Amber Gamblers

[Big Boy]

How many do it?

I still remember the huge Amber Gambler publicity from my younger days back in the UK.

I mentioned on another thread that I see an amber light ahead, and naturally slow down and stop. However I notice here in Thailand an amber light is a signal to most drivers to accelerate. OK, I know Thai traffic lights can take an eternity, but you're dead an awful lot longer.

Likewise, I've noticed that most motorcyclists (and some cars) move off when the countdown clock reaches 3 seconds. Is saving 3 seconds in your life really worth that risk? It is almost as futile as the dicks on a motorcycle spend the duration of a red light negotiating through traffic, risking damage to waiting traffic, just to gain 10 yards.

This subject has come to mind after reading the thread about the unfortunate accident last Monday. Of course, I've no idea of what really happened happened, but if the cap fits.................................

Basically, if you're behind me when I slow down at Amber, I'm sorry, but it's the way I was taught to drive.

If I'm still waiting patiently when there's 1 or 2 seconds of red light left - I'm sorry, I don't drive through red lights.

The ironic thing in all of this is that Thais must be the slowest nation I know when pulling away from a red light. They are really slow, so anything they have gained by pulling away 3 seconds early is soon lost.

[Takiap]

Big Boy, I think here in Thailand, racing through an amber light, or ever a red one if it has only just turned red, all boils down to a lack of logical thinking, or what I call a "one thought" process. A good example would be cars and motorbikes pulling out into the road without giving any thought to traffic approaching fro the rear. They know where they want to go, and that is all that matter; they start up and they go.


Last night, on the way home after karate, I saw a dog heading towards the road so I instinctively slowed down, given that there was a very real possibility that the dog would run in front of me. Young Somchai on his fancy Scoopy with flashing lights and a Euro Tunnel exhaust came hurtling past me, going onto the wrong side of the road, and yes, he hit the dog square on. It was quite a large dog and it managed to get up and scramble away, but I am sure with a few broken bones at least because Somchai was going hell for leather. Obviously, he went flying off his bike, and his bike looked severely damaged; lights; mirrors; trims and etc.

In my mind, his behavior was much the same as those who gamble with amber lights. He knew where he was going, and that was the only thought he had to deal with.

Not being a lover of street dogs, I immediately curse the dog and the council, but my oldest daughter felt very differently and said that the guy on the bike should pay for the dog to go to a vet. In her mind, I slowed down when I saw the dog, so why didn't he do the same?

Anyway

[Nereus]

In Bangkok a lot of traffic lights have very little time between amber and red, and like everything else here, no two are the same. But even those with count down timers have the gamblers jumping the gun. The trap is the cross traffic doing the same thing, and I always tend to wait until all the motorbikes have cleared the intersection, so that I can avoid those splattered on the road!