With less than a month in Dallas, I can already understand why cities set up red light cameras. Well, more correctly, I understand why people run red lights...
The grid of intersections is vast and there is no good way to navigate it. Each intersection has different light patterns at different times of day. Mostly, one direction gets a leading left turn, then the other way gets the left turn at the end. Most of the left turns aren't long enough to clear up the queue (problem 1), especially if you have people U-turning (which they can't do well, problem 2).
Add in to the mix the fact that lights aren't based on traffic (problem 3). You have turn lights for no one, and long lights for little traffic. I even sat at a light where my direction was completely skipped a round!
The first solution is speeding up... You seem to leave one light and catch the next (problem 4), so people think speeding up is the answer. Thus, the majority is driving 10 over.
When this stops working, probably due to slower traffic, people start running lights. Obviously this isn't safe, but is it really Joe Citizen's fault?
Well, yes, duh... But at the same time, when a turn light lets four cars through when fourteen are waiting, or you've stopped at every side street, some thing's got to give. The cities would improve their roads, the commute time, and the air, if they would just work to optimize the lights to accommodate the traffic that exists, not the traffic they assume exists.
Labels: Dallas speeding, road rage
