I live in an area known nationally as ranking at the top of red light fatalities – that is, some idiot runs a red light and creams an innocent motorist who is lawfully entering the intersection.

The city’s solution? Lengthen the all-red time. Think about it for a minute – there is more time where the lights are all red, which means the RLR can speed through with less chance of an accident. This doesn’t reduce the incidents, it increases the number of RLRs!

My suggestion? Reduce the all-red time to zero. That’s right, as soon as one direction turns red, the other direction turns green. The smart motorist, knowing this, will pause before entering the intersection on the green light, the RLR will eventually, by natural selection, be removed from the gene pool. Yes, this may involve an innocent motorist, but I believe that the greater good will be served by eliminating the chance for the RLR to be successful.

Since this makes sense, it will never be implemented by the city, as the ones who run the city do so without the benefit of common sense. Or so it seems.