Life Musings

I live near a rather complex intersection where I constantly see vehicles running red lights. The drivers frequently ignore the "No turn on red" signs that are posted right beside the traffic lights. Now, I'll acknowledge that some of the drivers may have simply failed to notice the signs; however, these indiscretions occur with such frequency that I'm sure most of the drivers simply ignore the signs completely.

"What's the harm?" one might ask. Well, on several occasions, I've seen how pedestrians could have been hit because of thsi reckless behavior. It's one thing to run a red light on a straight street, if it had just barely turned red. It's another thing to make an illegal turn on a red light. The latter is decidedly more dangerous, due to the lack of visibility.

I also frequently see situations in which drivers decide to run a light even though it has long stopped being green. What bastards. That's a lot worse than simply crossing when the light has just barely changed colors.

I also notice drivers slowing down to a crawl in the middle of the intersection, as though they're not certain which direction they want to turn. Never mind that they're holding traffic up badly. Ugh. Where did these people learn to drive anyway?

At times, I wish I could direct a photon torpedo toward these vehicles. The presence of potentially innocent passengers helps temper that feeling, but sometimes... boy! I would never do such a thing, of course, but it's mighty tempting at times.