Motorists call out ‘frustrating’ act that causes traffic congestion
Motorists online have been calling out an annoying trait that could be causing extended delays and traffic congestion.
Photo: Reddit
The ‘short stop’ at a set of traffic lights can be particularly annoying to see on the roads because there’s nothing you can do about it.
RELATED: How to get the green light every time
This short stop refers to drivers who don’t pull up close enough to the lines at an intersection for the traffic lights to sense a car has arrived.
Sure, you can beep your horn and flash your lights, but the chances are that the short-stopping car has no idea what it is doing wrong.
You wouldn’t be alone in getting frustrated with this act, as it has become a particularly hot topic on online forums such as Reddit.
“Frustrating. Why is this happening all the time now in Melbourne?” one user wrote, accompanied by a photo of a taxi at least one car length from the traffic lights.
“I came across a person at 5am doing this at an intersection where they need to touch the induction loops for the light to change. I always wondered how long he had been waiting there,” said another.
“People can’t judge where the front of their car is. If you draw a line from their eyes to the top of the bonnet that is in their line of sight, that’s where they think they are stopping,” reasoned a commenter.
While people are highlighting the problem, does this actually cause more traffic congestion and make the lights take longer? And is it illegal?
Photo: Reddit
Should you pull all the way up to the line at traffic lights?
To ensure smooth traffic flow, you must pull up to the solid white line at the intersection. Service NSW even mentions on its website that “You must stop as close as possible behind the ‘Stop’ line”.
In a previous story, we sat down with Chris Miller from the Department of Transport Victoria, who explained just how green lights work. Not every set of traffic lights will solely rely on the electromagnetic sensors (also called loops), because they relay data gathered to automatically trigger the lights at certain times to ensure the maximum amount of traffic gets through.
“Intersections don’t work independently; they tend to be linked to other intersections along specified routes. We look at the data, we look at the travel patterns and where the demand is,” said Miller.
Miller also mentioned that on certain quieter roads and low-volume times, you need to run over the electromagnetic sensor to trigger the lights.
“In the middle of the night, when there’s no demand, you’ll probably find that when you pull up, the light will fairly quickly go green as long as nothing is coming in the other direction. At those times, the light is triggered by a magnetic loop built into the road pavement,” said Miller.
“As you approach the intersection, the magnets under the road detect that a large chunk of metal has just arrived. Then, that’ll send the signal to the controller box beside the traffic signal to tell the controller that there’s a demand here. If everything’s safe, it will switch to green so that we can get this person on their way.
“Let’s flip to the same intersection, but at 7:30 in the morning, you’ll find that it will operate quite differently. We prioritise our signals to give a nice, easy flow to where most people are headed. We’ve got data from each intersection that counts the cars, knows what speed they’re doing, and knows what time of day has the biggest demand.”
Positioning your car correctly is especially important when travelling along roads that aren’t in high demand during peak periods. The traffic light system needs to know that you are there and waiting for the green. Stopping short could mean you are waiting an eternity for the lights to change, and you could be causing more traffic congestion.
Is it illegal to stop too far away from the line at traffic lights?
Believe it or not, stopping too far from the line at a stop sign or traffic light is illegal. It is covered under Road Rules 2014 – Regulation 56: “A driver approaching or at traffic lights showing a red traffic light must stop if there is a stop line at or near the traffic lights as near as is practicable, but before reaching the stop line”.
It can be interpreted by a police officer to fine you for not stopping close enough to the line at a red light.
The fine is actually the same as running a red light, which is $464 and three demerit points in New South Wales for “not stopping at the stop line at a red light”.
This is different to the “proceed through red traffic light” fine and “not stop before the stop sign at a red light” (going over the white line).
However, unless you are imposing a large inconvenience on the road, you’re unlikely to be fined for it.
The most annoying motorway driving habits (and how they can be stopped)
Millions of cars will be on Britain’s roads before Christmas and small mistakes can cause huge delays. Experts reveal how to keep moving
Britain at times seems to be a nation of combative and impatient drivers; that few journeys are delay- and incident-free can send our frustration levels into the red.
Such delays, niggles and narks are, of course, due to the behaviour and actions of other drivers. It’s never you.
Lane-hogging, tailgating, queue-jumping, failing to signal, rubbernecking, ignoring overhead messages – these, and many other, annoyances are setting blood, as well as radiators, boiling.
“Some people – thankfully a minority – simply don’t know how to use motorways, or how to check and prepare their cars for long journeys,” says Jason Williamson, a traffic officer with National Highways covering north west England’s motorways.
The list of niggles is long, costs time, money and often causes frustration, near misses and, inevitably, accidents. Let’s look at what sends us into varying degrees of road rant.
Lane-hogging
Failure to keep left unless overtaking is a perennial frustration, causing congestion as spatially-ignorant drivers cruise along the centre lanes of motorways oblivious to empty inside lanes – and to the frustration building behind as other road users queue to squeeze by in the third or fourth lanes.
If such frustration leads to an accident, the lane-hoggers may find themselves fined or with points on their licence.
Cause: Drivers’ simple lack of awareness and observation of what’s going on around them.
Effect: Frustration and impatience as inside lanes are left empty while traffic jams up behind the lane-hoggers.
Solution: Driver education and more “keep left when not overtaking” messages on overhead information signs.
Rubbernecking
You are in a motorway tailback, eventually reach the front only to discover there’s no apparent incident causing the queue: it’s on the opposite carriageway. Drivers on your side are gawping at it, also known as rubbernecking, slowing to look at anything from a major shunt to a simple breakdown.
Worse still, some drivers take their hands off the wheel and eyes off the road to snap pictures or film using their mobile phones.
Cause: Insatiable human curiosity about someone else’s misfortune.
Effect: Traffic slows, drivers gawp, sometimes resulting in a low-speed tap of the car ahead due to being distracted.
Solution: Police record details of cars whose drivers are taking pictures. There are potentially big penalties: up to £1,000 and six points on your licence, rising to £2,500 for bus or truck drivers. Plus the cost of damage if you’re involved in a consequential crash.
Queue-jumping
It may be annoying, but pushing in at the front of a tailback when an outside lane is closed with cones or barriers is neither illegal nor wrong.
Some drivers take it into their own hands and block those who are trying to cruise as near as possible to the cones before indicating left. Then, of course, those in the queue refuse to let such “cheeky” drivers push in. However, road traffic experts say that by not using every inch of empty road, tailbacks are extended.
Cause: The impatient and combative nature of the UK’s drivers, anger at apparent cheek.
Effect: Delays, frustration, even road rage.
Solution: Some highway authorities in the UK erect signs telling drivers to use all lanes right up to the lane-closure cones and then merge in turn, also known as zip merging. But not on motorways: if there’s a red X sign illuminated over your lane, you need to move over as soon (and as safely) as possible.
Undertaking
It is irritating, not to mention stressful and potentially dangerous, to undertake (pass on the left), usually because of a lane-hogger. But it is not illegal, although strongly discouraged by The Highway Code.
If the left lane is moving faster than the one on the right, as often happens in heavy traffic, undertaking can be safer than weaving across several lanes to get around a lane-hogger.
Advanced drivers look for signs that the driver they are about to pass has seen them, although you can never take it for granted that they are using their mirrors as studiously as you might like.
Cause: Lack of awareness or ignorance of other road users, failing to observe that inside lanes are empty.
Effect: Eventually drivers overtake lane-hoggers on the inside. Safe and legal in heavy traffic, although risky, careless or dangerous manoeuvres attract penalties.
Solution: Driver education, “keep left” messages displayed on overhead signs.
Tailgating
Following another car too closely isn’t an offence, but it can contribute to a charge of careless or dangerous driving. Tailgating consistently tops surveys of the most irritating driving behaviours. The Highway Code advises leaving a two-second gap to the vehicle in front. Inevitably, that’s usually just enough space for another driver to pull into…
Experts say tailgating has become a serious problem yet many drivers simply don’t realise they’re doing it. It can be employer or schedule pressures to avoid being late, or that some drivers are naturally impatient, often simply unaware that they are too close to the vehicle in front.
But close proximity leads to dabs on the brakes. The first car’s brake lights go on, the driver behind has less time to react to brakes harder, the next harder still, with traffic even eventually coming to a halt – or resulting in a crash when one driver isn’t quite fast enough to react.
Cause: Not appreciating the risk, judging safe braking distance, or pulling into another driver’s safety gap.
Effect: Not just annoying other drivers, but potentially causing a “concertina-effect” multiple collision so far behind you don’t even see it.
Solution: Leave that two-second gap – and hope nobody barges into your safety space.
Not indicating
The Highway Code says drivers should signal, not must. But failing to indicate a lane change or turning at a junction – which can carry penalties elsewhere in the world – is not an offence in the UK, according to an ex-Metropolitan Police traffic officer. However it is considered disrespectful to other road users, as well as a danger to pedestrians.
But police might be keen to have a word if you fail to signal, as they say such failures can be indicative of other faults or offences.
Some motoring forum chats joke that certain German-made cars are not fitted with indicators, implying their owners are above acknowledging other road users. This could involve such irritating behaviour as slowing and turning left suddenly or unexpectedly, or failure to indicate when turning right at a two-lane junction, “trapping” other drivers behind who intend to go straight on, or would have stayed in the inside lane if they had known the miscreant intended to turn.
And how many times, as a pedestrian, have you started to cross a side road when a car turns in without signalling and nearly hits you?
Cause: Ignorance, arrogance, laziness.
Effect: Confusion, delays, near-misses (other vehicles and pedestrians).
Solution: Driver education (yet again), fines and penalties (as pursued by many countries).
