Dear Lane Ranger,
My wife had a situation earlier this month at the intersection of Nottingdale Drive and Dale Boulevard that was very dangerous.
She was traveling east, from Hoadly Road on Dale Boulevard and wanted to make a left turn onto Notting-dale Drive.
She got the left green turn signal at the controlled intersection of Nottingdale Drive to turn left.
Though she had the green arrow, she noticed that traffic coming from the opposite direction was still ap-proaching the intersection at speed.
It turns out the light on their side of the road was still green, despite the fact my wife had a green arrow to make a controlled left turn.
Luckily, by experience, she decided not to make the turn and waited for the oncoming traffic to pass.
I asked my wife to be sure that these weren't cars that could have been running a red light, but she said the cars were several car lengths apart, and all made no effort to stop.
What's going on?
Rick Carney
Dale City
Dear Rick,
We took your question to Mike Salmon at the Virginia Department of Transportation. He said your wife witnessed drivers ignoring the red stop light.
Salmon said the signal has not been reprogrammed for more than two years, and if the signal malfunctions in any way, it is wired to go into flash mode -- where all of the lights begin to flash yellow.
Salmon said a staff member from VDOT went to check on the light and found no problems with it.
"Unfortunately , this sounds like aggressive drivers running the red light," Salmon said.
Send questions about local traffic or about your commute to the Lane Range at 14010 Smoketown Road, Woodbridge, VA 22192, Laneranger@insidenova.com or call the Lane Ranger with your question: 703-878-8004.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement