To get a picture of Dunedin motorists’ behaviour at intersections, The Star plans to stake out some potential hot spots. Earlier this week, Jessica Wilson went to the intersection of State Highway 1 and the Caversham bypass for an hour.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I parked up near the intersection of State Highway 1 and the Caversham bypass on Monday afternoon from 4pm to 5pm.
Having had a near miss there not so long ago, I thought it would be a good one to watch.
In that instance, I was heading into town from Mosgiel and had to slam on my brakes when a car coming from Caversham crossed through the intersection when I had a green light.
Luckily, I was able to stop in time.
On Monday, I sat in a few different spots to make sure I got a good view of each side.
The problem directions seemed to be heading towards Lookout Point on the motorway, heading towards town on the motorway and turning left from Caversham on to the motorway.
While most motorists followed the road rules and obeyed the lights system, some pushed them too far.
One motorist, heading east on the motorway, seemed completely oblivious as the orange light turned red and they drove through the intersection.
Another red light-runner was turning left from Caversham on to the motorway.
Not long after, two more motorists ran the red arrow in the same spot.
During this time, more than 30 cars squeezed through on the orange to varying degrees.
Some motorists were simply too close to the intersection to stop when the light turned from green to orange, whereas others had ample time to brake.
The statistics I gathered were from what I could see from my position.
No doubt there was more activity in other directions.
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Comments
Time for a dash cam?
Assignments Ed.
JW is, of course, fearless, but must you send her to such wild west places as the Great Southerns?
Yes.
How else, are you to get your copy.
Well done....Good journalism!
Only one thing missing. Can we also have a count of the total number of cars that traversed that intersection? That way we can get an idea as to the percentage of 'red light' runners. There are serious issues if 10% of drivers ignored the lights, but maybe not so much of a problem if that rate is 0.0001%
Thanks
Does it really matter how many passed through in total when, on average, every 15 minutes some idiot potentially injures (or worse) someone else, at just one Dunedin intersection? Isn't that enough? Also, if 4 per hour is 0.0001% of all that used the intersection, then the total users would have been 4 million. The journalist probably knew there was no way NZ's entire population would squeeze through there in just over an hour, even if you didn't.
Disagree entirely.
One red light runner is one too many regardless how busy the intersection is. It only tales one to cause a serious accident.
Good for you...Healthy debate is always welcome.
In an ideal world, everyone would obey every signal, wear seat belts, wouldn't drink and drive, keep under the speed limit. The police would have nothing to do all day....Wonderful!
Unfortunately, we don't live in an ideal world. People make mistakes and sometimes those mistakes cost lives.
In the same way we use statistics of crime to ensure we have the right number of police for any particular area, we SHOULD use statistics to see if the number of red light runners at Caversham is an issue to be addressed. THAT is why I ask for the actual number of vehicles.
Did you consider the poor light sequence programming when turning left from Caversham onto the south bound lanes with an arrow? Cycles from green to red, then back to green seven seconds later. Just enough to bring everyone to a halt.
Can you please repeat it around town. More noticable there.
So 4 people broke the law in an hour of peak traffic. Orange doesnt mean stop. Top work
It got you exercised.
The reporter is Wilson, pronounced "Warzone".