Driving to work just before Christmas, I was nabbed going through an orange light at the Botany Rd/Te Irirangi Drive intersection. My version of events: the light had just turned orange and I couldn’t have stopped safely.
At the time I was unaware I’d committed an offence. I saw a police car with its flashing lights coming up behind me and my nerves didn’t flinch. In fact, I pulled over so the cops could drive on by and apprehend some naughty person further up the road.
The car stayed on my tail but I had run out of options to give them more space. Then I realised they wanted ME to stop. I was calm as a cucumber though because I knew they’d confused me with someone else. We just needed a little chat to clear up the confusion and we’d be on our way.
I veered into the Hub, turned a few bends and pulled into a car park with the cop car right behind. Then we started talking, but proceedings didn’t go as I’d planned. One of the two officers claimed I ran a red light. Well, that was a red rag to a bull, or in my case, a feisty cow. I professed my
innocence, as you do, and told them I don’t run red lights. At the time, I thought running reds meant entering an intersection on a red, and I’d never do that.
I explained to the officers it would have been irresponsible to stop, and quoted the almost universally held belief that there’s a period of grace after the amber light changes that will deliver one safely to the other side. This didn’t wash and I was presented with a $150 fine.
Well, did I get up on my high horse. I was going to take this to the top. But then life intervened. There was work, Christmas shopping, cake baking and parties to attend. Plus, an article about the Dalai Lama came my way and I thought some Buddhist-like calm in my life would be quite nice, and this seemed at odds with going to court.
Then I noticed my driving behaviour changed: I developed a Buddhist-like calm when approaching intersections. When the light is green, and unaware how long it has been so, I started slowing down instead of stepping on the accelerator. And whadda ya know – this comes in handy if you have to stop.
So now, it’s all about safety not speed and from my new law-abiding position at intersections, I’m noticing the number of people who race through orange lights and run a red at the end. It’s scary.
It seems as each year passes, more people become risk-adverse – pushing boundaries and taking pleasure in breaking rules with their actions putting themselves and others at risk.
Intersections have grown to cope with more cars, but don’t assume the phased timing of traffic lights accommodates this, or that drivers take this into account.
So, as a fan of colour, I’ve devised a colourful road code: Red means stop, which isn’t a surprise for most people. Amber lights, rather than a signal to step on the accelerator, actually mean stop too, unless you’re so close to the line that you can’t stop safely.
And that’s the rub – this is a grey area here which will give people plenty of opportunity to protest an infringement. But it’s probably safer, and cheaper, to think that amber means stop. And remember – it’s hard to win an argument with the police.
But if some @#$%^&* smashes into the back of my car because I’ve slowed down for an amber and they haven’t, I’m gonna be SO mad. My new found sense of calm will immediately dissolve and if the Dalai Lama were to witness it he’d blush the same colour as his saffron robes. And we can’t be having that.
