Motorcyclists in Tennessee can legally run red lights after a bill was signed last month, but the state’s law enforcement officers are unhappy about the new ruling. Is it a good move?
Motorcyclists in Tennessee can legally run red lights after a bill was signed recently, but the state’s law enforcement officers are unhappy about the new ruling.
reported that motorcyclists complained that they had to wait very long for the lights to change as the sensors that control the mechanism could not read the bikes. The lights change once it senses cars waiting, but it cannot read motorcycles, which are now made mostly of aluminum and fibreglass, not metal.
A bill signed into law by Governor Phil Bredesen allows motorcyclists to go through red lights if they first check traffic from opposite sides and “exercise due care”.
Bredesen spokeswoman Lydia Lenker said the governor signed the bill because “ultimately, the research did not show an increased safety risk”.
But law enforcement officers do not agree. “It almost takes it out of our hands to write a ticket for motorcycles running a red light,” said Bob Lyons of Nashville’s Traffic Division. “How do we know if he’s been sitting there (for a while) or not?”
A motorcycle officer from Nashville, Jeff Keeter, said though he had also been frustrated at red lights, he did not support the law change. “We’ll have motorcycles trying to cross six lanes. I don’t have much confidence in drivers or riders. I can’t believe this was even considered,” said Keeter.
