Should Montrealers Be Allowed To Drive Through Red Lights?

A new law about to be implemented in Ohio will give drivers an excuse to legally drive though a red light on one condition: if they feel the light is malfunctioning.

You read correctly. If, after the driver has come to a full stop, there is reason to think the light isn’t operating correctly, the driver would be permitted to blow the light.

It sounds like a recipe for disaster and even local law enforcement is worried.

“This is about safety,” Kettering, Ohio, police officer John Jung told CNN affiliate WHIO. “We don’t want the driver to approach a red light, wait for a couple of seconds and determine that it is malfunctioning and then blow through a red light. You still have to proceed with caution.”

Can you imagine the implications of this law being implemented in Montreal? Montrealers aren’t even trusted to turn right on a red light.

The burden of proof will rest with the driver in order to prove the light was indeed malfunctioning. I know of a few lights which are so poorly programed that they qualify as malfunctioning in my mind but I don’t recall every seeing a truly malfunctioning light.

Source: CNN