Green means go, yellow means go faster and red means you didn't go fast enough!

As one who drives for a living, I see more idiots on the road than the average Joe. I was actually amazed at how many people ran red lights. Now, I don't mean a light that has just changed red. I'm talking about stale reds where it's been red for at least five seconds and everyone else has come to a stop. Most of the time the car/truck/SUV/bus/tank etc will stop at the light, wait for a few seconds and then drive through the intersection. I have a few ideas of why this happens...


Red-green color blindness
:
Red-green color blindness simply means that a person cannot distinguish shades of red and green (usually blue-green). Their visual acuity (ability to see) is normal. There are no serious complications; however, affected individuals may not be considered for certain occupations involving transportation or the Armed Forces where color recognition is required. Males are affected 16 times more often than females, because the gene is located on the X chromosome.


Traffic light confusion
:
Looking at the light, they notice it's red, and come to a stop. They then look over at the other light, see that it's green and therefore they can go. So they go. These individuals can never remember which light they should obey and thus obey whichever one is more convenient.


Expensive SUV syndrome:

These are the ones that have spent over $54,000 on their Lexus RX 400h. They believe that they are important and better than everyone else; especially those who make less than six figures a year. They must have the best of everything. Their lawns are green and perfectly manicured even when there's a water drought. They bought the hybrid model because they like to think they are environmentally friendly. They've bought Al Gore's book and have it proudly displayed in their library right next to Plato's republic and The prince by Machiavelli. Of course they've read these books and discuss them in great detail (Reality check. They've read the review and thus believe they know what they're talking about). Their SUV's must have four wheel drive (just to get over those pesky curbs that are constantly in the way), be able to park itself (because I sure as hell can't do it) and have a fully navigational GPS system (How else would I be able to get around in this city?). Rules don't apply to them and if anyone attempts to say otherwise, they have their lawyers on speed dial to help enforce their point of view.



I started counting the number of red light incidents that occurred in a one week time span. I counted 8! Eight, that's appalling. And remember this doesn't include those who run the fresh reds, only stale ones. Two of these happened at the same intersection as I was walking home. I was crossing northbound (on a green) when a Mercedes travelling westbound ran the light. The SECOND car (Honda accord. also westbound) just about plowed right into me as I had just about finished crossing the street (that's how red the light was). Of course he honked and gave me the finger. Oh, I'm sooo terribly sorry for crossing the street in front of you, making it more difficult to run the red that's almost turned green! JACKASS!!!