Traffic lights issue
Discussion
The pedestrian lights (Circled red) on the exit of this roundabout at Scotch Corner are faulty, and changing to red on a regular basis for no apparent reason. They then hang on red for an extended length of time.
As you can imagine, this is a busy roundabout with northbound traffic on the A1M wishing to come off at this junction and head west over the A66 TransPennine route, as well as heading to Richmond on the first exit and also a service area to the right of the junction. The pedestrian lights then cause massive problems on the exit slip as traffic wanting to go down the A6108 to Richmond is blocking traffic from exiting the slip road.
National Highways know of this issue and confirm that there is a problem and they are waiting for a part which could take up to three months to arrive.
My view is that they should just turn the lights off until they can be repaired.
On the other hand, and to keep the traffic moving, would it be acceptable to jump the red light if you are 100% sure that there are no pedestrians approaching? And the crossing is very rarely used by pedestrians.
(And yes, I do know that stopping at a red light is a legal requirement, but under the circumstances why not try and keep the traffic flowing?)
No it's not acceptable to jump the red light to keep the traffic moving, even if you do, do you imagine everyone behind you will do the same? Extremely unlikely and if seen by Police no doubt a ticket would be issued which you couldn't argue with really.
I guess in an ideal world highways would turn off the lights completely but I imagine they won't because of the safety to cyclists who have a crossing there, however infrequent they may be
Edit- I meant pedestrian usage not cyclists specifically
I guess in an ideal world highways would turn off the lights completely but I imagine they won't because of the safety to cyclists who have a crossing there, however infrequent they may be
Edit- I meant pedestrian usage not cyclists specifically
Some pedestrian crossings are set up to turn red to actually aid the flow of traffic. There are 2 in a village near me that are on the main road but have sensors on the side roads and will turn the pedestrian crossing red to allow traffic out of the side roads. (even when no pedestrians are near the crossing)
Then the ones in some Scottish villages that will turn red if a car enters the village at above the prescribed limit.
So not everything is as it first seems.
Then the ones in some Scottish villages that will turn red if a car enters the village at above the prescribed limit.
So not everything is as it first seems.
Sherpa Kev said:
The pedestrian lights (Circled red) on the exit of this roundabout at Scotch Corner are faulty, and changing to red on a regular basis for no apparent reason. They then hang on red for an extended length of time.
As you can imagine, this is a busy roundabout with northbound traffic on the A1M wishing to come off at this junction and head west over the A66 TransPennine route, as well as heading to Richmond on the first exit and also a service area to the right of the junction. The pedestrian lights then cause massive problems on the exit slip as traffic wanting to go down the A6108 to Richmond is blocking traffic from exiting the slip road.
National Highways know of this issue and confirm that there is a problem and they are waiting for a part which could take up to three months to arrive.
My view is that they should just turn the lights off until they can be repaired.
On the other hand, and to keep the traffic moving, would it be acceptable to jump the red light if you are 100% sure that there are no pedestrians approaching? And the crossing is very rarely used by pedestrians.
(And yes, I do know that stopping at a red light is a legal requirement, but under the circumstances why not try and keep the traffic flowing?)
Sherpa Kev said:
My view is that they should just turn the lights off until they can be repaired.
No, they will not do that, as you may be surprised to hear that their only priority is NOT drivers having to wait an extra minute or two.Sherpa Kev said:
On the other hand, and to keep the traffic moving, would it be acceptable to jump the red light if you are 100% sure that there are no pedestrians approaching? And the crossing is very rarely used by pedestrians.
If you need to ask that question you shouldn't have a driving license.
Claiming force majeure for not fixing the lights is unacceptable given that they know it is going to take months to rectify.
I doubt that there are hundreds of pedestrian using the crossing and so bagging-over the lights and placing GIVE WAY TO PEDESTRIANS signs would be a sensible compromise.
I doubt that there are hundreds of pedestrian using the crossing and so bagging-over the lights and placing GIVE WAY TO PEDESTRIANS signs would be a sensible compromise.
rdjohn said:
Claiming force majeure for not fixing the lights is unacceptable given that they know it is going to take months to rectify.
I doubt that there are hundreds of pedestrian using the crossing and so bagging-over the lights and placing GIVE WAY TO PEDESTRIANS signs would be illegal and could end up with points and a fine.
EFA.I doubt that there are hundreds of pedestrian using the crossing and so bagging-over the lights and placing GIVE WAY TO PEDESTRIANS signs would be illegal and could end up with points and a fine.
rdjohn said:
Claiming force majeure for not fixing the lights is unacceptable given that they know it is going to take months to rectify.
I doubt that there are hundreds of pedestrian using the crossing and so bagging-over the lights and placing GIVE WAY TO PEDESTRIANS signs would be a sensible compromise.
Clearly you haven't tried to cross a roundabout (as a pedestrian) that is on a main road. You certainly take your life in your hands.I doubt that there are hundreds of pedestrian using the crossing and so bagging-over the lights and placing GIVE WAY TO PEDESTRIANS signs would be a sensible compromise.
Sherpa Kev said:
The pedestrian lights (Circled red) on the exit of this roundabout at Scotch Corner are faulty, and changing to red on a regular basis for no apparent reason. They then hang on red for an extended length of time.
As you can imagine, this is a busy roundabout with northbound traffic on the A1M wishing to come off at this junction and head west over the A66 TransPennine route, as well as heading to Richmond on the first exit and also a service area to the right of the junction. The pedestrian lights then cause massive problems on the exit slip as traffic wanting to go down the A6108 to Richmond is blocking traffic from exiting the slip road.
National Highways know of this issue and confirm that there is a problem and they are waiting for a part which could take up to three months to arrive.
My view is that they should just turn the lights off until they can be repaired.
On the other hand, and to keep the traffic moving, would it be acceptable to jump the red light if you are 100% sure that there are no pedestrians approaching? And the crossing is very rarely used by pedestrians.
(And yes, I do know that stopping at a red light is a legal requirement, but under the circumstances why not try and keep the traffic flowing?)
Red Devil said:
Sherpa Kev said:
The pedestrian lights (Circled red) on the exit of this roundabout at Scotch Corner are faulty, and changing to red on a regular basis for no apparent reason. They then hang on red for an extended length of time.
As you can imagine, this is a busy roundabout with northbound traffic on the A1M wishing to come off at this junction and head west over the A66 TransPennine route, as well as heading to Richmond on the first exit and also a service area to the right of the junction. The pedestrian lights then cause massive problems on the exit slip as traffic wanting to go down the A6108 to Richmond is blocking traffic from exiting the slip road.
National Highways know of this issue and confirm that there is a problem and they are waiting for a part which could take up to three months to arrive.
My view is that they should just turn the lights off until they can be repaired.
On the other hand, and to keep the traffic moving, would it be acceptable to jump the red light if you are 100% sure that there are no pedestrians approaching? And the crossing is very rarely used by pedestrians.
(And yes, I do know that stopping at a red light is a legal requirement, but under the circumstances why not try and keep the traffic flowing?)
Sherpa Kev said:
National Highways know of this issue and confirm that there is a problem and they are waiting for a part which could take up to three months to arrive.
It's some traffic lights, not a 747.
There must be tens of thousands of lights in the country (at risk of the same failure mode?) why don't they have a decent spares inventory.
Poor show.
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