Recently I stopped at red light that never turned green. I sat through two or three cycles of the light, watching cars go through the intersection in all other directions, without ever getting a green light myself. There was not very much traffic coming through, so eventually I just checked to see that everything was clear and went across, through the red light.
My question is, what is one legally supposed to do in such a situation, assuming that there really is something wrong with the light and that there is no escape other than through the intersection?
I have had this happen, usually in the early morning hours before the normal cycle of the light kicks in and the light is constantly green for the major artery. After waiting two or three cycles I will go ahead and cross after making sure no one is coming. I think under the circumstances you could probably talk your way out of a ticket.
One other thing to consider. I have sometimes seen a light that will not change because the car is not pulled all the way up to the proper position, so the sensor is not being triggered. One traffic light near where I used to live was notorious for this. On several occasions I had to get out of my car and ask the driver ahead of me to pull up a couple of feet so the light would change.
On an associated note, In Pasadena, we have the Metro Gold Line (light rail) running through a grid of heavily travelled streets. :rolleyes: (At least they had it go under Old Town proper.) Not infrequently (like, at least once a week), the crossing signals jam up and leave the barricades down. After about ten minutes of that nonsense, people driving on Del Mar and California just start driving around the barricades.
You saw what happened to the Metrolink when some $@*%@$$ parked his truck on a crossing? I’m afraid that’s going to happen someday there (though to be honest the trains probably run a bit slower and are definitely lighter than the Metrolink rail.)
What I hate more than the signals that won’t change are the ones that change so quickly barely a single car can get through. The guy behind him figures he’s been waiting three cycles, so he’ll go ahead, and next thing you know the traffic signal is as irrelevent as an Avon Lady at the Dykes on Bikes parade. Until someone gets trigger happy and decides to see whether the Pauli Exclusion Principle really applies to expensive German automobiles or not. :eek:
Shel Silverstein has a wonderful poem about this that doubtless stems from personal experience.
I had it happen to me once, a long time ago. Fortunately it was a left-turn signal, so after two iterations of not being able to go, I swerved out of the left-turn lane into the going-straight lane, and made a left turn at the next unlit intersection.
I had a light like that near my apartment in Coconut Grove. Early Sunday mornings I would wait for what I considered a reasonable time, then took a left, ensuring it was clear. I wrote letters to the city about that light (I forget which dept, but I asked which was resposible), and kept copies for any possible traffic court appearances.
Happens all the time on motorcycles. Some traffic sensors aren’t sensitive enough to detect them. If there is a car behind me, I’ll move forward enough for the car behind to creep up onto the sensor, and that’s usually enough to trigger it. If there’s no other traffic stopped behind me, I’ll just ride through them when the coast is clear. I don’t want to sit there and wait for someone to not see me and hit me from behind. I’ve never got a ticket for it but I think I can justify it if I did.