What traffic violation would you like to see ticketed by police more often?

[Ian]

(Nothing more annoying than sitting at red light after red light.

Especially while burning $4 a gallon gas!

1.8. Thinking a stop sign is just a suggestion. It's NOT! Take the 30 seconds to stop. If you are in that much of a hurry-leave earlier!

Not for nothin', but who the heck stops for 30 seconds at a stop sign???

[BelleLovesTheBeast]

My biggest complaint is that all offenses aren't ticketed evenly. The only offense that seems to get a ticket is speeding. I've seen people run red lights and not get tickets but speeding most of the time gets you a ticket. If you don't follow the law then you should get a ticket no matter what it is.

I would like to see more cops in school zones. I find in Tennessee that is the one place where people speed and don't get tickets. There are rarely cops at the school zones here.

Ian - I don't stop for 30 secs. I do come to a complete stop but not for 30. If you stopped for 30 here someone would reend you to get you to move.

[J9]

Not for nothin', but who the heck stops for 30 seconds at a stop sign???

In Philadelphia we do something called the "South Philly slide." Basically, you don't come to a complete stop, but you slow down enough that you're going like 1 mph. It's plenty of time to look both ways and see if the way is clear without causing any danger to any one or any other car. I've gotten tickets for doing this before because you're supposed to come to a "complete" stop. I could see if I breezed right on through, but I did pretty much stop for the most part that it really shouldn't be ticketed. That's just a pet peeve, because it's completely subconscious and not at all intentional. It's just the way a lot of people learned to drive in the city and surrounding suburbs. If it's good enough to pass the driver's test, then it shouldn't be ticketable!!!!

[crazypoohbear]

I've gotten tickets for doing this before because you're supposed to come to a "complete" stop. I could see if I breezed right on through, but I did pretty much stop for the most part that it really shouldn't be ticketed. That's just a pet peeve, because it's completely subconscious and not at all intentional.

Hello, it's a stop sign not a pretty much do as you see fit sign!

If this is how you were trained to drive I would have called the driving school and complained if I were your parent. In fact I did this with my own son! The driving school didn't think he needed the observation part of his driving instruction "because he's such a good driver" I told them that it was the law and if they were not going to give him what I paid for then they could reimberse me the difference. He got the full training!

[J9]

If this is how you were trained to drive I would have called the driving school and complained if I were your parent. In fact I did this with my own son! The driving school didn't think he needed the observation part of his driving instruction "because he's such a good driver" I told them that it was the law and if they were not going to give him what I paid for then they could reimberse me the difference. He got the full training!

It's how EVERYONE drives around here. Maybe 1 out of every 200 cars will completely stop. They even tell you on the driver's test that they won't fail you for sliding. Whether you get a ticket or not around here depends on if its near the end of the month and an officer needs to fill out his quota!!!

It's definitely a regional thing. I'm just saying they need to ticket everyone or no one at all for doing the slide!

[crazypoohbear]

It's how EVERYONE drives around here. Maybe 1 out of every 200 cars will completely stop. They even tell you on the driver's test that they won't fail you for sliding. Whether you get a ticket or not around here depends on if its near the end of the month and an officer needs to fill out his quota!!!

It's definitely a regional thing. I'm just saying they need to ticket everyone or no one at all for doing the slide!

You are right then, they do need to ticket everyone.
Just because "everyone" does it does not make it right or legal.

The old adage "if everyone jumped off a bridge would you?" comes to mind.
It is this kind of mentality that got the world where it is today, "if you can't beat em, join em."

IF people started following the rules of the road maybe others would follow as well.

I don't mean to sound as if I'm picking on you or singling you out but, The reason they put laws into effect was for safety, not convienence.

[PirateLover]

My mom once got ticketed for "sliding" (when she DID actually come to a complete stop) on EASTER in South Philly. My brother and I were about 7 and 11dressed in our finest and this cop pulls us over on our way to church. I'll never forget it.

Anyway, I live there too and I didn't slide through my driver's test, but yea everyone pretty much does it. I generally stop, but just for clarification the law isn't stop for 30 seconds (at least not around here). It's stop completely, look left, right, left again and proceed (or right, left, right depending on where traffic is coming from).

[J9]

I generally stop, but just for clarification the law isn't stop for 30 seconds (at least not around here). It's stop completely, look left, right, left again and proceed (or right, left, right depending on where traffic is coming from).

Exactly! My point is that you can slowly roll (barely even moving) and still look left, right, and left. There's nothing unsafe about it if you slide properly! It's the people that breeze on through that cause problems! I feel that if anyone is ticketed, it should be the breezers! I guess you just need to be from the city to understand...

Another point - in the NE part of the city we have stop signs at every gosh darn corner. It's a little bit overkill. It takes like a 20 minutes to go down the street!!

Another random pet peeve as well - the city is paving a lot of streets around here lately, but not the ones that are riddled with pot holes! You would think those streets would be the first priorities!

[Ian]

Obviously a little common sense needs to be injected into the whole stop sign conversation.

I think most people are reasonably intelligent and fully capable of differentiating between when a full stop is required and when a "slide" is acceptable.

Personally, I think it's ridiculous for a cop to write a ticket for a slide if there are no other cars anywhere to be seen at the intersection.

[crazypoohbear]

[QUOTE=J9;1660644]Exactly! My point is that you can slowly roll (barely even moving) and still look left, right, and left. There's nothing unsafe about it if you slide properly! It's the people that breeze on through that cause problems! I feel that if anyone is ticketed, it should be the breezers! I guess you just need to be from the city to understand...
QUOTE]

The same argument could be made that if you go slow and look left and right then it should be okay to turn left on red, or go straight through a red light if no one else is coming.

Why should we have to sit at a red light wasting gas if I stop, look left, look right, if no one is coming then I can run the light. It can be done safely so there shouldn't be a problem!

A complete stop means a complete stop, i.e. the vehicle comes to a complete stop, the wheels stop and there is no forward motion.

Another argument would be, why on a straight away if there is a double solid yellow line and no one is coming in the opposite direction can I not pass a slow moving car? I know it's the law that you can't but if it can be done safely then why not?

Just because it is something that may or may not be done regionally does not make it safe or legal. What happens with your bad habits when you leave Philly? It is hard to "untrain" yourself, so if you are driving through my neighborhood or someone elses and you"slide" instead of stop do you explain to the cop that it's okay, it's regional and acceptable where I live?

[DizneeRX]

Obviously a little common sense needs to be injected into the whole stop sign conversation.

I think most people are reasonably intelligent and fully capable of differentiating between when a full stop is required and when a "slide" is acceptable.

Personally, I think it's ridiculous for a cop to write a ticket for a slide if there are no other cars anywhere to be seen at the intersection.

Your last sentence is exactly the reason why it is NOT acceptable to "slide" through a stop sign. If there were no cars anywhere to be seen, then where was the cop? I'll tell you where - in a marked police car at the same intersection where you (I’m using “you” generally, not "you" specifically)just rolled through a stop sign without stopping. And you didn't see the police car? How careful are you being if you don't even see a police car? and if you miss a police car, what else could you be missing? Kids, pedestrians, bicyclists and pets are all a whole lot less conspicuous than police cars....

And on the off chance that you did see the police car and decided to roll through the stop sign anyway, you deserve a ticket, if just for the arrogance…

[SteveL]

I never saw the so-called "slide" listed in Pennsylvania's Vehicle Code.
I used to love sitting in a marked car, plainly visible,about 50' downthe side street, in broad daylight, in good weather.
It was like shooting fish in a barrel.
The surprising thing was that most of those that I stopped and wrote were locals.
The same boobs that would cry at the commissioners meetings that the police never patrol their neighborhood.

[J9]

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[Ian]

Your last sentence is exactly the reason why it is NOT acceptable to "slide" through a stop sign. If there were no cars anywhere to be seen, then where was the cop? I'll tell you where - in a marked police car at the same intersection where you (I’m using “you” generally, not "you" specifically)just rolled through a stop sign without stopping.

Uh ... there's a marked difference between a police car clandestinely parked somewhere waiting for people to run a stop sign and cars waiting at an interesection to cross the street.

Again ... I'm a pretty smart and savvy guy. I can tell the difference. Can everyone? No. I'm just talking about me.

Some people can't walk and chew gum at the same time. For those people I recommend ... don't try it. Ditto the slide.

And if I get a ticket then yes ... I deserve it. I didn't say I didn't ... I just said I thought it was stupid. Traffic tickets are, by and large, a revenue generator and nothing more.

[mktiggerman]

Driving too slowly under the limit and tailgating.

[Seasonscraps]

As a pedestrian that has to cross a 4 way stop intersection daily - I am very anti-slide through the stop sign. I am appalled at how many drivers do that when people are walking across the street and I am convinced this is where I am going to meet my death. It takes what - 5 seconds to come to a complete stop?

[J9]

As a pedestrian that has to cross a 4 way stop intersection daily - I am very anti-slide through the stop sign. I am appalled at how many drivers do that when people are walking across the street and I am convinced this is where I am going to meet my death. It takes what - 5 seconds to come to a complete stop?

This is another matter entirely. Pedestrians always have the right of way - at least in crosswalks!!! (I almost saw some high schooler get hit today because he decided it would be better to run through 3 lanes of traffic rather than wait for his light to turn green. He wasn't even near the crosswalk either! And then he LAUGHED about it!)

[Dragongirlx]

This is another matter entirely. Pedestrians always have the right of way - at least in crosswalks!!! (I almost saw some high schooler get hit today because he decided it would be better to run through 3 lanes of traffic rather than wait for his light to turn green. He wasn't even near the crosswalk either! And then he LAUGHED about it!)

This really annoys me. When people just walk out in the road even when their is a crossing not a minute away

[Seasonscraps]

This is another matter entirely. Pedestrians always have the right of way - at least in crosswalks!!! (I almost saw some high schooler get hit today because he decided it would be better to run through 3 lanes of traffic rather than wait for his light to turn green. He wasn't even near the crosswalk either! And then he LAUGHED about it!)

You would think that pedestrians lawfully walking in the cross walk with the right of way wouldn't have to worry about cars not stopping. But I think the mentality that it's not a big deal when no one is around just sticks with some drivers.

This really annoys me. When people just walk out in the road even when their is a crossing not a minute away

I agree 100% This was part of my original answer to this question...

For pedestrians...jay walking. I cannot tell you how many people I see crossing against lights into oncoming traffic which is dangerous for them & the driver. I am 100% sure in a showdown between a car and a pedestrian - the car will win everytime! I think waiting for the light to change is worth the wait.

[garymacd]

I think most people are reasonably intelligent and fully capable of differentiating between when a full stop is required and when a "slide" is acceptable.

Sorry, Ian. A "slide" is never acceptable at a stop sign. It's a "Stop" sign, not a "Slide" sign. If it was a slide sign, it wouldn't say "Stop".

Can't say I have ever seen a "Slide" sign. Maybe a "Yield" sign, but never a "Slide" sign.

In the Niagara region of Ontario, much of the area is rural with lots of stop sign intersections. Nobody seems to pay attention to them and have attempted lots of slides. I think there were about 10 fatal accidents at these "Slide" signs last year. Many of these were young people. Very sad.

As for "reasonably intelligent", give me a break! Most people leave their brains at home when they leave for work. Why else are they driving at 140 km/h while shaving, talking on the phone and reading a book all at the same time while lighting a smoke and weaving in and around traffic and yelling at everyone else for being idiots on the road? If people were reasonably intelligent, I would be out of a job!

Sorry. Ranting. EVERY motor vehicle collision and most fires I have attended were caused by "reasonably intelligent" people.

"Hey! I got an idea! Let's burn out that wasp's nest in the eaves with a propane torch right near the incoming electric lines while standing on an aluminum ladder!"

There are NO ACCIDENTS!