Sea Speed said:

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MAS444 said:

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I can't believe someone with a college education is rationalizing blowing through inoperable intersections without stopping.

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People will rationalize anything. Literally anything. It's a sight to behold.

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Not that it matters, but I would stop. I hadn't given much thought to it until last night until I saw the number of people slamming on breaks at the last second.

Now, if the driver behind you is paying attention, not tailgating, and is prepared to stop, this shouldn't be an issue. That's what everyone should be doing.

But we all know many drivers aren't doing that. Seeing all the people slamming on breaks last night made me think about what's safer - slam on breaks or yield, if you can safely do so. At some point yielding is probably safer, even if it means technically breaking the law.

If only there was an option other than slamming on breaks or "yielding" (running the inoperable intersection).

Tex117 said:

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TXTransplant said:

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At busy intersections or ones where you can't clearly see all four sides, absolutely.

I agree with the previous poster who said stay off the roads with no power. Last night was the first time I'd been out. And the number of people who would speed up to an intersection where you could clearly see there were no other cars waiting to cross only to slam on breaks at the last second was a little unnerving. They clearly weren't paying attention at all - not to the fact that the light was out nor that there was not another car to slam on breaks to avoid.

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You are a great poster TxTransplant, but there just isn't any debate to be had about stopping at every light that is out.

Want to break the law, or change the law, go right on ahead, but that's all there is to it.

For your taking a right turn on red not after a complete stop, yup, I'm well aware I'm braking the law when I do that. I do it because its a pain in the azz to full stop, but I wouldn't advocate NOT coming to a full stop. Just like when lights are out.

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Thanks for the gentler words. I knew I was gonna catch hell for my post, and it's certainly deserved. I'd expect a cop to write me a ticket if they saw anyone doing what I described. I'm not trying to say it's ok or doesn't deserve a ticket, just that it might be the "better" choice in a specific circumstance.

I get what you're saying, and I think we are actually closer in viewpoint on this. I'm not advocating this is how people should be driving right now nor do I think the law should be changed, and that wasn't clear.

But if you get to an intersection and realize you've screwed up and didn't brake in time, don't make it worse by slamming on breaks if you don't have to. And it's really easy for people to make mistakes right now. We are so used to seeing colored lights, that people forget to stop if they don't see one.

Driving is the most dangerous thing most of us do on a routine basis. The vast majority of people have no idea what is going on around them unless it is right in front of their faces (and sometimes they have their phone stuck there). Most everyone should take much more care when on the roads. When driving in an emergency situation there isn't really an excuse for having to slam on your brakes at an inoperable stop light other than you simply weren't paying attention.

TXTransplant - you are correct it is better to continue on through if you notice someone about to rear-end you (because they aren't paying attention to your red-colored brake lights). But, as I mentioned above 99% of people blowing through intersections have no idea what is going on behind them.

TXTransplant said:

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Tex117 said:

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TXTransplant said:

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At busy intersections or ones where you can't clearly see all four sides, absolutely.

I agree with the previous poster who said stay off the roads with no power. Last night was the first time I'd been out. And the number of people who would speed up to an intersection where you could clearly see there were no other cars waiting to cross only to slam on breaks at the last second was a little unnerving. They clearly weren't paying attention at all - not to the fact that the light was out nor that there was not another car to slam on breaks to avoid.

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You are a great poster TxTransplant, but there just isn't any debate to be had about stopping at every light that is out.

Want to break the law, or change the law, go right on ahead, but that's all there is to it.

For your taking a right turn on red not after a complete stop, yup, I'm well aware I'm braking the law when I do that. I do it because its a pain in the azz to full stop, but I wouldn't advocate NOT coming to a full stop. Just like when lights are out.

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Thanks for the gentler words. I knew I was gonna catch hell for my post, and it's certainly deserved. I'd expect a cop to write me a ticket if they saw anyone doing what I described. I'm not trying to say it's ok or doesn't deserve a ticket, just that it might be the "better" choice in a specific circumstance.

I get what you're saying, and I think we are actually closer in viewpoint on this. I'm not advocating this is how people should be driving right now nor do I think the law should be changed, and that wasn't clear.

But if you get to an intersection and realize you've screwed up and didn't brake in time, don't make it worse by slamming on breaks if you don't have to. And it's really easy for people to make mistakes right now. We are so used to seeing colored lights, that people forget to stop if they don't see one.

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No worries! LOL, I think there was just a framing of the argument issue.

"The law that you have to stop at all non-working lights is often impractical and stupid stupid because it can cause X, Y, Z, Issues. I break this law in this circumstance because, from a practical standpoint, its more dangerous to follow the law due to x,y, z circumstances."

Agreed. I saw people blowing through intersections, too, and it really bothered me. I wasn't surprised, but in my head I was thinking that I wished they would at least slow down (since it was clear that were not going to stop).

Everyone should be driving a little under the speed limits when all the lights are out.

I personally am not bothered by someone who rolls through any stop sign, if the intersection is clear. But I'm not the police.

Houston drivers are terrible, and some days I'm one of them. I don't intentionally try to be a jerk on the road, but it happens.

I think in general people don't think about the drivers behind them, because they are out of their line of sight. After moving to Houston, I've learned to always keep an eye in my rear view mirror if I have to come to a complete stop on a busy road, especially 45. But this was not something I routinely did until I moved here.

Oh, right. When I said "technically, that's the law", I was in agreement that breaking it is illegal. I wasn't trying to qualify or defend my position with that or argue that the law is somehow unclear or gray. The law is very black and white, and I certainly wouldn't argue with a cop or judge over it.

My position was simply that sometimes breaking the law might be the "better" option. And we all break the law all the time in numerous ways while driving, whether it be by speeding, rolling through stop signs, neglecting to use a turn signal, or whatever. No one is a perfect driver.

So I do get a little eye-rolly when people say "But it's the law!" when it comes to discussing driving. In a perfect world, sure.

TXTransplant said:

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Oh, right. When I said "technically, that's the law", I was in agreement that breaking it is illegal. I wasn't trying to qualify or defend my position with that or argue that the law is somehow unclear or gray. The law is very black and white, and I certainly wouldn't argue with a cop or judge over it.

My position was simply that sometimes breaking the law might be the "better" option. And we all break the law all the time in numerous ways while driving, whether it be by speeding, rolling through stop signs, neglecting to use a turn signal, or whatever. No one is a perfect driver.

So I do get a little eye-rolly when people say "But it's the law!" when it comes to discussing driving. In a perfect world, sure.

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I knew what you meant!

But yeah. Its this.

(Another good example of when to break the law is when a women (or anyone, really) is driving in a bad part of town and there is a red light....IMO, its perfectly acceptable to run a red (if its safe to do so) as to not come to a full stop in a bad part of town.)

i was puzzled why this thread had blown up so much since i saw it this morning. good grief

TxAg82 said:

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TXTransplant said:

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CheeseSndwch said:

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What really sucks is the ****ty drivers who blow through intersections without a care in the world make the timid drivers hesitate at four way stops and screw up the rhythm of the entire intersection.

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It's definitely a balancing act. You don't want to stop traffic when there is no reason to, but you can't blow though it either because that freaks people out.

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It's not a balancing act. State transportation code says the intersection becomes a stop sign if the signal isn't working. It doesn't matter if there is no reason to stop. The reason is it's now a stop sign.

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Agreed.

But we found another resident Mr. Safety Dad among us lol.

Years ago I was t-boned by a woman in a Ford Expedition plowing through an intersection with a broken stoplight. SR-22 insurance. Go figure.

Of course HPD was at the top of the Edloe overpass over 59 making sure everyone traveling southbound knew the stoplights at Westpark were out. Instead of, you know, directing traffic at the intersection to prevent accidents like mine.

Ragoo said:

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Stopped at a light that wasn't green, was off entirely, the other day and my kids asked why. "Because, and this is very important, if the light is not green it is uncontrolled and you always stop at an uncontrolled intersection. Period. "

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This is the problem (gen pop, not you). People go unless they see red instead of only going when they see green. Uncontrolled lights without a red don't register to most clueless drivers that they need to stop.

Ciboag96 said:

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My two favorite:

- schmuckwad pulls up to the line and gets on their phone. Honk! Looks up, looks around confused.

- car nexts to them goes and they stay looking around, once that car passes through and clears the intersection THEN they decide for some ****ing reason to go as well, causing chaos.

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I see that **** all time at 18th and E TC Jester.

CDUB98 said:

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Ciboag96 said:

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My two favorite:

- schmuckwad pulls up to the line and gets on their phone. Honk! Looks up, looks around confused.

- car nexts to them goes and they stay looking around, once that car passes through and clears the intersection THEN they decide for some ****ing reason to go as well, causing chaos.

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I see that **** all time at 18th and E TC Jester.

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That intersection has to be filled with the dumbest MFers ever from 5-6p.

I've never seen worse traffic dummies this week in my life. Houston is threatening to be the official dumbest city in America for drivers. People cruising on the shoulder today. People t-boning cars in an off traffic signal. Tailgating 2 feet off my bumper in rain and 70 mph in the RIGHT lane.

I'm going to buy a $500 junker and just start ramming them soon.

WhataMaroon88 said:

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I've never seen worse traffic dummies this week in my life. Houston is threatening to be the official dumbest city in America for drivers. People cruising on the shoulder today. People t-boning cars in an off traffic signal. Tailgating 2 feet off my bumper in rain and 70 mph in the RIGHT lane.

I'm going to buy a $500 junker and just start ramming them soon.

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It seems like the bro-dozers are especially unlawful.