I was shocked to discover that running stoplights and stop signs was still illegal.
From observing drivers in South Carolina where I live, apparently they’re required to run stoplights and stop signs to enter a two-lane rural highway, but ONLY if:
- There is fast-moving vehicle within 150 yards traveling in the lane the stop sign runner is about to enter
- The stop-sign runner is going only short distance
- The sign or light runner is going to do it slowly
Several times, I’ve been forced to use full-emergency anti-lock braking to avoid someone who ran a stop sign to go 100 feet at 15 mph before turning into a driveway. If a South Carolina driver waits at the stop sign, it's almost certain he’s going to travel more than 10 miles.
These stop-sign runners create a situation like a multi-car NASCAR crash, where the spotter is shouting in the racer’s ear, "Go high, go low, go high, I don’t know!"
My natural reaction to swerve into the clear oncoming lane or pass on the right shoulder may result in T-boning the offender. Not taking such action may mean hitting them from behind. It will be hard to prove it wasn't my fault in any these.
I don’t recall such action from my youth in the Mid-South. Is this a recent development, or a South Carolina-only thing? Does this happen where you live?
Now, apparently it’s okay for bicyclists and motorcyclists to run red lights in Chicago, beginning in 2012.
I want this important condundrum addressed in the GOP candidates’ debate before the South Carolina Republican primary. What’s stopping them?