[get2bid]

I have seen a lot of signals here which have the blinking green for a few seconds. After that, it is always followed by the amber light for a few seconds before turning solid red.
that a definite foul play was involved. Now if this is for reaching the daily quota or the signal was faulty due to wiring problem as quoted by the traffic policeman is debatable. The lights getting fixed as soon as the complaint was made points to something fishy.

[anirudh_85]

Originally Posted by ashutoshb

It appears the cops are using the blinking green light to their advantage.

Even if it is equal to an amber light, it is not the norm in Delhi. So not many people would know about it and move ahead.

About issuing a challan, the cops have their tricks. If they are doing it to fill their day's quota, they will do it outright, even before you could approach them.

If they are looking for a bribe, they always talk to you first, giving you the chance to escape from the challan at a cheaper price.

And if you argue, be prepared to face the cop's wrath.

Once, my driver argued with a cop. My vehicle was seized. When I saw the challan, it had all kind of violations, the ones which weren't even true. Overspeeding, no seat belt, faulty number plate were added too.

^ +1
There is also a bias against out of city vehicles. I have been fined on two separate occasions for jumping red lights in Pune when the cars ahead and behind me have been let go, them being locals and all.

In my city, signals at all major intersections have timers installed on them. IMHO it allows drivers to make their decisions accurately. Of course it doesn't stop the odd from idiot jumping the light but there is an overall calming effect for sure.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by DwarkaDelhiWala

Today when i passed through that crossing i saw that amber/yellow light was properly functioning.

Compliments to you for being a proactive citizen who took matters into his hands. May your tribe multiply. Too many of us prefer to sit and mutter and grumble. Too few stand up and act. Good for you.

[behaln]

Well I had a similar experience at Akshardham red light few years back, I did not have a dashcam back then , challan came to my house for red light jumping. I did contact the traffic policeman who were always standing there. They agreed to the malfunction of the light but I could not fight the system, so had to pay the fine and get away with it.

[ALTIMAed]

Also, it's tough to notice the traffic lights at the far end with the setting sun shining directly in one's eyes.

Something similar happens in Kolkata, where traffic police challan drivers for violating the stop line and stopping when the red light comes on. Mercifully, Delhi Traffic Police are not penalizing people for doing either - jumping the red light / violating the stop line - at the same junction. There was a drive in Delhi some time ago to catch stop line violators, but I believe that rule is not being enforced nowadays.[/quote]

Slightly off topic, but in close relation.

At Kolkata, the countdown timer works only when the traffic light is RED, but in Delhi, it works for both RED and GREEN. I am 6 feet one inch tall and drive a Dzire. Many a times I have been stopped and fined for jumping a red light. Jumping a RED light for me personally is a sin, forget the fines. But then I sort out to do a personal research as to how is this happening. I have driven in Delhi from 2008 to 2006 Jan, never being penalized for this offence. 11 years in the Middle East, there to I had a clean chit, then why at Kolkata.

Its then i realized, I sit tall in my car, when I glance at the traffic light from my seated position, it is green, but the distance of my vision to the light is considerably far and by the time I have crossed the stop line, it would have shifted from yellow to red as my attention is drawn to the traffic in front of me. Due to my height and sitting position, my vision of the light is at a considerably more distance, thus giving the lights that much more time to change. Add to that, there is no countdown on the GREEN light. Guess, I need to dip dive a bit more with sketches to prove my point.

[fighterace]

Blinking lights for the right turn is equal to amber. After that it simply switches off, the red light doesn't tun on. This is in the cases where the right turn is open for a shorter duration than the straight path. The driver should have been more careful.

[PapaBravo]

What was the fine amount for red light violation in Delhi right now ? I have heard they are now confiscating license as well.

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Something similar happens in Kolkata, where traffic police challan drivers for violating the stop line and stopping when the red light comes on. Mercifully, Delhi Traffic Police are not penalizing people for doing either - jumping the red light / violating the stop line - at the same junction. There was a drive in Delhi some time ago to catch stop line violators, but I believe that rule is not being enforced nowadays.

Correct. I was surprised to see people crossing the stop line and almost taking a right turn at the Dhaulakuan Signal. I was the first one to stop at the signal. I stopped before the stop line as a habit from Kolkata. Soon I was third/fourth in line with all other cars crossing the stop line and stopping in front of me.

Regards,

Pawan

[naikameya]

While we can have all logical reasonings around how blinking green light should be considered as yellow/amber it is not intuitive to an avg Indian who drives around delihi. Lot many are drivers who are taught on green you can cross the signal.
Why change something that has been well established standard practice. If there is some reason to change it, it needs to be publicised well and changed across entire region like NCR so that people learn. I am not sure if it is changed across entire NCR.
Inconsistencies will result in people ignoring it and breaking rules eventually leading to more chaos.

[oxymoron]

Originally Posted by naikameya

While we can have all logical reasonings around how blinking green light should be considered as yellow/amber it is not intuitive to an avg Indian who drives around delihi. Lot many are drivers who are taught on green you can cross the signal.
Why change something that has been well established standard practice. If there is some reason to change it, it needs to be publicised well and changed across entire region like NCR so that people learn. I am not sure if it is changed across entire NCR.
Inconsistencies will result in people ignoring it and breaking rules eventually leading to more chaos.

Globally speaking, blinking green is not equivalent of amber. Proper sequence is green followed by blinking green followed by amber and then red.
Blinking green alerts driver to be cautious that signal is going to turn red, Amber means that you should not attempt to cross but stop. People take liberty to cross on amber which is on the account of indiscipline we have amongst drivers due to the ease of getting license and abysmally low fines. I currently drive in Dubai and you dare not jump signal here as the fine would be around 20k INR plus car will be confiscated for 30 days along with several black points.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by fighterace

Blinking lights for the right turn is equal to amber. After that it simply switches off, the red light doesn't tun on. This is in the cases where the right turn is open for a shorter duration than the straight path. The driver should have been more careful.

Blinking green in this context is only meant to indicate that the 'green' status is about the change (to amber), not a replacement for amber itself.

For signals where different lanes (right, left, straight) are open for different durations, the correct combination of signals is to have a solid RED + solid/blinking GREEN indicating the open lane (right, left, straight). Notice this on roads where the right lane is open shorter than the straight one like you mentioned, or where left turns are not free due to unavailability of a dedicated, divider-separated lane.

[opendro]

I couldn't see the lights in the video clearly. But if light turned from green to red, there is no way one can stop in time. Stopping in signal is not by applying sudden brake, which is why the yellow light is there. As the light turns yellow, the first few cars in the front will mostly cross the signal as they will not be able to stop before the stop line without a hard braking. Now, without yellow light, you are suggesting that the driver should do a hard braking on red and stop. That is not safe driving.

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

The chauffeur could well have stopped at the time the light turned to red, if he was prepared to stop on seeing the green light blink. The amber light, or a blinking green light, is indicating to a driver that (s)he should prepare to stop.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by opendro

...if light turned from green to red, there is no way one can stop in time. Stopping in signal is not by applying sudden brake, which is why the yellow light is there. As the light turns yellow, the first few cars in the front will mostly cross the signal as they will not be able to stop before the stop line without a hard braking. Now, without yellow light, you are suggesting that the driver should do a hard braking on red and stop. That is not safe driving.

Perfectly safe driving. A blinking light (any light - red, green or yellow) is warning enough to ask a driver to slow down and prepare to stop. The driver is expected to have his right foot off the accelerator, and already on the brake pedal. Where does the question of hard braking arise?

If the vehicle behind is being driven by an idiot who is NOT prepared to obey the brake lights of your car as well as the traffic lights (most want to jump the first 3 seconds of a red light anyway), calculating for that is not one's problem - and I'd be happy if more & more of their breed are caught and fined by the traffic police.

[TB16]

While on my way back home from work yesterday, i noticed one red light where the 'blinking green' stays for 5-7 seconds and then the 'amber' light is there for another 5 seconds. In total, almost 10-12 seconds of warning. So this particular red light (which OP crossed) has been tampered with IMO.

[SnakemanJohny]

Guys,

Let me add to this interesting discussion by saying that Calcutta has a similar 'blinking' system, but for red to green ONLY. Meaning that when the time is up for you to go, the green changes to amber/yellow and then to red, giving you time to stop. But when a red light is going to change to green, there is no yellow in between, but red blinks a few times and changes to green !

When this odd system was introduced, people were perplexed and asked for clarifications. The then DCP Traffic explained that when amber comes after red, people tend to gun their motors and may race ahead even while the crossroad's traffic tailenders are going, leading to accidents. (As if the same cannot happen on blinking red !)

Somehow, this peculiar explanation was accepted and has become the rule in Calcutta traffic lights as well as in most of West Bengal, and everyone is used to it.

Maybe Delhi is just experimenting with something similar, and was testing citizens' response to it ? Once it becomes commonplace, I think everyone will get used to it. Some driver from outside may still fall into the trap, confused !

[get2bid]

Something interesting I noticed in Hyderabad last night. This is on the Hi-Tech City-road while going towards HICC, the signal to turn right was green. As I approached the junction, the green light to turn started to blink and turned red as soon as I crossed the stop line.

Since the speed was below 10kmph due to the traffic, I did not have a problem stopping and thankfully no one rear-ended me.
But the best part, after a few minutes I was going to Gachibowli and at another junction which is not very far from this one, the green light first blinked for a few seconds, then turned amber and finally red.

There were 2 vehicles in front of me when the green light started blinking and I assumed that it would turn red as in the previous case and stopped my car. But no, the light turned amber and there were about 10 vehicles which started honking at me. By the time I realized and tried moving ahead, the light turned red.

I am not sure what the Traffic department is trying to do by doing this. Play the guessing game and see how many people can memorize the sequence or just another ploy to meet their targets.