Motorists Ignore Warning Lights

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Editor,

A long, long time ago, in a society far, far away, drivers stopped at yellow lights. It was known and understood in those times that a yellow stop light mandated caution. Better to stop, it was thought, than risk an accident. Yet times changed. Better to throw caution to the wind, it was then thought, than to risk losing 90 seconds not moving, sitting at a red light doing nothing except perhaps a few quick texts. Zooming though the yellow caution light became a rite of passage.

We are not talking about the stop ‘n go moment, that split second reaction when a green light turns to yellow and the amygdala triggered flight or fight reflex consummates in a hard brake followed by extreme acceleration. Rather, we are talking about a deliberate, nonchalant cruise through a yellow light, perhaps even one that has existed for several seconds. This may seem risky, but fortunately the stoplight police seem to have anticipated this and built in a few nanoseconds delay before the light on the cross street turns from red to green. One might imagine that the pause between light changes would provide an extra measure of safety. Alas, it is not to be so and the void created by this nanosecond delay does not seem to be long for this world.

Right on cue, vehicles can be seen routinely cruising through red lights in the same casual manner previously relegated to the yellow caution light of which little notice is now taken. Can the round-about traffic circle be in our future?

 

David S. Watkins, Laguna Beach

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