[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by MJCtalk

There are too many different vehicles on the main roads in the Villages. Something has to go. Bikes can use the multimodal lanes only or not be permitted on major roads within the Villages at all. They slow and interfere with auto traffic and do not follow road rules. I see comments about car and cart drivers but not 1 word about the hazard the bicycles are causing.

The thing about a bicycle commuting somewhere is that it keeps a gasoline CO2 spewing car off the road and increases the safety for the car passengers - a bicycle does NOT hurt car occupants in the event of a collision. So, a driver of a car or truck ought to LOVE to see more and more people riding bikes and E-bikes. If the cyclist were NOT going somewhere by bicycle, they would likely be taking their car. And that means one more car in a line waiting at a red lite and hoping NOT to have to sit through 2 or even 3 lights.
......Therefore, cars and trucks should HIGHLY RESPECT bicycle riders.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by LAFwUs

Not entirely correct.
Red light cameras have been shown to not be beneficial and many cities have/are dumping them.
They tend to cause more accidents as drivers either speed up to beat the camera or panic brake to avoid being caught on the red mid intersection. Both often result in more accidents.
They also have been proven to lead to manipulation (traffic light timing & tweeking cam perspective) by less than ethical traffic enforcement agencies, solely to increase city/county revenue, resulting in greater court burdens, lawsuits, etc.
In some cases where that hasn't happened, audits have discovered that they cost more than they bring in, as the back end support, maintenance & contracts associated with them are a substantial money drain.

I am SOLIDLY in the camp FOR speed cameras and red light cameras. Someone in TV Town obviously does NOT want to pay for the necessary number of Police Officers needed. So, maybe cameras would be less costly and still be an improvement over the current speeding and reckless driving going on.
.........Plus TV Land is having MANY accidents and trips to the HOSPITAL and lost time are COSTLY.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by VApeople

A similar thing happened to me. I was leaving the parking lot next to the driving range, so I had to cross the MMP. The MMP has a STOP sign, but I did not have one.

I saw two walkers going along the MMP, and I let them go. However, they were being closely followed by two golf carts, and the first one went thru the stop sign without stopping. I pulled up about 3 feet from him with my horn blaring and I did not stop honking until he was well out of the way. I bet the cart driver will not forget this encounter.

The second cart stopped at the stop sign.

Overall good move. But unfortunately, you had to ACT as an Enforcement OFFICER because none were around and you did NOT even get paid for it. Maybe if cameras were installed there, people would learn to RESPECT the stop sign and the SAFETY of others.
........The humorous (and sad) thing is that we are ALL retired and do NOT need to hurry up and run stop signs or lights. We are rushing to our noon NAP.

[LAFwUs]

Small sampling of real data from a crossed the nation regarding red-light cams....

Study: Red-light cameras fail to reduce traffic accidents

Red Light Cameras May Not Make Streets Safer - Scientific American

USA TODAY

Red-light cameras being stopped across Southern California, country – San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Why Cities Hit the Brakes on Red Light Cameras

https://www.sog.unc.edu/blogs/nc-cri...onstitutional\

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archi...-75e73043d60a/

https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/researc...ue-controversy

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_ro...10c43c96f.html

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/aust...luding-austin/

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by LAFwUs

Small sampling of real data from a crossed the nation regarding red-light cams....

Study: Red-light cameras fail to reduce traffic accidents

Red Light Cameras May Not Make Streets Safer - Scientific American

USA TODAY

Red-light cameras being stopped across Southern California, country – San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Why Cities Hit the Brakes on Red Light Cameras

https://www.sog.unc.edu/blogs/nc-cri...onstitutional\

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archi...-75e73043d60a/

https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/researc...ue-controversy

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_ro...10c43c96f.html

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/aust...luding-austin/

There is a lot to unpack there and interestingly, some of those "studies" argue against each other.

- Rear-end accidents increased while T-bone accidents decreased. Yep, that's what you would expect if people are now stopping at the light rather than running it.

- Accidents decreased at non-camera intersections too. Of course they did. In the split second where you decide to stop or run the light you don't have time to think of whether this light has a camera; instead, you stop at every light. That just shows that a camera doesn't need to be installed at every light in order to get the benefit.

- Accidents didn't increase greatly after cameras were installed. Yep, the cameras changed behaviors. Accidents will again increase but it will take some time for those who would run the red lights to feel comfortable doing that again.

- Accidents increased from 30 to 34 the year the camera was removed but that is not significantly greater. I don't know, a 13% increase seems significantly greater especially if I was the victim of one of the four.

- The Dept of Transportation who installed the cameras doesn't have the authority to enforce traffic laws. Obviously, this doesn't speak at all to whether the cameras are effective at reducing severe injuries and deaths.

- Accidents continued to increase in spite of the cameras. Then this study can't provide any conclusions at all about the effectiveness of the cameras.

[jimjamuser]

The USA Today article seemed very well done and non-biased. It stated that the majority of people (I believe) it was 75% liked the cameras (I guess.....people like safety.....who wants to die in a car crash???) Side crashes went DOWN 42 %. Rear-end crashes went UP 27 %.
........I believe that I would RATHER take my chances on the LOWER % rear-end crashes than the HIGHER % side crashes. With a rear-end crash the driver and one front seat passenger are shielded by the trunk and rear seat area of a typical sedan. With a side crash the driver or front seat passenger has ONLY the thin area of the front door to PROTECT them. So in the interest of life, limb, and safety, I would cast a vote to have MORE safety cameras and also MORE Police for any given city.
.......The idea of longer yellow light is REAL stupid, just a deflection. And I don't UNDERSTAND why any groups would resist this superior SAFETY technology? ......Maybe only the reckless drivers that are smug about themselves and do NOT value human life would OBJECT to it.