Opinion

A little light on the problem of stop and go

Arizona motorists can rest easy today, secure in the knowledge that State Sen. Dean Martin, a Republican from Phoenix, is addressing the issue of the yellow traffic light. If Martin gets lucky, next spring the full Legislature will debate whether the yellow light - that's the one between the red and the green - will remain on for four seconds. Right now, throughout the state, there's an awful lot of guesswork involved in figuring out these yellow lights. At some intersections, they're on for two or three seconds; at others, it's four seconds. How is a motorist to deal with such a dilemma? Slow down? Observe the speed limit? Get off the cell phone? Look around and see what the traffic is like? Actually, the message implicit in a bill submitted by Martin is that the motorist should not have to deal with this issue at all; the length of the light should be predictive, and it should be a matter of state law. Theoretically, this will make life easier for all motorists, assuming they can figure out whether they entered the intersection one second after the yellow light came on or three seconds after. We can't see that a new law will help in resolving this problem, but you never know. At the least, we might end up with a blue ribbon commission to investigate the proper intervals between yellow and red lights. Blue is a nice color, too. Martin, quoted Thursday in the Star, said a uniform standard is necessary because even an intelligent motorist "driving at 45 miles an hour, on the cell phone, kids screaming in the back of the car, can't do complicated math as to when the light goes yellow, whether or not they've got time to clear the intersection." This confusion causes people to run red lights and results in accidents, Martin says. May we suggest that as a first step the driver with the screaming kids put down the cell phone? Then, may we suggest a campaign to inform motorists that it's OK to enter the intersection on a yellow light, and as long as your car's bumper is in the intersection when the light turns red, you're not doing anything illegal? This is not to suggest that motorists must remove their car bumpers before placing them in the intersection. Said bumper must be attached to the vehicle at the time of intersection penetration. Last, may we suggest that experienced traffic engineers across the state might be able to create a fairly simple equation that takes into consideration the average number of cars at a particular intersection, the speed limit and the length of time it takes for a car traveling at the speed limit to get through the distance of the intersection? We are certain there are members of the Arizona Legislature who can perform these calculations, but we suspect most of them would prefer to dedicate their time to such issues as health care, education, child welfare, allocation of water resources, budget balancing, energy conservation, state employee compensation, changes to mandatory sentencing laws and various capital projects and the topic du jour, what to do with the windfall in state revenues. It is, of course, refreshing to know that a lawmaker with so many complex issues on his plate is willing to put in the time to help with the yellow light problem. However, in the name of a grateful electorate, we'd like to suggest that he turn off the light and relax. - S.N.