[Christ]

Originally Posted by cfg83

Christ -



Yeah, that's what I do when it's too late to stop.

I have a rule. If I have to speed up to get through the yellow light, I stop. If I am too close to stop safely (screeching brakes), then I roll through it without changing my speed.

There is another rule that trumps this. If I have the situational awareness to know that someone is right behind me, and I don't think I can stop *slowly*, aka reducing my speed slow enough for him/her to react and slow down, I may go through the light and/or increase speed to do it.

The reason is I don't care whose fault it will be. I don't want my car to be wrecked if I can avoid it. I also don't want the hassle of dealing with insurance and repairs. No time for that.

CarloSW2

This is reasonable, sir.

Nobody (reasonably) expects every driver to be perfect all the time. I can tell you that if a cop sees you speeding up through a yellow light, whether you're actually speeding or not, at least around here, they'll stop you, and can ticket you for a form of wreckless driving. It matters not whether you're actually speeding or not, you're still breaking a law. Of course, whether the cop DOES pull you over or not depends wholly on his perception of the situation. If he sees someone tailgating you, there's a good chance he won't pull you over. If the person behind you caught the light as it turned red, guess who's screwed now?

I still don't find that these scenarios happen often enough to even be seriously addressed as a whole, though.