So, I’m on my way to work this morning and a white van in front of me decides that even though the light has been yellow for as long as we could see it, he’s not going to slow down. Which means he’s entering the intersection on a very red light going at least 50 (in a 45, of course). The lady in the sedan to the right doesn’t see him and starts to enter the intersection when her light turns green. You can guess the rest. The driver in the van swerves to avoid her and hits her anyway. This causes him to overcompensate in an attempt to regain control of his van, swinging the other way and spinning completely around, blowing a tire. For a second I thought he was going to flip the van, but he manages to keep it upright.

No one seemed to be hurt. I moved on through the intersection once everything had settled down and then called the police to come file a report. I hate to admit it, but I’m concerned that the van driver doesn’t have insurance.

This epidemic of running red lights has really gotten bad lately. Not just in Plano (where it’s really bad), but all over town. I’m not sure what has precipitated this dangerous increase. It’s so bad that I have started waiting, sometimes several seconds, after the light turns green before entering the intersection.

You’ve heard it before: If you’re so in a hurry to get where you’re going that you have to run yellow (or red) lights, you should’ve left the house earlier. Just think how late you’re going to be if you end up in an accident because of carelessness. Especially if you don’t arrive at all.