Traffic light is unfair

Dear Editor,

I read with interest your article, "Traffic sting nets 31 tickets" in your Oct. 3 issue, an article concerning motorist traffic light violations at the intersection of Huguenot Road and Midlothian Turnpike. As a traffic citation victim myself at this intersection, I went back to the intersection to develop statistical data in rebuttal to my citation, prior to my court appearance. I conducted a practical study, based on actual observations of many vehicle transits of the intersection. I am a retired engineer, and I do my homework. It was my determination the yellow light is not timed to be long enough to allow vehicles to cross the intersection at normal speeds. The problem is also complicated by other factors, i.e. the design of the intersection, the light system and complications presented by traffic congestion. Briefly stated, the intersection, as designed, is unfair to vehicle operators. This is substantiated by the following facts.

When you approach the intersection from any direction, you must cross 11 lanes of traffic to clear the intersection. Furthermore, the traffic lights are installed on beams across all roads at the far side of the intersection. In other words, when the light changes, you must cross 11 lanes of traffic before you pass under the traffic light which controls traffic in your direction. The next part of the problem is the timing of the traffic light cycle. The yellow light duration is only 3.41 seconds. This was based on timing many cycles of the yellow light in the north and south directions with a stopwatch. This is not enough time for vehicles to cross 11 lanes of traffic at a reasonable speed. If the light changes from green to yellow at the time a vehicle enters the intersection, the vehicle cannot make it across the intersection before the light changes to red, unless the vehicle is going faster than 30 mph (average speed through the intersection).

The final complication is the traffic congestion problem. During peak traffic periods, traffic backs up with vehicles required to wait more than one cycle to get through the light. During these times, traffic slows to much less than 30 mph through the intersection. This means that the last one or two vehicles in every string of traffic, even if they enter the intersection under a green light, will not be able to clear the intersection before the light changes to red! This is obviously an unfair situation. To correct this problem, the yellow light needs to be timed to allow a vehicle entering this intersection at an average speed (about 20 mph) to clear before the light turns red. This would only require a time extension of about one second to the yellow light duration.

These facts were determined based on an onsite observation of many vehicle transits, a stopwatch study and a mathematical analysis of the time/speed/distance relationships at this intersection. It should be noted that the Virginia Department of Transportation was contacted and stated the light should be timed for 3.5 seconds. The actual time is less, but even 3.5 seconds would not be sufficient at this intersection, as noted above.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Virginia Code sect. 46.2-833 (code section concerning traffic light violations) states: "When the amber signal is shown, traffic which has not already entered the intersection, including the crosswalk, shall stop if it is not reasonably safe to continue, but traffic which has already entered the intersection shall continue to move until the intersection has been cleared."

Any reasonable interpretation of this code section should be that a vehicle entering an intersection under the yellow light with a reasonable expectation of clearing the intersection should not be in violation of the law, even if they are not able to clear the intersection before the red light. This is obviously the situation at the Huguenot and Midlothian intersection because the light is not timed for the distance to be traveled across the intersection.

It should be noted that the county police may not be aware that the intersection design presents an inherently unfair situation. However, they are very much aware that vehicles are consistently being caught by the red light, during rush hour traffic. The police sit at this intersection on a regular basis. They have made numerous vehicle stops, citing vehicle operators for violations. Drivers, not aware of the inherent design problem, are being cited for violations for no fault of their own. Since this discovery, I have learned there are other intersections in Chesterfield County with similar design problems.

I would appreciate you bringing this situation to the public's attention.

David M. Dean

Midlothian