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I have been a licensed driver for over 55 years, I always thought I had a fair knowledge of the traffic laws. It seems to me that a green traffic light always meant go, a yellow light meant slow down and prepare to stop, and a red light meant stop. Not so any longer. It seems that green still means go, yellow means nothing and a red light means to stop only if someone wants to.
Another one that I didn’t know about is the left turn priority, this apparently means that anyone can turn left and straight through traffic must yield. I always thought the right turn on red was a good idea except that now it seems to be understood that that is a God-given right (no pun intended) even if there is traffic going through the intersection.
Yielding the right of way has gone by the wayside and it is every man or woman for themselves, pandemonium is alive and well on our highways and city streets. The courteous driver and the common sense rules of the road have obviously outlived their time. We are now in the age of the World Wrestling Federation driving experience. The biggest and the boldest are trying to win, so move over and let them in or be the victim of their disgraceful driving habits.
As a fiscally responsible citizen I wish that we could as a city find a means to (I’ll try not to be too rash) install cameras to perhaps inflict some corrective action upon the more discourteous of the lot. I have noticed many of our older drivers myself included being hesitant to venture into an intersection even when we have the supposed right of way. Perhaps the fines generated from penalties for the misdeeds may go a long way to the upgrade of our local streets and such.
Wayne LeVasseur
Bangor