Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Florida shortened yellow lights to increase red light camera revenue [video]

wtsp.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 131 posts

Re: Florida shortened yellow lights to increase red light camera revenue [video]

#91

Post by [deleted] »

mistercow wrote: post #70
jrajav wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And at another point, possibly later, you realize that blind rejection is just as intellectually lazy as blind acceptance.

Blind rejection is a useful heuristic, and avoiding effort is not necessarily laziness. I drive rather than walking everywhere because I have better things to do with my time. I ignore, rather than specifically evaluating Ayn Rand quotes because I have better things to do with my time. Oh sure, she might have accidentally said something both true and interesting every once in a while. And Mathgen[0] might accidentall…

[deleted]

Re: Florida shortened yellow lights to increase red light camera revenue [video]

#92

Post by vlasev »

I am a canadian and I've driven in cities like Vancouver and Calgary. The yellow lights in Calgary hold so much longer (maybe even double the time?). I found it much more comfortable to drive there than in Vancouver.

That said, I've been thinking for quite some time now that it might be best to just add a count-down number on the lights to show you how many seconds are left until the green light turns yellow. If you are going to beat the light, might as well speed up a bit from afar than by a lot near the intersection.

Re: Florida shortened yellow lights to increase red light camera revenue [video]

#94

Post by jlgreco »

rhizome wrote: post #67
jlgreco wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Slight difference, of many: Spams aren't causing traffic accidents.

Neither are yellow lights. Cross streets don't turn green until the yellow is gone.

Yellow lights don't cause more traffic accidents... shorter yellow lights do. How do you think that "Cross streets don't turn green until the yellow is gone" indicates that should not be the case?

Re: Florida shortened yellow lights to increase red light camera revenue [video]

#95

Post by Udo »

scott_karana wrote: post #87
Udo wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is HN so obsessed with Ayn Rand? It's a serious question that I've been meaning to ask for some time. I never heard about her before joining Hacker News, and since then it's been at least once a week. Is this a Silicon Valley thing?

It's more of an American thing. Her philosophies fit in well with existing Individualism. Her influence was never particularly large, and has faded over time, but left a cultural mark. (See all the objections to the GP? :)

Thanks for answering that. However, I've been exposed to US culture since early adulthood and somehow she or her work didn't come up until I joined HN. It seems to me her influence is especially strong here, but that could of course be anecdotal.

From an outsider's perspective it just seems... odd.

Re: Florida shortened yellow lights to increase red light camera revenue [video]

#96

Post by t0mas88 »

If you think this is a way to collect money, try driving in the Netherlands. Our normal speedlimit is 130 km/h, but we have limits of 100 km/h on wide and empty 5 lane highways in the middle of nowhere enforced by average-speedcameras (so 100% chance of getting caught even if speeding by as little as 2 mph)

Oh and the fine of 10 mph (16km/h) over the limit is 174 USD... but really, this is about safety, not about the money :X

Re: Florida shortened yellow lights to increase red light camera revenue [video]

#97

Post by rhizome »

cobrausn wrote: post #65
thrownaway2424 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After you turn 14 you'll realize there is actually never an appropriate moment for an Ayn Rand quote.

After you turn 30 you realize that not everyone will believe what you do or be right about everything, but when they are right about one thing and you disregard it 'out of principle', you look the fool.

What age do you have to turn before you realize that "right" is a function of power, not facts?

Re: Florida shortened yellow lights to increase red light camera revenue [video]

#98

Post by jlgreco »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #23
tolmasky wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just so I understand, you are under the impression that 0 seconds is the appropriate time required to stop, which would obviously be the case if your car was moving legally at the speed limit at the edge of the road when the green light immediately changed to a red light.

Yellow means "stop if safe". Red means "stop", but when driving "if safe" is always implied. I've driven through red lights to let emergency vehicles through, and a judge would likely throw out a ticket given for such a reason. Yellow lights increase safety by avoiding the "slam on the brakes" effect you've described. They've replaced this with a very common "floor the accelarator" reaction which also decreases safet…

Reducing the amount of time that drivers have to react will never make roads safer. The data supports this.

Re: Florida shortened yellow lights to increase red light camera revenue [video]

#99

Post by rhizome »

jlgreco wrote: post #94
rhizome wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neither are yellow lights. Cross streets don't turn green until the yellow is gone.

Yellow lights don't cause more traffic accidents... shorter yellow lights do. How do you think that "Cross streets don't turn green until the yellow is gone" indicates that should not be the case?

Regardless, the cities are still "growth hacking."

Re: Florida shortened yellow lights to increase red light camera revenue [video]

#100

Post by pasquinelli »

codex wrote: post #6
bryanlarsen wrote: post #5

If they increased the "all-red" time to match, then good for Florida. They've increased their revenues, their roads are safer, and those who are running yellows are getting what they deserve. Running yellows is illegal and far too common. If they didn't increase the all-red time they are making the roads more dangerous. People get accustomed to the length of the yellow & all-red time. But if the total doesn't change,…

How goes giving someone less time to stop before someone else goes not decrease safety? Why not shorten the yellow time to zero?

actually, i wonder if there wouldn't be fewer rear end collisions if there were no yellow lights. people might be more cautious when approaching an intersection and less likely to ride someone's ass.
Post reply on HN