Red light runners

[KLOWN]

I'm sure we all see people run red lights. I see it a minimum of once a day. I was just on the auckland city councils web page disputing my parking ticket when I noticed this link http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/auckland/transport/0800stop4red/default.asp
Have a quick read of it. At the bottom of the page is another link to report red light runners. I, for one am going to be reporting quite a few. Red light runners are especially dangerous for us bikers. So i encourage you all report as many as you can cause i'm getting really fed up with them.
here is the link to report them. http://usuite.com/survey/b2c810066ea24d1d93b172e6eb857869.sur

[Ixion]

However, all that happens is that they get sent a "friendly warning". Which is hardly likely to deter anyone.

[mstriumph]

......... it would at least alert them to the fact they've been observed doing something they shouldn't ...

the hardcore perpetrators, no, probably wouldn't faze them - but for many reasonably honest folk, the possible presence of 'witnesses' is all it takes to make them behave :yes:

[KLOWN]

However, all that happens is that they get sent a "friendly warning". Which is hardly likely to deter anyone.

are you sure? I know of people getting tickets and people being pulled over and one who has to go to court all on witness accounts, no cops invovled. But none of these inncidents were red light running.

[Ixion]

From the site


The information will be compiled by trained Auckland City Council staff and a letter will be sent to the registered owner of the vehicle warning that they have been seen running a red light. We will give them a friendly reminder to obey the road rules and consider all people using the road, particularly pedestrians.
The letter is a warning only and no other action will be taken.

[Squeak the Rat]

No different to the lettter people get when you use the *555 or roadwatch website to dob some one in.

Yes it might make an impact on some people. But more likely, the people who don't care for red lights probably won't care about a piece of paper either......

[KLOWN]

damn it i should have read more before I posted. I think ill go back to chasing after the cars and yelling at them, which is what i do now. When i have the time.

[Squeak the Rat]

There could however be a positive to the site, if lots of people dob in lots of runners then it would show how big the problem is. But apathy will probably reign supreme (or a lack of faith in an outcome that actually achieves somehting).

halb halb :_)

[spudchucka]

However, all that happens is that they get sent a "friendly warning". Which is hardly likely to deter anyone.

Warnings don't deter anyone? F*&k me, that must be why the cops dish out tickets then. You're a god damn genius for figuring that out!

[Ixion]

"friendly" warning it said.

The written warnings the snakes used to dish out could not ever be called "friendly". They did deter.

[spudchucka]

For at least the next 10 kilometres, after that its situation normal again.

And surely you aren't advocating that cops should be unfriendly to their public? After all the next favourite thing to slag off on KB, after speeding tickets, is cops who are cheeky enough to point out to drivers that their driving is crap.

[Squeak the Rat]

Big difference between getting let off with a warning when the cop could actually fine you, and getting a piece of paper that has no power behind it at all.

What are you going to do next time i do it?

Cop: bust your arse
Council: send you another piece of paper

[KLOWN]

where I see alot of the red light runners is at the top of ayr street, (newmarket? or parnell) where you can kinda do quick left right to enter domain. I was at top of ayr street wanting to go to domian, light goes green I pause and look, car goes through red from my right I turn left and follow him into the gas station (mobil) to have a word. When we are on forecourt he decideds to stop suddenly. i think he wanted a pump that he just passed because he started reversing up and nearly ran me over, I quickly dodged down the side of him and stopped the bike to get off and yell at him. He sees i'm going over to his car and he takes off without getting fuel. It pisses me off I would to have loved to yelled at him but i think i scared him before I could get a chance to confront him.

[craigs288]

There's been a few times at the bottom of Titirangi Rd ( intersection with Gt Nth Rd ) in the mornings, and the opposing traffic from Rata St decides to keep on coming long after their red light ends.
When I'm sitting there looking at my green light but can't take off until the fuckwits clear the intersection. Been a couple of times on my bike when I thought I was going to get cleaned out by some idiot losing it as they try to take the corner at 70+.
It would be the only time I wished I had a big nasty 4wd cage with bull bars, and launch hard as soon as I see the green. It might leave a bit of carnage but it would deal with red light runners one at a time.

[twinkle]

The lights outside Mobil on Lincoln road in Henderson would have to be the worst. Its standard practise for three or four cars to come through after the lights have changed red. Or, to stop in the middle of the intersection because the lane to the motorway is full :gob:

[Fatjim]

I ran one last night.

[Matt]

Shame Wgtn City Council don't have the same thing, some of the red-light running on SH2 (Kelson, Melling etc) is simply shocking!

Matt

[xwhatsit]

I ran one last night.

I casually strolled one a couple of nights back.

[dmouse]

i got hit in the back by a four wheel drive doin a right turn on main north road in christchurch the lights had been red for him for at least a minute and he hit me at 60k but as he has a clean licence and first offence he will get diversion, mean while im still waiting to get my bike back fom the painters due to a dispute with my insurance over custom paintwork that was in january i got hit i just want my baby back

[SPman]

For at least the next 10 kilometres, after that its situation normal again.


Bit like a ticket really - 10kms of nervousness and kicking yrself for being stupid and oh, the inhumanity of it all, then its back to normal......



And surely you aren't advocating that cops should be unfriendly to their public? After all the next favourite thing to slag off on KB, after speeding tickets, is cops who are cheeky enough to point out to drivers that their driving is crap.
Well....illegal, at least......

[peasea]

I'm sure we all see people run red lights. I see it a minimum of once a day.


I don't doubt it and I see plenty myself. At every intersection I remember my father's words when he was teaching me to drive; they're brilliant: "Just because you have right of way, it doesn't mean you're going to get it".

Simple and effective. Even on the green I look, no matter what vehicle I'm in control of.

[j_redley]

Its not just cars though, I know a biker who thought he could beat a car and go through the red light. He ended up loosing the bike and going straight over the car.

[carver]

I'm sure we all see people run red lights. I see it a minimum of once a day. I was just on the auckland city councils web page disputing my parking ticket when I noticed this link http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/auckland/transport/0800stop4red/default.asp
Have a quick read of it. At the bottom of the page is another link to report red light runners. I, for one am going to be reporting quite a few. Red light runners are especially dangerous for us bikers. So i encourage you all report as many as you can cause i'm getting really fed up with them.
here is the link to report them. http://usuite.com/survey/b2c810066ea24d1d93b172e6eb857869.sur

i run red's on my bike at night, cause often you can sit there, cause they need both lanes to be filled to make the lights go...or when im in a real rush

[Grub]

i run red's on my bike at night, cause often you can sit there, cause they need both lanes to be filled to make the lights go...or when im in a real rush

I have high hopes for you my son ... hopes that you get killed outright so our ACC dollars don't have to be used to pay for your stupidity

[scumdog]

However, all that happens is that they get sent a "friendly warning". Which is hardly likely to deter anyone.

But, but, but lots of KBers say that a warning would have worked better than the ticket they got, something's not right Mr I.

[Ixion]

The difference has been covered before. A warning with the knowledge that there won't be another is sobering and makes the recipient mindful that there shall not *be* a next time. When the next time, and the next, and the next, will simply bring more warnings, does not.

A warning by definition, to be effective, must be a warning of *something* . Something *bad*. - Next time --- the high jump. The red light thing has no such veiled threat .They call them warnings, but they are not really, for the do not warn of anything.

[dangerous]

i got hit in the back by a four wheel drive doin a right turn on main north road in christchurch

Having just riden most of NZ over the last month or so, Chch is by far the worst city for red runners... fark me yesterday I sat on the green waiting to turn right, finley the lights turned amber... still the on comming trafic kept comming... RED and 2 cars drove through so I thought fuck you c#@ts (as Im am sitting in the middle of the rd) and just turned in front of the next red runner... well fark me if they didnt slow then carry on behind me. I was forced to run the red (remember I'm in the middle of the intersection) and the traffic sitting on a green all sit there, talk about a balls up... so what heppens next the green traffic get pissed at sitting there so they run the red... and so and so on...

I'm suprised no one has said they run reds cos if they stop the car behind might run them over :mellow:

[Sanx]

You know how long some people take to react to a green light before they start moving? You know the type - they're usually in a Mazda Bongo Wagon or something equally life-sapping. Lights turn green: one second, two seconds, three seconds ... and finally, with a puff of diesel smoke, these people pull away; at 15kph. Everyone else then tries to get through the lights, and all because the fuckwit at the front had the reaction times of a dead hamster.

I'm not condoning people running red lights - it pisses me off too - but I can see why it happens. I've probably been guilty once or twice myself too - but usually time it so the lights change to red just as I'm through the junction.

Incidentally, should the snakes ever ping you for going through a red (or yellow) light, there's an interesting defence that can be used provided you were 41 metres or less from the lights at the time it changed from green to yellow... If it's raining - that distance goes up...

[peasea]

You know how long some people take to react to a green light before they start moving? You know the type - they're usually in a Mazda Bongo Wagon or something equally life-sapping. Lights turn green: one second, two seconds, three seconds ... and finally, with a puff of diesel smoke, these people pull away; at 15kph. Everyone else then tries to get through the lights, and all because the fuckwit at the front had the reaction times of a dead hamster.

I'm not condoning people running red lights - it pisses me off too - but I can see why it happens. I've probably been guilty once or twice myself too - but usually time it so the lights change to red just as I'm through the junction.

Incidentally, should the snakes ever ping you for going through a red (or yellow) light, there's an interesting defence that can be used provided you were 41 metres or less from the lights at the time it changed from green to yellow... If it's raining - that distance goes up...

Some of what you say is true; frustration takes over. I have just had my 17y/o pass her restricted with flying colours (good on her) with training from me and a professional; the latter was employed so that all my bad habits were NOT passed on. However, something the professional didn't teach her was to look at the lights for traffic coming from the other direction. You sit there looking at THEIR light (if you can see it or the reflection in the light tube) and when theirs goes orange, get ready to rock! It saves the dude behind from getting impatient/frustrated etc.

[Calo]

I slowed for an amber light the other day (in a right turning lane) knowing that it would have been red by the time I reached the line and a boy-racing cage pilot actually drove around me to run the red. It was actually red when he started said maneuver too. :weird:

[Bnonn]

You sit there looking at THEIR light (if you can see it or the reflection in the light tube) and when theirs goes orange, get ready to rock! It saves the dude behind from getting impatient/frustrated etc.
People need to be told this? Maybe this should be used as some kind of driving acuity quotient test. If you can't figure out how to make it off the lights within a second of them turning green, your DQ is too low, and you can't get a license.

[KLOWN]

People need to be told this? Maybe this should be used as some kind of driving acuity quotient test. If you can't figure out how to make it off the lights within a second of them turning green, your DQ is too low, and you can't get a license.

The problem with this is the people who run red lights will hit you if you go the second they turn green.

[Balding Eagle]

It is a shame that the cops don't police this more. Perhaps it doesn't bring in as much revenue as speeding but in most cases it is more dangerous, especially to bikers.

My worst experience, and it was recently, was with a big articulated truck. The fourway intersection has, primarily, the lights organised to allow traffic off each road in turn as it is so busy. I have lane split and am at the front between two cars and keen to get away so as not to cause them any hassle. The light turns green and I gun it only to find this truck coming from the opposite direction doing a right hand turn in front of me. Thankfully he was down to a relatively slow speed because of his weight and I managed to get through the intersection before he blocked it but all the cars behind me had to wait until he had cleared the intersection. I was gone too far to get his number. Rather than dob him in, I would have preferred to get the car drivers as witnesses and take them to the police for them to prosecute. Somewhat more effective than a wet bus ticket letter.

[Bnonn]

All you need is cameras on traffic lights, which activate if someone runs the red. Just like a speed camera. It would be expensive to implement, but surely not too hard.

[KLOWN]

All you need is cameras on traffic lights, which activate if someone runs the red. Just like a speed camera. It would be expensive to implement, but surely not too hard.

the cameras would pay for themselves with in a week, in my opinion.

[Jahdafario]

All you need is cameras on traffic lights, which activate if someone runs the red. Just like a speed camera. It would be expensive to implement, but surely not too hard.

has already been implemented, 26 or so cameras setup & piloted in march/april in the high risk areas in auckland with 11 of them in CBD alone.

Worst red light running intersections:

Botany Rd/Te Iirirangi/Ti Rakau Dr - Botany
Ti Rakau/Pakuranga Highway - Pakuranga
Bairds Road/East Tamaki Road - Otara
Great South Road... every traffic light intersection that runs off it
Queen Street & every traffic light interesection - Auckland CBD

just to name a few

[NighthawkNZ]

I nearly got run over crossing the one way system yesterday by a red light runner... three other cars in front pulled up okay, and the lights changed, (and I had the green light to cross errr green man) and I step out, I knew the other car was there and coming but he didn't stop and nearly boulded me over...

I nearly threw a spark plug in his back window...(problem was I wasn't carrying any)

[Grahameeboy]

I nearly got run over crossing the one way system yesterday by a red light runner... three other cars in front pulled up okay, and the lights changed, (and I had the green light to cross errr green man) and I step out, I knew the other car was there and coming but he didn't stop and nearly boulded me over...

I nearly threw a spark plug in his back window...(problem was I wasn't carrying any)

Guess you will carry one eh.............

[NighthawkNZ]

Guess you will carry one eh.............

yup.. maybe two