Dyna tells us how the green light only gives us permission to enter an intersection, not to pass the next "control point".
Dean seems to have been looking at eastbound traffic, which I think would mean that the traffic would have to cross the tracks before entering the intersection. I think that the green light would have caused drivers to start moving across the tracks before the arms came down. If the arms come down as quickly as I think they do, it would be easy for them to hit a car that started to move into the intersection on the green because there was no train traffic. Of course, the people 2-3 cars back who also began moving with the green may well hit anyone stopping abruptly when they see the arms move. I think that one of the reasons that this may happen is that it isn't really integrated for train traffic. The fire/police Opticon? system is being activated by the trains to control the semaphores and the arms/flashing lights are solely linked to the train movements, probably based on track sensors like other rr crossings. The emergency vehicles don't have arms to be considered in the control of semaphores. There is an intersection at Snelling and county road C in Roseville where there is a train track about 30 feet south of the crosswalk on the south side. There is signage warning against stopping on the tracks and flahing lights. I've never seen what happens when a train comes through and I don't know whether the signals are supposed to be operating in an integrated fashion. I'm well aware that the wood in the arms is only a step or two harder than balsa and will break away if you hit them, but most people are not. On the other hand, it seems like I remember that the arm that was hit in the sole reported lrt accident so far didn't look like it was broken. Visit www.EffectiveTransit.org The Independent Unsubsidized Voice of Citizens for Effective Transit in the Twin Cities (no lrt) * lrt isn't a potato chip, you can stop at just one * Bruce Gaarder Highland Park Saint Paul MN [EMAIL PROTECTED] REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
