Thursday 28 February 2013

Stop Collaborate and Listen

I Hate Every Red Light


Okay, everyone name this object.



If you said "traffic light" you'd be correct.  But more importantly, it's a red light.  

And what do you do at a red light?  


That's right.  

Then, why do so many people ignore them?  

That question is a little harder to answer.  It's one that I've been asking myself for about two years now. 

But we've all seen it.  In fact seeing someone ignore a red light is a part of my daily commute. It's so common that if I'm the first car stopped at a red light, I hesitate and look both directions before proceeding when it turns green.  

I think it's saved my life a couple of times.  

Just last weekend I was heading out, waiting to turn left onto Terminal Avenue. My light turns green, so I do the usual hesitate, look, then proceed maneuver.  I'm just about to hit the gas when a silver sedan goes barreling through the red light. Had I not taken that extra couple of seconds, it wouldn't have been pretty.  

But some aren't so lucky.

This year alone there have been several major collisions in intersections. There was one last weekend near Aulds Road that was so bad emergency crews had to pry apart two of the vehicles to free the victims.  

I'm glad I didn't come across that accident.  That's the kind of thing that'll haunt you.

I didn't want to show that picture, so here's a kitten instead.

Look, I know that Nanaimo's traffic lights can drive you nuts.  I hit every red light on the way to see Melissa last night between Comox and Woodgrove Centre, and I was one of only a few cars on the road at that time.  But running a red light just isn't worth it.  And if you make a habit out of it, it will catch up with you at some point.  

Yellow doesn't mean "just one more, just one more" or "I can make it if I gun it."

It means be prepared to stop.

And everyone would be a lot safer out there if we all kept it in mind.

Oh, and if I could get you to go ahead and slow down a little bit, too, that'd be great.












2 comments:

  1. Did you add the Shawn Hook, Every Red Light video, seems out of place?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yup, it's on purpose. The song is called Every Red Light, which I thought fit the theme and I paraphrase the chorus "I hit every red light on the way to see you tonight" towards the end of the article.

    ReplyDelete