Is stopping at red lights now optional?

[JoM]

It certainly seems that way around here!

I was waiting to cross the A34 on the pelican crossing this afternoon, the lights turned to red and the cars coming from the Cannock direction stopped. There was just one car coming from the Stafford direction and it was much further along the road with more than enough of a stopping distance. The 'green man' lit up but I waited and watched the approaching car which was showing no signs of slowing down and I'm so glad that I did as sure enough it went straight through the red light at, I'd guess, around 30mph.

It's not a one off though! It's a regular occurrence now.
Why? Selfish drivers? Distracted drivers?

[Kaz]

Scary!! Glad you are ok (((x)))

Like you Jo I don't drive, and I walk a lot, and agree that consideration for pedestrians has definitely deteriorated in recent years

[Diflower]

Jeez that's scary
Btw around here a lot of cars seem to be sold without indicators

[AliasAggers]

I think, from what I've seen, that the police are doing a pretty lousy job of enforcing the law with respect to driving.

Our local medical centre is right opposite two chemist's shops, so there are obviously many people who need to cross
the road, but there is no pedestrian crossing, and the majority of cars zoom past at well above the 30mph speed limit,
a fact that a local off-duty special constable has confirmed to me. But, as you might guess, we never see any police
presence - they are probably too busy playing about on Twitter.

[Workingman]

Jo, it has never been optional, but I am seeing more and more people pointing their smatrphoens at drivers who think it is, even though the phones might be in pretend mode. It does work.

However, as a driver, I do get more and more angry at the 20MPH speed limits enforced with humps, bumps, chicanes and speed cushions when they are not, and never have been, necessary.

[TheOstrich]

Yes, red lights are optional down here, especially for cyclists.

As for 20 mph limits, don't come to Bath / north east Somerset. There are two stretches of 20 mph limits between Shepton Mallet and Wells on the A371. Both are about a mile long. Both go past primary schools but the speed limit is operated 24/7, whereas other councils might enforce it only when flashing lights are lit at school start and finish times. There are no chicanes / humps to curb your speed and it is actually quite difficult, on an A road, to maintain 20 mph for a long stretch. It's not the only road like this, there are similar stretches Cheddar way. The only way I can drive these is in second gear and it is a complete pain. Recent research showed that serious traffic accidents / deaths have actually risen in the Bath and North East Somerset Council area since these measures were introduced.

I always drive in third gear in 30 mph zones, as it's a recognised speed limiting technique which is taught on speed awareness courses. Hopefully, it gives me time to avoid the onrushing mobility scooters down here in urban Dorset ....

Aggers, there are very active speed camera vans in Dorset, and police with hand-held speed cameras in Somerset - far more pro-active than in the West Midlands, in my experience.

[Suff]

I noticed this in Holland where drivers who know the light sequence quite simply ignore the red lights and keep on going. It's probably a comment on the totally awful way they've set up the lights where traffic could be moving but they simply put it on red and leave them.

Jo, anyone who blasts over a red light, with a pedestrian waiting to cross on a green man, deserves to experience life without a driving license for a few months. That's how people get killed.

Aggers you can write to your local Police Constable/Chief Inspector. You can also copy your MP and make it clear that you have done so. Mrs S has had some success with getting trapping in place by actually writing in.

As for 20mph speed limits, speed camera's etc... In Lincolnshire the NHS co funded a massive speed camera drive and re-white lining the roads. The end result? Every single year since they started it, the deaths on the roads went up. It was pretty obvious. The only place you can overtake, without running a real risk of being trapped, is on blind rises, blind bends or double white lines.... I have seen them overtaking there on many occasions...

[cromwell]

WM is probably right re the smartphones Jo. Plus these days more and more cars have "infotainment" which is controlled via a touchscreen on the dash, Look at that, and you aren't looking at the road. Driving standards around here are awful; and you never see a police traffic car these days.

[Workingman]

"Infotainment" and do not forget satnavs. I am convinced that a lot of driver inattention started with satnavs. I was once working in St Albans and was offered a lift to Northampton to catch the train home rather than having to go into London - I was scared to death. The driver spent about 70% of the time looking at the satnave till we got to the M1, even then he was so addicted to it he could not resist looking at it.

[rant]"You're on the M1 man. Northampton is five miles away and there is no alternative route. Keep your eyes on the damned road!"[/rant]

[JoM]

I agree that smartphones and gadgets are a very worrying problem, the amount of drivers that you see looking down rather than ahead is frightening

Suff, we have a very busy junction in town which used to be a crossroads but is now a T junction since the town centre was pedestrianised. It's where the A460 meets the A34. The way it's set out one carriageway on the A460 can see it's own lights and also those for the A34. Both sets stay on red long enough for the pedestrian crossings to do their thing. There was no one crossing the other day as I walked by and a stream of cars obviously took advantage of this and went through on red, because the could see that there were no pedestrians waiting to cross and that the lights for the A34 were still on red.

John reminded me last night about when we were waiting to cross on the other side of town a couple of weeks ago. Lights on red, green man lit and a car went straight through on that occasion too. Like I said in my opening post, what happened yesterday wasn't a one off.

Indicating, or the lack of, is another bug bear of mine. Further along the A34 is a roundabout with a crossing point and I can frequently be seen there gesticulating wildly at drivers who can't be bothered to indicate. Me and John were waiting to cross there last week and in that short time we saw two drivers with phones in their hands and one holding a book of some kind against the steering wheel None of them indicated.