John Harris wrote: > why wouldn't a public awareness campaign work for side > impact collisions?
Because you are more likely to alter behavior when there is accountability, i.e., a ticket. The idea for a public awareness campaign for cameras is because behavior is unlikely to change if people don't know that they might be held accountable. And, I admit, you have to change the cultural driving habits of people. I remember having to adjust to people stopping early for yellows in Pullman, WA. I was use to people in L.A. stopping for reds, but not early for yellows. > I have commuted for work for 10 years, most to downtown mpls > from st paul, eagan, river falls and north mpls. recently > from north mpls to eden prairie and st paul. it has been > extremely rare that i have seen any one blow through > a red light while it was clearly red and had been for a > significant amount of time. what i have witnessed is the 1 > or 2 cars that go through as the light turns red and the > opposing light just turns green. in many of those cases when > i am first at the intersection, i have just got off the > brake by the time the offender has gone through. now cameras > will catch these people but besides being a nuisance, i haven't > witnessed a situation where they are dangerous. I > know it can be but i have driven a lot of miles and i just > don't have the personal experience to claim that it is a problem of > epidemic proportions. perhaps i am lucky, but i am skeptical of luck. > when a light turns green it is 50/50 that a car will be entering or > in the intersection from cross traffic. it is a nuisance for sure, > but dangerous? now blowing a red light due to talking on the cell > phone or reading email from your pda, now that is a problem > and cameras will not take care of that. Boy, I disagree with so much of this. First, if you haven't observed people frequently running reds I think you're lucky (or maybe you don't spend as much time driving in Minneapolis as the rest of us). I see it everyday. Sometimes it's even busses. Often when I'm pushing the yellow, I can look in my rearview mirror and see one or two cars coming through the red after me (this happened yesterday). The definition of running a red light is simple, a vehicle enters the intersection when the light is red. If you enter when the light is still yellow you have not violated the law. I don't understand how you come up with this 50% probability of a car will be entering or in the intersection from cross traffic. Depending on the timing the probability is either much lower or much higher. If it was 50% at the time the light changes, then our accident rate would be astronomical. I think that your subjective lucky experience of failing to notice violations is not a good measure of risk. I've never been mugged, but I think that it has more to do with its statistical infrequence than whether I'm a tough guy or not. I know plenty of tough guys who've been robbed and I know plenty of good drivers who've been in auto accidents. Michael Atherton Prospect Park REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact 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 Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
