Bill Kahn wrote:
Decades ago in another state, I appeared in court for a speeding
citation
and was given traffic school at my request. The class and the police
sergeant
who taught it, all gave up a Saturday to all brush up on traffic laws. On
the
specific subject of running red lights, I learned a rule of thumb from the
sergeant: if a yellow light turns red before you reach the limit line at the
far
side of the intersection, you have run the light. I put the rule into
practice and have seldom run a red light since.
It is a good rule, but after dutifully stopping at a big intersection as the
light was about to turn red, I found that few knew it.
Mark Anderson replies:
My understanding of the law is that as long as the car is in the
intersection when the light turns red, that you aren't breaking the law. Am
I correct in this? Is there a statute on the MN books that specifies what
constitutes running a red light?
Allen Graetz chimes in: Yes, there is a law. It'll be under MN statute 169.
I believe Bill Kahn was explaining the difference between what constitutes a
car in the
intersection versus one that is not in the intersection with the light turns
red.
Bill Kahn replies:
"rule of thumb (1692) 1 : a method of procedure based on experience and
common sense 2 : a general principle regarded as roughly correct but not intended
to be scientifically accurate" --from my dictionary
I meant what I said: "a rule of thumb."
I learned some other rules from a local television show for kids hosted
by "Engineer Bill" who taught that "red light" means stop and "green light"
means go in a milk drinking game; that lesson sunk in too, but given the railroad
theme of the show he didn't get into yellow lights much.
How the law says we should drive and how we often drive are often two
very different things and "rules of thumb" are easy ways to translate the law
into everyday practice. Until we have external control systems to guide us
safely through the traffic on our roads, we must rely on ourselves; that means
cultivating the kind of judgment that makes everyone safe. Driving is not a right,
but a privilege; we are way too lax about granting folks this privilege
considering the kind of carnage on the roads today. I recommend defensive driving
courses to everyone who drives. The paltry few minutes you gain by driving like
an idiot is not worth much. Safe roads and safe drivers are what should count.
Speaking of intersections, I was recently in the second lane eastbound
waiting at the notorious St. Paul intersection at Snelling through three signals
because people entered the intersection southbound on Snelling with nowhere
to go. This situation is what's known as "gridlock," and drivers who cause it
in many states can be ticketed and fined severely for causing it. I don't know
if it is a Minnesota law, but I never enter an intersection from which I
cannot get out--I wait until there is somewhere for me to go on the other side.
Bill Kahn
Prospect Park
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