Re: Ticket help

[Kneale Brownson <knotnook@traverse.com>]

At 12:06 PM 9/16/99 +0200, Aleksander Mierzwa wrote:
>At 16:14 99-09-15 -0400, Kneale Brownson wrote:
>
>>Don't know about Washington,  Jason, but in Michigan, where I live, the
>>statute says you broke the rules if you entered the intersection after the
>>yellow came on.  You may proceed through an intersection, even on a full
>>red light, if you were already in it when the yellow began but could not
>>proceed because of some delay ahead of you.   The "speed-too-fast" part
>>probably was that you accelerated at the intersection rather than slowing
>>down.  The latter approach probably would have prevented you from running
>>the light.
>
>Not being an American my opinion here is probably not worth even the
>proverbial $0.02, but this law sounds nonsense to me. What if the light
>turned yellow 0.1 seconds before I entered intersection? Over here the law
>says you may not enter the intersection at yellow, _unless_ you'd have to
>make a panic stop. 
>
>--
>Aleksander Mierzwa
>Warsaw, Poland
>87 5KT

Seems to me determining whether a panic stop was required/would be harmful
is an even less finite decision than whether the yellow light appeared
before or as one entered the intersection.  The general rule of "safe"
driving is that you should approach any intersection with caution and be
prepared to adjust your pace appropriately.  Yesterday I watched a police
patrol car come roaring down a busy street  with lights blazing/flashing
and siren wailing away, using the oncoming lane because there was nowhere
to escape to for the line of cars going the same way he was, and when he
reached the intersection, where there were lines of cars in all four
directions, he came to a complete stop to be certain he'd not get T-boned
on his way through.  Years ago, he'd have assumed the ROW and zipped right
on through at full speed.  Of course, years ago, there would not have been
so much congestion.

Kneale Brownson