Red Lights and Roadblocks

In addition to being such a prolific writer here on The Chant, 😜 I usually throw together a short article for the monthly newsletter of my local Mustang Club. You've seen my Mustang on here once or twice, usually from when I'm in a parade, which I enjoy, and so I stepped up to be the VP last year.  We are always looking for stories for that newsletter, so I help add content when needed.  My input this month was something that's car-centric of course, a story about the red light cameras at various intersections here in San Diego.  I was inspired by a list of intersections with cameras that I found on the city's website.

I remember when those were put in, I didn't like it, nor did the majority of the San Diego public.  I was especially perturbed because one of them was on my route home.  It was at a heavily traveled intersection on the way from the airport to the freeway.  I didn't like the camera because it wasn't catching those flouting the law, but people who got caught in traffic.  In general I dislike govt. intrusion and bureaucracy, but that has changed.  I'll explain more shortly.

I tend to think that most of us in my club are pretty savvy (senior?) Mustang drivers, and we care a lot about our vehicles. It's not likely that we would either flout the law and intentionally run a red light, or be so inattentive as to run one unintentionally.  However, that doesn't mean other drivers aren't out there gunning for us- speeding through intersections, trying to make it through a yellow, or even a newly turned red.  I used to watch the reality TV show "Fast and Loud" pretty regularly.  The Gas Monkey garage was great at taking barn-finds or stock cars and turning them back into what they once were, or what the team dreamed up.  One of the most memorable episodes for me was when Richard Rawlings and his crew restored my favorite car ever- a '67 Convertible Mustang; the first car I ever drove since my family owned one (sold the day before I got my learners permit). You can watch a clip of the episode here.  Why it was memorable was because of how it ended- both the episode, and the car.  Yes, the car was totaled, moments after completion and during a test drive.  Some uninsured motorist had run a red light, crunched the front right fender, and bent the frame beyond repair.  It was heartbreaking for me, not just to see my dream car destroyed, but because of how much work had just gone into it.  

Now back to that intersection.

What you see is an overhead shot of the San Diego Embarcadero, which follows the curve of the harbor (Harbor Drive) and the red-pinned problematic intersection.  I drive South on Harbor and turn left onto what is Grape St.  Below you see the street view looking south at Grape. 

When the camera was put in, that route was very congested (still is) and would regularly cause backups when you turned left.  People in the three left turn lanes would start the turn (which has poor visibility) then realize it was backed up, and the red light camera would catch them stuck in the middle.  It wasn't as if people were blatantly running the red light, but the free-flowing traffic would often stop on a dime due to multiple lights going up a hill towards the freeway, active train tracks that of course weren't synchronized to the lights, drivers stopping traffic trying to get into the right lane before the on ramp, and general freeway backups back onto the ramp and down the street.    

Sometime in the past few years, the camera at that intersection was removed.  Since COVID though, that intersection, and many others, still have red light runners that I notice daily.  People have seemingly lost their sense of driver courtesy and care for the safety of themselves or others.

The rest of that list of cameras I found has intersections with heavy traffic, plenty of accidents, and thus the cameras are there to help cut down on that.  I didn't write that piece for my newsletter as a warning to club members to avoid tickets though.  When I saw the stats on the number of vehicles passing through them and the number of accidents last year, I changed my tune on the red-light cameras because of all the red-light runners causing accidents.  We want to avoid accidents like the Fast & Loud crew experienced- to watch out for the other drivers and prevent our beloved Ponies from getting wrecked like the one in the clip.  The cameras are a form of govt regulation I can tolerate to help keep my car from getting smashed.  Knowing where the cameras are are just a way to know what intersections at which we have to be even more defensive in our driving.

Speaking of roadblocks, in a roundabout way I admit, I can't go a full post without getting somewhat political.  For many years, I have been very frustrated, along with many of you I'd expect, that nothing ever seems to get done in Washington. The constant in-fighting, the lack of any substantial legislation, and the corruption of course, really shakes what little faith I have in govt.  Do I still have any?  I know I'm not alone, we've all been frustrated and we hate politics, and even more so- politicians.  But I heard something recently on an afternoon talk show that put some of it into perspective.  Our constitution was written by our founding fathers with the specific intention of keeping govt small and out of our lives.  The Federalist papers specifically called for an elaborate system of checks and balances and a decentralized government giving powers to the states.  That was followed by the Constitutional Convention which expanded upon that idea, having a centralized government, but with power divided among the three branches.  While most of the roadblocks in the legislative body are because of the highly polarized two party system, having a judicial branch that stops cutouts from the equal protection clause like Affirmative Action, or ensuring the President can't levy taxes (College Loan Bailouts), is helping keep our Govt in check.  When the Dems and GOP can't get along and pass one bill or another, they can't shove something down our throats, and that may actually be a good thing.  

Inside baseball is saying that Biden won't be the nominee next year.  The Dems have to figure out a way to drop him, keep Kamala down, and move my governor (ugh!) - Gavin Newsom, into the top spot.  The fact that there is no Biden reelection team, no real campaign at all, and zero fundraising for his reelection is very telling.   Then again, they could just be saving money for the ballot stuffing campaign.