Follow the law, avoid a ticket

It is time to get serious.

"Red-light violations make for great TV." Maybe so, but this is no laughing matter. I don't care if there is money to be made, for sure there is. But it is time to get it right. Right turn on red only after a complete stop, and only if safe to do so. And let's not forget, everyone must stop behind the painted stop line (you know the one, it is the big white line painted across the lane before the intersection) or before the cross walk.

Since many drivers have decided right turn on red means you don't have to stop if they think it is safe to proceed, I have only one comment - that is not what the law says. If it takes red light cameras at every intersection to change this behavior, I say, put them up. If that means there is money to be made, so be it. Or repeal the law and force everyone to wait for the green light.

If you need real-life examples of why this is important, spend some time watching the intersections at Dundee and Quentin or Roselle and Algonquin roads. Oh and by the way, before you think I am picking on you, it takes real practice for me to make sure I come to a complete stop, each and every time. Give it a try. It is, harder then you think. But it is the Law.

Mark Libner

Barrington