"Red Means STOP!"

By -
I just saw a driver turn left on red. The car turned up Locust Street from the red light at the intersection at Route 462.  Last week, I saw a car totally ignore a red light at Cherry Street and 462 - in the morning, when school kids were gathering on the Cherry Street sidewalk of Park Elementary.  The driver wasn't trying to make a yellow light that suddenly turned red. The light was already red and had been for at least 10 seconds. He just didn't want to stop and chose to drive right through the light as if it didn't exist and then "flew" out the highway.
From what I've seen over the past year (at least), these two incidents are not isolated. They're commonplace.  Drivers ignore red lights and blow through stop signs routinely. The practice has become epidemic around town. I hate to be a doomsayer, but if it continues, which it probably will, there's bound to a tragedy - sooner rather than later.

Comments

Anonymous said…
can't anyone make a citizens arrest? call police and give them details-license plate, address/location of incident, time, etc....but i'm guessing u would then have to be subpoenaed to the hearing since u saw it. theres no reason for this, especially near the school.

on the other hand, i totally have had it with the light at 4th & Locust if u r traveling from with side of 4th St. and also the light at 5th & Locust if u r traveling up or down Locust St....IT'S RIDICULOUS. U CAN SIT THERE FOR 4 MINUTES !!!! YES, I SAID 4 MINUTES.
February 19, 2013 at 6:48 AM
Anonymous said…
don't forget-council mtg next week-theres NO reason to HIRE a "sewer enforcement officer" but oh wait, now they r calling it something else..FIX OUR STREETS
February 19, 2013 at 6:58 AM
Joe Lintner said…
I almost had my camera ready to take a clip of the driver at 5th & Locust. I saw what was about to happen, but the driver whipped into the turn too fast.
And yes, the light at that intersection - if you're waiting on Locust - is the longest light in town.
February 19, 2013 at 7:09 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Columbia's decision to ban former employee from its property may be 'unconstitutional' [Lancaster Watchdog]

By Columbia Spy -
Image
Chris Vera [Columbia Spy file photo] The following information is excerpted from a December 6, 2025 LNP Watchdog article by LNP | LancasterOnline reporter Jade Campos. Still reeling from an abrupt firing from his role as head of the Columbia Market House in March, Chris Vera was surprised to get a letter in the mail from a Columbia Borough attorney two weeks later telling him he was banned indefinitely from borough property. The letter gave no reason for the ban. Nine months later, Vera, who has served as president of the Columbia Historic Preservation Society for more than a decade and has helped with the borough’s comprehensive plan, is still banned from borough property. He believes the ban includes borough parks, which is part of the reason he moved his annual Albatwitch Day festival, which celebrates the myth of a local cryptid, to Wrightsville. Vera said he’s not sure why the borough went to such lengths to keep him away from public spaces given his termination from the borough s...
Read more

East Donegal man charged in Columbia hit & run

By Columbia Spy -
Image
NATHAN WILLISON | LNP Staff Writer An East Donegal Township man is facing criminal charges after police say he struck a 13-year-old with his truck and fled the scene last month.  Derek Scott Mohr, 28, is charged with causing an accident involving death or injury without a license, failing to stop to render aid, driving at an unsafe speed and related charges.  Mohr had been driving a 2013 Chevrolet Silverado through Chestnut Street in Columbia around 8 p.m. March 20 when he struck a 13-year-old boy riding a motorized scooter and continued driving, according to charging documents filed by police.  When police arrived, they found the boy with a broken leg and a cut to his forehead. His scooter was lying nearby, its handlebars completely snapped off.  Another teenager who witnessed what happened described the truck to police and said that the driver made no attempt to stop after striking the boy. Surveillance footage collected from the area shows the truck striking the b...
Read more

Mayor Lutz must accept responsibility

By Columbia Spy -
Image
  GUEST COMMENTARY [Name withheld by request out of fear of retaliation] For two decades, Leo Lutz has occupied the mayor's office in Columbia, and his supporters are quick to credit him with every positive development in our borough, but leadership is a two-way street. If Mayor Lutz is going to accept praise for Columbia's successes, many of which, frankly, he had little direct involvement in, then he must also be held accountable for our failures. The facts paint a troubling picture. Despite the mayor's repeated assurances that our streets are safe, we've witnessed a disturbing rise in assaults, shootings, and vandalism. His promises have fallen by the wayside: the foot patrol we were promised never materialized, nor did the bike patrol that was supposed to increase our sense of security. Fiscally, the situation is equally dire. Taxes have increased at least twice during Mayor Lutz's tenure, yet the borough now finds itself millions of dollars in debt. This isn...
Read more