Punish Those Who Cause Traffic Delays

[HYHYBT]

So they are. It's still illogical to insist that only things which everyone has done everything in their power to avoid are accidental.

[BlaqueKatt]

It's still illogical to insist that only things which everyone has done everything in their power to avoid are accidental.

no a word already exists that the definition covers it perfectly....

the failure to exercise that degree of care that, in the circumstances, the law requires for the protection of other persons or those interests of other persons that may be injuriously affected by the want of such care.


root word definition- lack of due care or attention

I've seen people using their rear view mirror to shave or apply makeup on their way to work-not so much as glancing at the roadway. I've been run off the road on my bike by a guy that was steering with his knees so he could light his bowl (pot pipe for those not in the US). I've seen "cyclists"(using that term loosely-as real cyclists are very cautious) cut off cars blowing through red lights(person on bike blowing through the light, car had right of way).

These people were failing to exercise the degree of care the law requires for the protection of other persons-if any of them had crashed it would not be an "accident"-it would be the very definition of the word negligence.

The last bicycle vs car fatality in my fair city, was not an "accident"-person on bicycle was not wearing a helmet, was riding after dusk, did not have a light[as required by state statute 347.489(1)], and failed to stop at a stop sign. So three blatant violations of laws meant to protect others, were responsible, I'm pretty sure the person on a bike didn't intend to get himself killed, yet his willful disregard for the laws to protect people resulted in exactly that. I actually feel worse for the car driver having to live with the fact that he killed someone-calling it an "accident" would be an insult.

[draggar]

Traffic jams? Hmm, let's see..

Light turns green but most drivers wait 7-15 seconds before they go. That's a lot of cars that could have gone though but might not be able to because of them.

Light turns red people still don't stop. This causes other cars to wait when their light is green, or worse, cause an accident because when the light turned green they went.

Right turns from the left lane and left turns from the right lane. Happens all the time - they'll cut off multiple lanes (most roads here are 2-3 lanes, some are 4, not including turning lanes and not including highways).

Slowly drifting from lane to lane - slow drivers that'll drift between 2+ lanes. They're driving slowly and now block multiple lanes thus slowing down twice as many people.

Cell phones - yes, I know this is a subject and people think they don't cause problems but I've noticed (and I do drive a lot and pay attention) most people who don't signal, drift from lane to lane, and drive at erratic speeds are on a cell phone. All of this is illegal (and also talking is considered a distraction). My wife actually scares me with her driving when she's on the phone.

Slow drivers - in normal / optimal driving conditions people should drive the speed limit. If they can't then they should have their hazard lights on and stay to the right (unless turning left soon). Doing this in the right lane on a 3 lane road should (yeah, right) disrupt 2 lanes (the slow lane and people going around them). In the middle lane it disrupts all 3 lanes (people will go the left and the right).

Garbage throwers - people are always throwing their garbage out the window and it is a major distraction to people in other lanes. How do I know they just threw a burger wrapper out the window and not a rock or worse?

Erratic drivers. People who drive at erratic speeds and quickly change lanes. We can easily tell how this can affect the roads.

All of the above cause traffic slowdowns, from minor to major and all are illegal. Why do we need redundant laws and then complain that the overly-strained police force isn't enforcing them?

[protege]

Of course let's not forget the *biggest* cause of traffic delays. That would be PennDOT. They're constantly backing up traffic while "improving" our infrastructure. In fact, it took a good half-hour to travel a measly 5 miles on I70 and I79 today. Did I mention that they didn't even have a detour to get around said mess? They'd closed *all* of the exit ramps! You couldn't even leave the damn highway, and were forced to plod along at a whopping 5mph