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IntelligentCicada363 t1_ivbxx6s wrote

Reply to comment by Optimal_Pineapple_41 in Cambridge City Council to consider citywide ban on ‘turning on red’ by superfakesuperfake

Probably because these accidents happen all over the city and not just at dangerous/busy intersections.

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cptninc t1_ivd8xcg wrote

The published data does not back up this claim. The accident rate is actually nearly zero. Honestly, that surprises me as well given how many drivers simply run reds even after the first couple of cars in cross traffic have already cleared the intersection.

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zeratul98 t1_ix2b3qh wrote

It's a little trickier than accident rates though. If drivers make pedestrians feel unsafe, then some amount of pedestrians will stay home or choose to drive. This is a notoriously difficult effect to measure, but an important one

Banning turns on red is an important step to making pedestrians the top priority for streets instead of cars.

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cptninc t1_ix8i69s wrote

The actions which would make reasonable pedestrians feel unsafe are already illegal. Making them illegaler isn't going to change anything when CPD's own published citation data shows that they are unwilling to enforce traffic rules.

We don't need any new laws. We just need to get rid of this lazy limp dick so-called police department and replace it with something functional.

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Optimal_Pineapple_41 t1_ivc4fdt wrote

Ok, but are we expecting all of the out of towners who drive through, plus locals who don’t keep track of local happenings, to know about the law change?

Seems like if anything it would make it more dangerous.

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j_parkour t1_ivka0zv wrote

It's unclear if the city is going to post No Turn On Red at every intersection, or if they'll just pass the law and make it the driver's problem to do their legal research in advance.

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Optimal_Pineapple_41 t1_ivl0a3i wrote

And we all know they’re not going to. So we have a city full of intersections where pedestrians think they’re safe to cross, and drivers think they’re fine to turn on red.

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