What should I do when the traffic light is stuck on red?
Yesterday the red-to-green signal that allows drivers to merge on the highway was all backed up. I was surprised to see the driver in front of me stop, then drive right through the red light. When I got to it, I found out why. The lights were stuck on red. No green for me or the other lane. We all were driving cars, no motorcycles. With no where to go but straight ahead, how long do you wait before you go through the red light? After waiting a minute and making sure it was clear, I drove through. Otherwise, we might all still be sitting there now! This has also happened late at night at intersections where there is NO traffic and my car failed to trip the sensors for whatever reason. Driving back and forth over the groove in the road and flashing the brights fails. What do you do? By the way, this happened in Wisconsin.
I know what you were going through. The light right outside my neighborhood has the same problem - It has been stuck on red for several weeks now. There is a check list that I've gone through to ensure my safely and the safety of others.
1. If this is your first time to the light, and your not sure whether it is broken or not, you should definitely wait a few minutes. Usually, though, you will notice it is broken from the backup of traffic and the cars in front of you.
2. Come to a complete stop.
3. Look to see if the signal is broken in both directions (i.e. blinking red or no light color) If it is, simply treat it as a four-way stop.
4. If it is not, and the other direction is green, remain stopped and until your sure that there are no cars coming. In your case, since you were merging onto a highway, the cars will probably be driving at a higher rate of speed. Take this into account.
5. Once all is clear, proceed with caution.
6. Finally, and most importantly, report it immediately.
Make a complete stop...use caution then proceed on.
Call your local cops.
you did what i would have done.
Answers:
that happens to me every so often when stopped at the traffic signal to merge on a freeway. If the signal doesn't turn green for a while, I just go ahead and go and merge on the freeway. That signal is just a meter-signal during rush hour traffic so the freeway doesn't get jammed up at once. At a traffic signal at an intersection, I usually stop about 10 feet before the crosswalk and that usually triggers the signal after a few minutes. If that fails, just turn right onto the cross street and make a u-turn and turn rignt back on the street you are on. Then report to your local city traffic division so the traffic signals could be fixed
Almost all traffic lights are no more than 4 minutes, so the safest thing to do is to wait 4 minutes before you proceed. Many places now have cameras that photograph your face and driver's license when you go through a red light.
If you can turn right, do so. If not, wait liek you did and then go. if pulled over, it can be easily explained to an offer. He will probably already know about the problem.
When the lights are stuck on red or flashing red all ways the rules are that the intersection defaults to a 4 way stop for everyone.
Which basically means, everyone stops first, and if you all stop at the exact same time the vehicle to your right has the right of way, if you don't all arrive at the same time the first one to arrive and stop has the right of way.
With respect to how long you stop, there is no specific time frame, it means you stop to a complete stop and look both way to make sure it's clear then proceed. So it all depends on how fast you can look.
The main part is that it's a complete stop not a rolling stop!
You should be able to find those rules in your license boroughs web site.
try flashing your bright, some lights have sensors for ambulances and the flashing lights make them change
