Temp traffic lights at roadworks

BrianD3

I've nearly blown my head gasket a few times recently because of the behaviour of asshole drivers ignoring traffic lights at roadworks. What basically happens is: you're waiting at a red light on one side of the obstruction. Traffic starts coming from the other direction. You wait patiently for the traffic to stop and your light to turn green. The traffic doesn't stop, your light turns green but you can't go because the stream of traffic keeps coming and coming. By the time all the inconsiderate Irish bollixes have finished jumping the red light on their side the light on your side has turned f**king red again :mad: You're tempted to break the light yourself but can't really as you're likely to meet a stream of traffic coming from the other direction who will have a green light. If you do go and hold someone up on the other side they will get pissed off and may jump a red light themselves and so the cycle continues until no-one is paying any attention to the lights.

Sometimes, these problems are due to the lights not being set up properly but IME the contracters usually set them up pretty well. If there are problems with traffic flow it's usually not due to the lights, it's due to asshole drivers.

Then you get muppets behind who will blow their horn at you for having the audacity to stop at a red signal at road works and will overtake you dangerously and jump the light when they see you stopping.

It's not just temp traffic lights either. In the past 5 years or so I have noticed an increasing trend of drivers breaking red lights at junctions several seconds after the light has gone red. These nobheads need to get side impacted by a mobile crane or the LUAS - see if they do it again after that.

BrianD3

seamus

BrianD3 wrote:

It's not just temp traffic lights either. In the past 5 years or so I have noticed an increasing trend of drivers breaking red lights at junctions several seconds after the light has gone red. These nobheads need to get side impacted by a mobile crane or the LUAS - see if they do it again after that.

I've also noticed, as you have, a massive increase of people actually overtaking other people in order to break lights. If that's not a bannable offence, I don't know what is. So dangerous.

mike65

Yep see it all the time, mind you there are so mnay more temp lights in use these days its proberly just bringing out the mentality that was always there.

My own view is that temp lights, esp where the road works are very long are a bad idea, things flow much better with a bloke at each end.

Mike.

robbie1876

mike65 wrote:

Yep see it all the time, mind you there are so mnay more temp lights in use these days its proberly just bringing out the mentality that was always there.

My own view is that temp lights, esp where the road works are very long are a bad idea, things flow much better with a bloke at each end.

Mike.

Sometimes what scares the living daylights out of me is when I'm approaching lights at some speed (probably too fast), they turn amber, but because of the speed I think it's safer to head on through the amber light, which turns red just as I go through it (we've all done this, don't be goody two shoes and say you haven't).

But then I look in my mirror and there's a stream of cars have followed me through, maybe 2 or 3 or more of them! It's borderline for me going through just as the lights turn red, so these guys are definitley breaking a solid red. Sometimes you'd be nearly afraid to stop at an amber light for fear of being rear ended by 3 or 4 cars who were intending to break the red.

Regarding the tempory traffic lights, I agree with Mike65 that a bloke with a stop sign at each end makes for much more efficient traffic flow. Part of the reason why people risk running the light after it's gone red is they know that whoever sets these lights up always leaves way too long between cycles, and if traffic is moving well you could get 10 more cars after the red light safely through before the oncoming traffic sees green. In fairness, it's probably set like this specifically for muppets who run the red light.

A traffic cop with a spare hour and a spare pen could make up his weekly quota no problem at these lights. Actually, is it illegal to break a builder's red light? Any one of us good go to Sam Hire, hire a set of lights and set them up on the road, right? Couldn't be much legal grounds for breaking hire lights that can be set up by anyone.

Robbie

Tommy Vercetti

yep see it all the time too, some people need to relax the cacks!

impr0v

This phenomenon is one of my pet hates, 10 or 15 mutually ignorant drivers thinking 'oh one car skipping the light won't matter, there's some leeway built in'. I drove to Donegal during the week from the midlands, encountering on my way 5 seperate sets of traffic lights, with the distance between the opposing lights in each set varying from about 60 feet (at an unmanned excavation on the N4) to I'd say half a Kilometre on a surfacing job. Compared to some of the stuff I've seen on a set I was going through recently of late outside Portlaoise, the behaviour of the drivers I shared these little rests with wasn't too bad.

However, there's always one. I will always stop at the red light, even if the queue I'm in has got short shrift from the ignorant fools on the other side, basically because I hate the way it gets so unbalanced at times that each queue is going on red and stopping on green due to the process that Brian described. So I'm at the long set of lights, and stop when it gets to red, after a good line of cars has got through and enter the cowboy, from about ten cars back in the queue. He dosen't overtake me and the others however, he skips in through the cones on the inside, undertakes the ten cars and cuts across the coned off, newly laid surfacing at speed to catch up with the traffic that was halfway through no mans land at this stage. If he didn't have his wife in the back seat having major contractions he's a serious arse.

Tommy Vercetti

impr0v wrote:

This phenomenon is one of my pet hates, 10 or 15 mutually ignorant drivers thinking 'oh one car skipping the light won't matter, there's some leeway built in'. I drove to Donegal during the week from the midlands, encountering on my way 5 seperate sets of traffic lights, with the distance between the opposing lights in each set varying from about 60 feet (at an unmanned excavation on the N4) to I'd say half a Kilometre on a surfacing job. Compared to some of the stuff I've seen on a set I was going through recently of late outside Portlaoise, the behaviour of the drivers I shared these little rests with wasn't too bad.

However, there's always one. I will always stop at the red light, even if the queue I'm in has got short shrift from the ignorant fools on the other side, basically because I hate the way it gets so unbalanced at times that each queue is going on red and stopping on green due to the process that Brian described. So I'm at the long set of lights, and stop when it gets to red, after a good line of cars has got through and enter the cowboy, from about ten cars back in the queue. He dosen't overtake me and the others however, he skips in through the cones on the inside, undertakes the ten cars and cuts across the coned off, newly laid surfacing at speed to catch up with the traffic that was halfway through no mans land at this stage. If he didn't have his wife in the back seat having major contractions he's a serious arse.

dontcha just love it when you see the red ljght, speeding up, guy in the Hiace behind gets all excited, then you slam on the brakes and STOP.

John R

It is not just at temporary lights, any single lane section is the same. The bridge over the railway at Clondalkin is a great example, I regularly see cars going through 10 seconds after the light goes red.

It has gotten so bad now the 76 bus has been permanently re-routed in peak hours because it was constantly getting stuck with these muppets halfway across the bridge.

Seth Brundle

Red lights mean nothing in todays society. Every time I stop on an amber on a busy road I look in my rear view to see if Im going to get rear ended. It is purely because people know they are extremely likely to get away with it. Thankfully, so far I havent been hit but this is surprising (especially as I am generally a late braker). Usually the driver behind will throw a mini tantrum towards me. However, sometimes than (as mentioned) the driver when stoped will start up again and overtake me and break the red lights. There is a camera at Kilmainham to catch red lighters (& I think Victor recently said that there was one on the Stillorgan dualler). I saw the one in Kilmeinham go off about a year/18 months ago. Never seen it happen since and I go past it twice daily!

A year ago an oul fella came over the bridge at Leixlip Confey (single lane with traffic lights) and luckily just scraped the side of my car. He came over when I had a green (have witnesses!) which means that he waited about 15 seconds before proceeding. The gardai didn't really want to know. (what made it even more painful was that the prick began telling me that the lights were broken - but fixed themselves when i looked - and wanted me to join him in a dual claim off the council - go fúck yourself mister!

Victor

robbie1876 wrote:

Actually, is it illegal to break a builder's red light?

You are certainly obliged to follow the instructions of a banksman, so I imagine it's covered there.

Interceptor

Originally Posted by robbie1876
Actually, is it illegal to break a builder's red light?

Depends what you mean by 'break'. I was tempted to stop and throw a set of builders lights into the ditch once, but calmed myself and shot everyone in a hi-vis vest with my pretend 9mm.

'ceptr

ToxicPaddy

robbie1876 wrote:

...Sometimes you'd be nearly afraid to stop at an amber light for fear of being rear ended by 3 or 4 cars who were intending to break the red.

Nearly happened to me last year..

Was driving along about 40ish down the dual carriagway N11 heading for
Stillorgan and just as I was coming to the lights by RTE the lights turned
amber so I started slowing down by lifting my foot off the accelerator and
then touched the brake when I got within distance of the lights to stop..
nothing rushed, no mad braking or anything..

Next thing I see this Transit van pull up beside me (in the lane that turns
right) and the look on yer mans face was one of pure rage.. he starts waving
his hands and whatever so I roll down my window and next thing he starts
abusing me and f*cking me outta it.. claiming i could have made the lights
and stuff.. I was about 150metres from the lights when the started turning
amber.. :rolleyes:

Tox

impr0v

BrianD3 wrote:

Sometimes, these problems are due to the lights not being set up properly but IME the contracters usually set them up pretty well.

I spoke recently to a guy that had set them up in the past. He had last used them about 6 years ago and said that at that stage there were only three settings on the lights that were available for hire; 'low' 'medium' and 'high', depending on how far apart the lights are. Given that a modern toaster has more calibration settings that this, it's no wonder there is a break down in the sequencing if there are a few of these sets still floating about. I'd imagine that more modern sets have settings for green time, the travel time between the two sets and then an 'ignorant bastards breaking the lights' safety period. They should also have the potential to be set for tidal flows.