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59 °F Forecast | Road Cams Wednesday, April 27, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 25, 2005 Since You Asked Running red lights detered by timed lights I was wondering why the city does not change the timing on the traffic signals to cut down on people running red lights. When we were in Washington last month there was a 3- to 5-second delay when one light changed to red and the other changed to green. Wouldn’t this be helpful along with the red-light cameras? Thanks. — Roger P., Medford Wouldn’t that just let more cars through on the red light, Roger? Don’t mind us, we’re just a pack of cynics up here in our ivory tower. We asked Cory Crebbin, the Medford Public Works director. He also happened to work in public works in Washington, so he knows exactly what you’re talking about because he’s set traffic signal timing in both states. In Washington, they operate traffic signals to fit a difference in the law there: If you can get into the intersection on the yellow, you haven’t run the red light in Washington. In Oregon, the law says if you could have safely stopped on the yellow, you should have, and because you didn’t, you ran a red light. So traffic lights are timed differently in the two states. Advertisement To make the traffic signals operate safely under the Washington law, they have a signal phase called "all red" — all lights are red briefly in an intersection. That "all red" phase isn’t common in Oregon because, like our cynical tendencies suggested earlier, it would result in more red-light running. Crebbin said he’s not aware of any significant difference in the length of the yellow phases in the two states. Send questions to "Since You Asked," Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by e-mail to [email protected] . We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Free Music Downloads Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Distance Education Diamonds Online Poker Slippers Student Loans Tatoo tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Website Design & Marketing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoos Advertisement s