CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
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Can anyone recall recently seeing any driver stop when lights are at Amber.?
I feel I used to see cars slowing down and then some of them stopping as the light turned to red but now they all speed up and go through?
Is this also what the hive have spotted?
I'm fed up of the narcissistic me-me-me, me-first! attitude that pervades driving nowadays, in which traffic lights and roundabouts are to be beaten, rather than respected.
I wrote that four years ago. So yes, I would agree with your observation.
It's getting more and more common for many drivers not to even stop when the lights are red these days.
But yes - I agree. Amber now means 'floor it'. Doesn't matter how far you're away from the lights when they turn amber, you just go for it - even when you know they'll be red by the time you reach them.
It's the "Oh dear - I couldn't stop safely as I was going too fast" excuse, which replaces the actuality of "Plenty of time to slow and stop by the time I reach the lights".
This lunchtime I did actually see the driver of a P reg Volvo estate slow down and stop when the lights on Haymarket Terrace (at the junction with Haymarket Yards) turned amber. So it does happen - but rarely enough for me to take special notice of it!
At least some police will stop drivers they see doing that - my dad was pulled over in Craigleith retail park for doing exactly that at the lights on Queensferry Road (coming from the Blackhall direction), and given a talking to (no ticket, though).
Me. It’s a 60 plate Volvo wagon though.
I have a feeling motorists are misbehaving more as they enter roundabouts. I give them a hard stare if they try to enter it in front of me.
To redress the (unfortunate) balance following yesterday's unexpected Volvo stopping at an amber light: white transit SL17 PXW didn't stop for the amber light on the pelican crossing on Oxgangs Road when I was trying to cross this morning. The light was actually red when he rolled through the crossing. I say rolled through because, due to a multiple vehicle RTC on the bypass between the Baberton and Calder junctions westbound, the world and his dog had taken to the ring road instead and so Oxgangs Road westbound was full of traffic moving at barely above walking pace. The net gain to white van man from his unlawful and dangerous behaviour was therefore precisely nothing, as the traffic was backed up both sides of the crossing anyway.
"The net gain to white van man from his unlawful and dangerous behaviour was therefore precisely nothing"
You appear not to have considered that he did it just out of spite, to (in his mind at least) get one over on you. Never underestimate the mean spiritedness of 'frustrated' drivers in traffic...
My response as a pedestrian (and sometimes also as a cyclist) to such misbehaviour is a loud slow hand clap, a forced grin and perhaps a call of "Well done!" in sarcastic tone.
I suppose this should really go in the rubbish driving thread but I seem to be here anyway so here goes...
Small car and black transit-type van waiting to turn right off Slateford Road (eastbound) at the Robertson Avenue lights. Westbound traffic keeps coming through lights after they've turned amber, meaning that small car can't execute its right turn until the light is fully red. Small car was beyond the stop line so that's OK. Black van, though, was behind the stop line, but still decided to follow the car, to the annoyance and inconvenience of people trying to exit the road they were entering (Hermand Crescent?)
Another example this morning of running the amber ending up obstructing crossing traffic: coach turning right out of Stevenson Drive onto Balgreen Road. Lights on Balgreen Road changed to red+amber as the coach was half way across Balgreen Road. Being a coach - and despite having breezed across its stop line with some alacrity - it clearly wasn't going to complete a sharp 90° turn at anything other than a sedate pace. But having effectively taken possession of the carriageway, the coach driver didn't seem to care that his misjudgement/impatience/illegal behaviour (delete as appropriate) was forcing everyone else to wait for him.
So in answer to the OP: random observation does indeed suggest that the majority of drivers fail to observe Highway Code rule 175.
(Just remembered another one, from last night: driver of small silver anonymous-looking hatchback type thing approaching the Haymarket junction along Dalry Road clearly accelerated when the light turned amber. Given that he/she was about to pass the turn in to Distillery Lane at that point this was always a rather optimistic choice of action, and sure enough the vehicle ended up sailing through the red light doing at least 35mph. Bear in mind that this was at 6pm when it was literally freezing cold and the braking performance of their vehicle, had their impetuous behaviour have required them to make use of it, would likely have been noticeably impaired.)
I was on a boring conference call earlier and spent some time watching the pedestrian crossing outside the EICC which I can see from my desk.
In the time I was watching the lights turned red 14 times. Drivers went through on amber 10 times. On each occassion the next set of lights at Semple St or Gardner’s Crescent were firmly at red, so they didn’t save any time.
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