“I need a laugh today. Can you please print the ridiculous excuses people give for not using their turn signals? Please remind your readers that it is the law, common courtesy and a key to safety on streets and freeways.”
“Let’s see. You are driving a car or SUV weighing between 2,000 and 3,000 pounds. I am driving a fire truck that weighs 43,500 pounds. And that is just a plain-old pumper, not a ladder truck or tanker. If you do not yield the right of way and I cannot stop, who do you think is going to win? That is not saying who is at fault, but if you fail to yield and a crash occurs, mine’s bigger than yours and you are going to get hurt, at best. This rule is what I teach children to remind their parents: ‘Flashing lights? Pull to the right!’”
Knoxville police have lost red-light cameras to traffic accidents but never to gun play. “This is the first one that’s been shot,” Capt. Gordon Catlett said of the wounded camera at the intersection of Broadway Avenue and Interstate 640 — one of 15 camera-equipped intersections in the city. Clifford E. Clark, 47, was charged with felony vandalism and reckless endangerment for allegedly firing at least three rounds from a .30-06 hunting rifle at the camera, knocking it out of action.
After a projected completion date of the last week in October, the switch was officially thrown on Nov. 21. The new signal light will hopefully serve to staunch the steady trickle of vehicle accidents that have occurred in the last few years. This article describes how a traffic light is implemented by the DOT.
