While I was sleeping? Apparently an orange (amber) light that used to mean 'stop, unless you are so close to the intersection that you can't stop safely. A yellow signal indicates that the lights will soon turn red.' (from LTSA) But now it seams to mean 'speed up and try to get through before the light turns red or not long after' Have I missed something? Did the rules change, or are there more bad drivers who have no idea than there used to be? It happens at almost every red light. I came to a light yesterday and easily stopped, but in the inside lane the car slightly behind me and the 3 after that all went through, the last on a full red. Do they not realise when their light is red the other peoples light is green?
saxman99,
Nov 1, 3:32pm
I think what's happening is that the lights are so poorly phased, unsequenced and generally completely hopeless and disorganized that especially in heavy traffic people basically DGAF and run as many cars after the yellow as physically possible. Can't blame them really. I know when I'm first in line on a green I always check for 'stragglers'.
atom.ant,
Nov 1, 3:40pm
What gets me is when you have a green light and cars still go though their red light and block your lane so so cant move. Seems to be a free for all in Tauranga.
therafter1,
Nov 1, 4:11pm
First, or 30 first I still check, it is an intersection and some berk may not even have seen the lights, or be drunk or drugged or christ knows what! . was a passenger with my FIL one day and I know he isn't a particularly attentive driver and I was in the passenger seat and he sailed straight thru a red that was red from a hundred metres back. I goes jesus, you just drove straight thru a bloody red light and he says, no I never, there wasn't even any lights let alone a red light lol
therafter1,
Nov 1, 4:13pm
What gets me is why isn't plod monitoring this sort of behaviour. You are not permitted to enter an intersection until you can clear the intersection, be it controlled by lights or otherwise.
gazzat22,
Nov 1, 4:19pm
Simple answer. Not enough "Plods".maybe with a new government we may see an increase.
tamarillo,
Nov 1, 6:06pm
Oddly I got a ticket for running an orange and took it court saying I couldn't stop safely IMO with a car tailgating me, and it wasn't safe IMO for me to stop quickly. Got thrown out. Overzealous young officer, who I saw, so knew I should stop if I could.
socram,
Nov 1, 6:19pm
Agree with #2. Get so fed up with being in a queue of 20 or 30 cars and the lights only let 2 through - legitimately. Auckland Transport deliberately creates hiccups - and it isn't going to improve any time soon.
Interesting that the amber phase in NZ is so long compared to other countries, so that means that drivers think they have plenty of time before they change to red.
therafter1,
Nov 1, 7:54pm
The yanks appear to have more idea. Watch this intersection for a while and see how theirs works. It’s the middle of the night at the moment so normal give way rules apply, which also should happen over here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psfFJR3vZ78 You can turn right on a red, but you have to give way to traffic approaching from your left (no problem here as the straight thru traffic has its own lane at this point). You can turn left on a red when you have an orange flashing arrow telling you that you have to give way to straight thru traffic, when you have a green arrow the straight thru traffic approaching you has a red … over here the logic seems to be stop everybody cos they don’t trust the competence of the drivers and the only time you can proceed in any direction is on a green.
morrisjvan,
Nov 1, 9:27pm
I have been through the odd amber light now and then, and on these occasions I look in my mirror and have seen not one, not two , but sometimes three vehicles following through after me !
hkjoe,
Nov 1, 10:31pm
Same in Auckland. Regularly see 4-5 cars entering intersection after green light for opposing traffic.
hkjoe,
Nov 1, 10:35pm
Also there is long delays in getting started. Light goes green, several seconds then first car off, delay then second car etc. The one situation I will 'tailgate' is starting off from a green light. Also a lot of people queued at a red light leave a large gap between them and the car in from. 1/2 to 1 car length. This delays things even more when they start off.
rj-001,
Nov 2, 12:22pm
Amber phase time. The important thing is that they are consistent and fair. I can't remember now where I read this but one of the US cities got in a bit of trouble a while back fiddling (illegally) with these times. I think the gist of it was that they reduced the amber times only at intersections with red light cameras. I am sure it was all and only about "safety". This was only found out after some fined individual had the time (and the balls) to investigate and take it to court after which all similarly fined people had their conviction dropped. Could never happen here.
martin11,
Nov 2, 12:28pm
You can enter the intersection doing a RH turn provided you are the only car there and when the lights change to orange the oncoming cars should stop and let you go . You are not allow any more that one car in the intersection doing this at a time . Its called blocking if you stop in the middle of and intersection going straight through . That is not allowed .
rj-001,
Nov 2, 3:15pm
And I can confirm that martin11. A couple of weeks ago my elderly mother in law took the free AA coaching session for senior drivers. The "completing a right on an amber" or whatever it may be called, was the biggest thing she took away from it. Now she doesn't get "stuck" turning right anywhere near so much. To be honest I had either forgotten or never knew that, so it has improved right hand turns for me too.
oldboyjohn,
Nov 2, 3:51pm
Martin 11 is correct, but stress you can enter the intersection on a green light, not an amber, which is what my moan is about!
martin11,
Nov 2, 4:08pm
Hi John ever do any more testing ? I did not apply and from what I hear about in Chch I am glad I am no longer involved .
gammycontent,
Nov 2, 4:44pm
Its been an unwritten rule for years. G is for "Green" and "Go", A is for "Amber" and "Accelerate"
marte,
Nov 2, 7:52pm
Yeah it could. I got done for driving thru a red light once. I went back later and found out they had ommited the orange light completely. It went directly from green to red. This was on Ferry rd Chch, traveling into town, '94. They had a side offshoot at the intersection on red for ages.while the main rd to Moorhouse rd was green. To clear on coming that was turning right, they gave me a short red light, then changed both the side rd and the main rd to green. After I queried Council, the first guy confirmed it, they all denied it after that and two weeks later the traffic signals changed and the short 'no announcement' red light, has a orange light before it.
Still had to pay the fine though.
marte,
Dec 9, 4:40pm
Nah, you are going to cause a accident if, at 50km/h, you slam on the brakes when the lights change to orange , when you are one metre from the white stop line.
Its "stop, IF its safe to".
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