I've been noticing a trend at this particular intersection that is rather upsetting to me. I travel on 98 daily as I work in Batavia and live in Elba. What concerns me is the way the traffic light is set up for North and South bound traffic. When the light is red for South bound there is a green arrow for vehicles to turn left onto Route 5. After a period of time this arrow turns off and the green light for through traffic comes on. The Northbound light also has an arrow that turns on for vehicles turning left onto Route 5. As with the southbound it turns off and the green light comes on for through traffic.
What I have witnessed on numerous occasions are vehicles proceeding to make left hand turns across traffic long after the turn arrow has turned off. At least once a day I have seen near hits at this intersection, with todays incident being too close for comfort.
I am a member of a volunteer Fire Department who has responded to many accident calls over the years. I've seen my share of mangled vehicles with injuries of every description. All it takes is common sense and a couple extra seconds out of your busy day to ensure a safe journey to your destination.
I do have a suggestion that may or may not work. The addition of a red arrow above the green arrow to indicate that it is no longer safe to turn left. My hope is that someone will read this who has the expertise in traffic patterns to see if a change could be made.
The near hits will still happen until either a study is made or drivers take the time to make sure turning into traffic is safe for ALL vehicles at the intersection.
This is exactly what I saw
This is exactly what I saw yesterday (Mon,June 2nd) at this intersection. A box van and a tractor trailer both made left turns from the East Main Street side of RT 5, south onto RT 98. They made the turns well after the light went green for the east-bound traffic on RT 5, so there's no question the left turn light had turned off on their side. Fortunately, the driver in the lane next to me and I held our positions until the lanes were cleared. Had there been less restrained drivers in our places, there could have been a tragedy.
Its a surprise to me that there haven't been more accidents at that intersection, given these conditions.
Lights such as these are all
Lights such as these are all over. And I have to question whether adding a red arrow would really get those late-turn drivers to keep from their last-second efforts. Though I understand completely your worry over the state of things. Drivers today are becoming more and more aggressive, more and more in a hurry to get where they need to go, and so more and more dangerous. I could make a list of the times I've nearly been in an accident because someone cut me off or tried to speed through a light that had turned red seconds ago.
I remember a time not long ago when a driver sped ahead of me in the right lane that was merging into the left (my lane), cut me off with inches to spare, and when I honked my horn, slammed on his brake to literally try to cause our cars to collide! Wow! Thankfully, I braked in time to avoid the crash, but what foolish, deadly driving.
So I ask again your same question: What can we do? I think the issue is less with the traffic control devices than with the drivers.
Aggressive drivers, here? If
Aggressive drivers, here?
If you're making a left turn in Los Angeles and don't beat the light, you're going to be waiting a long time for the next light change.
People go on red in such situations all the time.
Of course, traffic in all directions is moving at a crawl, so you're less likely to have somebody zooming through as soon as the other direction turns green.
Man, driving anywhere in Western New York is a breeze compared to just about any place in Southern California.
Traffic == another good reason to leave, or never go to, California.