AZ Red Lights

[Herb Spitz <hmspitz@domain.elided>]

Digestisti -

>A couple of years ago I remember reading statistics from Arizona that more 
>accidents there are a result of red light running than any other cause
>(including DUI).  Phoenix and Tucson are in the top five cities in the
>country for this phenomenon.  Age of population may be a contributing 
factor.

Age has nothing to do with it - the blue hairs are not running reds, 
they're driving the speed limit and being overly cautious on the whole 
while traffic around them blows by.  A lot of the red light running down 
here in the desert is because of the frustration of dealing with so darn 
many of them!  AMHIK.

Phoenix has more surface area than LA now, but has only about 3 whole 
freeways, compared to LA's bazillion routes.  Which means that to drive 
across town is an adventure that takes place completely on surface streets. 
 And this town has lights at EVERY intersection, none of which are 
synchronized.  If you drive 10 miles across town, what happens is that no 
matter what speed you drive, you stop at probably 10-20 lights....after 
doing this day in and day out, running the yellows becomes a habit.  Lots 
of people just get so frustrated they start blasting through the reds.  The 
major culprits tend to be overly aggressive (and overconfident) drivers in 
luxury cars and giant 4X4s.....

People who run red lights scare me silly, but I can understand why it 
happens in this burg.  Poor planning!

regards,

Herb Spitz
Phoenix, AZ
78 Spider
69 GTV
74 Spider
87 Audi

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