Yellow light, come on people

I don't know if this is applicable to other countries...but here goes...


You know what ticks me off? People who comes to a dead stop at blinking yellow lights. Its an epidemic here in the greater Atlanta area. Blinking yellow light, it just causes total gridlock. It's not that bad out in the burbs now, but when I lived in the city and it happened any time it stormed it made any commute a pain in the rears.

Now, blinking yellow means caution, look out, this intersection might be dangerous. It doesn't mean stop. That's a blinking red light.

What kills me the most is that people treat blinking yellows like the end of the world. It's the only time I see people ever come to a complete stop.

If that same traffic light is out and not working, these same people drive right through it as if to say "It's nto working, you can't enforce it." It's the non-working or down traffic light that is treated like a stop you nitwit.

I was driving back from the gym today and had to deal with two miles of traffic for no reason other than a blinking yellow light. This isn't the first time this light has started to blink for no reason. When I didn't stop, instead following the car in front of me through the light, someone had the audasity to honk at me.

All things considered, this isn't anyhting important, but it's enough to waste 25 minutes of my time today for no reason.

Johnny Carson used to say that EVERYTHING had a name.

For example, that line, from the bottom of your nose, to your upper lip = Filtrum

The middle light on traffic signals = Floret

I totally agree with you! You should have seen how terrible it was last year after the hurricanes, where for a good two weeks almost ALL lights were blinking yellow for traffic on the main roads (and of course, blinking red for the traffic on the roads that intersect them.) Just don't get me started on how many people are unaware of the practice of making right hand turns on red, or making left hand turns when there isn't a turn arrow ;p

Then again, it's obscenely easy to get a driver's license in this country compared to say, Europe (it's $20 bucks for a license down here - I've heard it is several grand over there, but I have never needed to make the attempt, so someone can correct me) And the testing to get a license is comical! A 50 question multiple-choice quiz (gee, what could that sign with the right arrow POSSIBLY mean... how about the red octagon with four large characters in white that seem suspiciously familiar...) on a computer and five minutes driving around the parking lot with an "inspector."

Up north, where the cost of living is quite cheap, a week long crash course will set you back about £1000, and thats a cheap one...they go upto about £1500 around here, and down south and around London the prices can get as high as £3500 for the same course. that, coupled with the extortionate insurance rates for younger drivers, incredibly expensive fuel means that many young people cannot afford to run a car.

And by the time i can learn to drive in April '07, prices will more likely be even higher...

Man, you should come to China for a week. Traffic jams due to driver ineptitude would be the LEAST of your worries. Any time you get driven anywhere, you simply thank God that you made it there alive. And with a road death toll of 100,000 a year, without even mentioning injuries, I'm NOT exaggerating. China should never have gotten cars before she developed properly. There are NO rules except "MY ROAD. ME FIRST." They have no concept of driver caution/skill, courtesy, speed, danger, or potential death. Driving past a fatal accident is a reason to slow down to a crawl or stop and gawk, and sometimes to take pictures; it is not perceived as a lesson to be learnt.

And it's not a "Chinese thing". Taiwan? Singapore? Mainland China? :shk:






[edit on 2006-6-6 by wecomeinpeace]

How do you post if you live in China? I thought for sure they'd block this site.

Originally posted by The Big O
How do you post if you live in China? I thought for sure they'd block this site.

They block certain threads from time to time when certain keywords pop up I believe. WIP will correct me if I'm wrong however, he could be using a proxy server to bypass or whatever. Who knows, best not to speculate on second thought...

Sardion, you live in Canada I assume, what does it cost to get a basic license (for a car, not a motorcycle) at your country's youngest possible age (in your currency, or whatever is most conveinent)? Personally I believe we should adopt what duckciao's British people must pay!!) (or more)

Originally posted by AlphaHumana
Sardion, you live in Canada I assume, what does it cost to get a basic license (for a car, not a motorcycle) at your country's youngest possible age (in your currency, or whatever is most conveinent)? Personally I believe we should adopt what duckciao's British people must pay!!) (or more)

16 is the earliest in the city, in some rural counties the age is 14 due to the lack of any traffic whatsoever.

www.isc.utoronto.ca...

Drivers with less than 2 years experience
Ontario has a graduated license system in which drivers with less than 2 years experience are considered "new drivers" and must pass two levels of testing in order to be fully licensed. During this time, the temporary license will include restrictions relating to passengers, time of day you may drive, alcohol consumption, and highway access.

If you do not already have a driver’s license, or if you have a license but less than two years experience, contact the Ministry of Transportation for further information about the graduated license system.

Drivers with more than 2 years experience
If you have a license from another country and have more than two years driving experience, you are immediately eligible to take the Level Two exit test, which involves written and road tests. The cost for these tests and a five year license is $135. You must provide proof of experience (a license that has been valid for more than two years, an expired license covering that period, or a letter of confirmation from the authorities in your country).

When you write the written test, your licensing privileges will be reduced to G1 (must drive with another licensed G driver in the car) status until you have successfully graduated with the G class (full driving privileges).

[edit on 7-6-2006 by sardion2000]

mod edit:Quote Reference (review link)
Posting work written by others. **ALL MEMBERS READ** (review link)

[edit on 14-6-2006 by UK Wizard]

Wow, very thorough answer, Sardion, thanks! The system you have up there seems very much more logical than the circus we have down here (I'm speaking for the state of Florida, since it is the only one I have personal experience with - and I'm positive other states have even MORE lax systems - some states don't even require any kind of collision or liability insurance, for example!)

Thanks. I think our system is actually a bit too lax judging by the quality of driving skills displayed by a large portion of the locals... For instance, for a large portion of the driving population up here, the Yellow signal signifies "Speed Up excessively." I can understand if you are pretty much at the line when it turns yellow, sure speed up a bit to make sure you cross before it turns red. If you're like 50-100 meters away and go from 40 kph to 80 kph in a few seconds trying to catch a yellow is a bit .... reckless, don't you think? The rule of thumb I've heard is "Under 25 meters speed the frell up, Over 25 meters slow the frack down!" from the Good drivers at least. They should teach that in all Drivers courses.

One other thing, it's customary to do a certain amount of time at an accredited drivers school as that lowers your insurance by a huge amount in the long run. Prolly similiar down there.

- some states don't even require any kind of collision or liability insurance, for example!

Well, just what states are these then? If it inludes Alaska, then I'm not surprised. What's the population again? There is a lot of area's of Canada and the USA that have very lax laws, those area's are all Rural areas so maybe some of those states are primarily well erm .... rural.

[edit on 8-6-2006 by sardion2000]

I would have to look into it, to post which states require neither collision nor liability (I believe hardly any states require collision - unless you are leasing and therefore your bank requires you to have it, but otherwise who cares because it's your car!) But when discussing the subject, people who have lived for a time in Florida (and since moved) mentioned to me "you have to have insurance down there, don't you?" That's all I have to base my statement on so far - a cursory view of insurance rates gave the predictable labyrinth of cost structures

i only just noticed this thread so forgive my if i am being old here but sometime ago i posted a link to a video of a chinese crash test, reason for all the road deaths?
it is realy amazing what happens,
i think it said in it somewhere "what is the use of an airbag when the entire dashboard hits you in the face" :shk:
www.belowtopsecret.com...'

I don't know about raising the cost of getting a driver's license myself--at least not to $1K-$3K--but the system should be changed somehow. I mean, if you raise the cost, then you just get rich people who can't drive, and a lot of people who can't afford it and don't have access to public transportation (i.e. in rural areas) are SOL.

One thing I'd like to see is continual retesting. Every X number of years you need to retake both the written and the driving exams in order to keep your license. About the only other thing I can think of that might help would be stricter traffic enforcement, but I'm not so sure I'd want to tout that--I'm not necessarily a bad driver, but I'm far from perfect.

The blinking yellow lights are supposed to be treated as stop signs.

Originally posted by Legend
The blinking yellow lights are supposed to be treated as stop signs.

I'm not sure if they work it the same way where you are located but where I, and I assume the OP, are located we use blinking RED lights when they are intended to be used as stop signs. Blinking yellow means caution (for example, some roads have them placed in front of fire-departments.)

Cory, I agree that raising the price that high would prohibit poorer people from driving, and I agree that we should be re-tested every so many years (maybe even ESPECIALLY for people over 75, if not younger - but then again, I live in "God's waiting room" so maybe I'm too experienced with dealing with very elderly dangerous drivers) But as it is now, the test is really a joke (in the state of Florida anyway) The $1-3k, if it came to it, should be used for a REQUIRED class - non of that video rental class junk you can do if you want to take points off your license for getting a speeding citation - you need to take.

that show cracks me up.

AlphaHumana, you wanna know why so many of them old folks down in Florida can't drive? Because a Large portion of them are from Toronto. Yes, the Drivers in this city really are that bad, and we have a history of having bad drivers. Some people I know have been driving in Toronto since they were 16, and yet don't even bother with any type of tire maintance or even switching the summer tires to the ice tires when fall rolls around. (Or even bothering to plunk down 800 bucks for some all season radials )

That's it, I guess I will have to blame Canada !

You know, there are an awful lot of condominium complexes with the word Canada or Canadian in them in my area... "Yours to Discover" and "Je Me Souviens" are not uncommon sights on the road, especially during the winter months (can't blame them!)! Hey, are you guys in Toronto big golfers? I'm not joking when I say that the public courses down here literally have concrete poles in front of water-fountains and soda machines because there has been a history of dumbasses running their carts into them! I cringe when I think of them turning their carts back in and hopping in their cars to go home!!

ed- silly typo

[edit on 16-6-2006 by AlphaHumana]