Road design, safety and Vision Zero

[danbrotherston]

I guess I should qualify, no one has ever gotten a ticket where the officer believes the person ran the amber, only when they are giving them a break.

I agree that normally no one will get a ticket for entering the intersection on an amber light. But, I do think there are a few exceptions:

First, if that person entering the intersection on an amber light causes an accident.

Second, if that person entering the intersection does it clearly unsafely, stomping on the accelerator and entering the intersection at very high speed. This one would likely require a police officer to witness the situation, and will be pretty rare.

Tom

My first statement did include a qualification that there was no resulting collision:

"I would also bet some money that no amber ticket has been issued to a driver not involved in a collision in the history of our province."

If there is a collision, police are much more willing to lay charges. This bugs me on basis, running a red is illegal because it MAY cause a collision, not ONLY when it causes a collision.

Which brings me to the second point. An officer witnessing aggressive/dangerous driving as you describe is unlikely to issue a ticket unless they are explicitly on a traffic enforcement detail. Drivers break the law constantly, and police officers don't generally pull them over. If the driving was so egregious as to get a driver to pull them over, I doubt "failure to stop at amber light" would be the ticket issued. Officers will often even ignore distracted driving, anyway. I have on more than one occasion pointed out a driver distracted on their phone to a police officer nearby, and they have never pulled them over.

I very nearly have a photo of a police officer distracted on their phone (which I know is not illegal) right next to a driver distracted on their phone. Unfortunately I was a little slow on the draw, so all I have is a police officer glaring at me.

But this is all speculation derived from my intense cynacism around both policing and road safety, so take that as you will.