While people like to imagine themselves as individualistic in their decision-making, sometimes an incident at a traffic light in Chicago, Illinois, might show otherwise. Shared by Reddit user Cesarjay, a video on r/IdiotsInCars and r/dashcams has caught the attention of thousands. In the dashcam clip, a continuous line of drivers drove through a red light, leaving many people baffled and outraged.
Cesarjay called it an “ungodly amount of people running the red light” at North Street and East Grand Avenue, near Navy Pier in Chicago. True enough, the video shows people just nonchalantly running the red light, while OP chose to stop. “Bonus points for the guy at the end almost causing an accident to run the red,” he sighed.
Some commenters immediately put the local law enforcement on blast. “Just proves cops don’t give a [expletive]. They could have a literal field day and rake in thousands of tickets fees. But no, why have safe roads? Who cares? They surely don’t,” one person remarked. Another chimed in, claiming that Chicago police are on a “silent strike.” They wrote, saying that “Driving in this city is the closest thing to driving in south Asia that you can experience in the USA.”
What The Drivers Are Doing Isn’t Illegal, But How They’re Doing It Is Questionable
“There are actually situations where it’s legal to make a left turn on red!…this is not one of them,” said a third, but multiple people refuted their claim. Dozens argued about how Illinois law lets people drive through a red light if it’s a left turn from a one-way street onto another one-way street. However, it specifically states that drivers must yield and “come to a full stop,” something that drivers seemingly didn’t do in the dashcam footage.
As one commenter pointed out, “There is definitely a heavy amount of insanity taking place here. Namely none of the drivers actually stopping as they are legally required to do, before making the turn.” Another Redditor added that just because people can legally do something doesn’t mean they are legally required to. A good handful of people were flaming OP for obstructing the flow of traffic, though the other drivers’ behavior in this whole situation is questionable in the first place.
A few argued that the issue isn’t OP or the drivers, but the traffic light’s design, which has clearly left many people baffled about what’s going on. That said, regardless of whether a maneuver on the road is lawful or not, something that leaves thousands online and even drivers on the road confused can never be 100% safe.
