in North Carolina USA or what?

But where in North Carolina? Look in the blue pages of your phone book for your city or county public works division or call your city or county government’s general information line.

Most major cities have a department named along the lines of “Parking and Traffic” that handles traffic signals. Failing that, look for “Public Works” or “Streets and Sanitation.” Failing that, find the non-emergency number for the police and give them a call.

If it’s outside of a city, same deal, but you’re probably looking for the county or NCDOT. (North Carolina Department of Transportation.

It’s my understanding that a non-functioning street light is to be treated as a stop sign.

Is that stop light triggered by the number of cars, by any chance? Salt Lake uses them and there was one street that it would be impossible to go accross at night, since it was set for two cars. I would have thought that the programs were more sophisticated now, but you may have the same issue.

After you stop at the crosswalk, try backing up (check first :eek: ) and then going forward again. If that trips the cycle then this is your problem

Yeah, that’s what I remember reading in the driver’s manual too.

That would be a hoot. You could set up your VCR/DVD player and monitor and begin the show. After ten or fifteen minutes, “Oh no, your honor. There’s more. Plenty more.” (Hold up several more dvds/tapes)

Another possible reason: the switch in the street for the light is located closer to the intersection than you thought. I know of one street here where you have to pull the nose of your car up to the line of the crossstreet’s curb to trigger the light.

How long did you wait?

No offense, but I’ve seen people give up, curse, look both ways, and blow through a red light – which turned green seconds later.

I’ve been in the car with drivers who impatiently asserted “This light isn’t working! I’m going to run it!” only to watch it turn green while they were talking.

I’m not accusing you specifically of this, just saying that a LOT of people claim a light isn’t working, and by my observation a pretty high proportion of them aren’t exactly…right.

How long are we talking about? Time it and see.

Also try rolling backward and forward to find a pressure plate.

Sailboat