When a stop light cycle is clearly not working, what do you do? Who do you call?
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Anonymous
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A light at a 4-way intersection near me was clearly malfunctioning. 3 sides were working fine, and 1 side was never turning green. 3 full, entire light cycles went by, and one side stayed red the whole time. Both lanes (left/straight) and right turn only (no turn on red) were not being triggered by sensors or whatever.
Do you just... go? When it looks safe? Who do you call to get it fixed or checked out? I was in the right turn lane and eventually 2 cars in front of me said "F it, I'm going." Eventually, so did I. |
Anonymous
| Submit a 311 form online if in DC |
Anonymous
| You report to your local DOT but, in the moment, yes the safest thing to do is turn right on red and then do whatever additional turns are needed to get back on track. This has happened to me when snow/ice impaired the sensors. |
Anonymous
| Should be a number or info on the light pole near the control box. |
Anonymous
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While you're blocked, call 911. It actually is an emergency, because since only one set of light are not working, the other cars don't understand why some cars are forcing their way through, and it's a recipe for serious collisions.
The police will come to direct traffic and also call whoever it is that needs to fix the light. |
Anonymous
| Call 311 |
Anonymous
| Your local vdot |
Anonymous
Turning right on red is illegal in DC, so this is NOT an option. Safest/legal thing to do is stay there until police arrive and direct traffic to allow you to clear the intersection at their direction. |
Anonymous
 Using your phone while driving is illegal too, so how are you calling the police in this very law-abiding scenario?
Exercise some judgment, please. It's possible that waiting for police is the safest course in some circumstances. But I can easily imagine that sitting there while traffic backs up and people increasingly lose their minds behind you is less safe than just turning when it's clear. Just like sometimes you need to move into an intersection to let an ambulance get past you at a red light. |
Anonymous
| Thе Ghostbusters |
Anonymous
Of course it's an option you nincompoop - it's a better option than going straight which is much more risky. Just use some judgement and common sense. The main thing to be aware of is PEDESTRIANS when turning right on red, which is the WHOLE driving reason you can't do it in DC(but used to be able to in the past). |
Anonymous
| Watch for cops who reprogrammed the light to frustrate drivers and are hiding behind a sign waiting to ticket those who run the light. |
Anonymous
^^^ THIS! ^^^ I saw this TWICE on Sunday on a drive to St Mary’s County very early in the morning. Driving down Route 5, approaching a green light in the predawn darkness, it suddenly turned yellow then red just as I approached it. No other traffic around to have triggered the sensor, it changed as I approached it. I even thought about trying to beat the red, but I knew I wouldn’t be fast enough by at least 3 seconds. So I waited on the light to cycle and moved on. Leaving the other side of town (Mechanicsville, MD) the same exact thing happened. Green light turned yellow then red as I was approaching, just soon enough that it would’ve been tempting to run it. No other traffic around. Not a car anywhere. Sitting there, waiting on the light to change, I look over to the shopping center parking lot to my right. There he was - a St Mary’s County Sheriff patrol car. Setting people up for red light tickets. F***ing cops. It’s real. |
Anonymous
The most unsafe thing to do for everyone is to sit there and block the road. You will create an endless stream of extremely angry drivers who will make aggressive maneuvers to get around you. |
Anonymous
That’s on them, if they choose to commit a moving violation. They’re the ones who will be cited, not the car driver following the law. |