I live and work in downtown Austin. I frequently walk (about a mile each way) to/from my office, so I spend a lot of time interacting with and observing traffic patterns in a very automobile-congested area. One of the biggest issues I've witnessed is how frequently drivers will proceed into an intersection even though there isn't enough space ahead of them to clear the intersection. Then, the signal changes, and they are left blocking one or more travel lanes perpendicular to their vehicle, thereby spoiling the precious open road for the unfortunate motorists who are left to deal with their selfishness or inattentiveness.
I see this happen almost daily, so I can only imagine how often it actually occurs when I'm not around to witness it. I wonder how much this slows the whole system down just so that a few folks can hopefully get where they're going one traffic light-cycle sooner. I'd be mortified to be sitting in one of these cars getting honked and glared at for my complete and utter lack of consideration towards others, but I guess selfishness is a powerful enough force to keep people driving like assholes regardless.
I also live and work in downtown Austin, and see this all the time too. It's... less than ideal, for sure. At least when people block the pedestrian crossing, (which is also something I encounter daily) it just makes it awkward, rather than gumming up traffic too.
The hilarious thing is that the two intersections I see this happen the most at...are two of the intersections that have this sign. Maybe if the City actually enforced the $500 fine, people would think twice. One operator with a few cameras could handle most of the downtown area, but, alas...
I see this happen almost daily, so I can only imagine how often it actually occurs when I'm not around to witness it. I wonder how much this slows the whole system down just so that a few folks can hopefully get where they're going one traffic light-cycle sooner. I'd be mortified to be sitting in one of these cars getting honked and glared at for my complete and utter lack of consideration towards others, but I guess selfishness is a powerful enough force to keep people driving like assholes regardless.