Enduring the red-light contagion
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
By JOHN CICHOWSKI
ROAD WARRIOR COLUMNIST
“Why is everybody honking at me?”
This noisy distraction was occurring so frequently, especially when she was stopped at traffic lights, that Toni Trobiani thought she might be committing some terrible driving faux pas.
“First, I thought other drivers didn’t like my car,” said the Maywood reader. “I even checked to see if there was some sticker on my bumper that I wasn’t aware of.”
But there wasn’t. The problem wasn’t Toni’s taillights, either. The problem was the attitude of the drivers behind her.
“There’d be … a pedestrian with a stroller crossing the street in front of me and some idiot behind me will blast the horn!” she said. “It’s obnoxious!”
It took a while, but Toni finally figured out what was happening. So did Bergenfield’s Roy Contiliano, who had experienced the same thing.
“People don’t want the driver ahead of them to stop at red lights before making right-hand turns,” said Roy. “It’s a travesty!”
Marc Brown calls it an “epidemic” that’s spreading from town to town. He even sent me a list that tracks this “disease.” He diagnosed two of the most virulent cases at Highland and East Ridgewood avenues in his hometown of Paramus and another on Wyckoff Avenue in Waldwick, where signs prohibit right turns on red. Marc said people make a right there anyway.
Marc’s list also included another intersection in Paramus at Chadwick Road and East Ridgewood Avenue. In Ridgewood, a problem spot is the train underpass eastbound at Linwood Avenue and Garber Square.
The Road Warrior needs to get his research team new batteries for its GPS or should dust off its old Hagstroms as Linwood Ave is nowhere near the underpass & Garber Square is on the Westbound side of the tracks. He’s probably referring to the intersection at Franklin Ave. & N. Broad St. or the one on the west side Garber Square & West Ridgewood, both of which right on reds are rarely observed or enforced, are both extremely dangerous & an accident waiting to happen. For an Indy 500 overview of champion right on red racing a surefire contender is the intersection of Ridgewood & Forest in Westwood. Alvy singer (Woody Allen) declared in Annie Hall that the only good thing about California is that you can make a right on red.