Is this intersection an accident waiting to happen?
Cars proceed on a green -- even as the light for oncoming traffic turns from green to yellow. By Elissa Harrington KVAL NewsALBANY, Ore. -- Bill Weaver of Albany says he was just following the rules of the road when he got pulled over. Back in September, an officer cited him for running a stoplight at the Lyon Street intersection. Weaver says that never happened. "You know, he seemed like a nice enough guy," says Weaver about the officer. "I got nothing against him. But he's wrong." Weaver came back to the scene of the crime to investigate. "I watched the light," he says, "and by golly, I ran a green light." The catch? Weaver says the officer's light was also green. Weaver says the officer was sitting at a red light when Weaver drove through the intersection toward a green light. The officer's light allegedly turned green while Weaver was still driving. He pulled Weaver over because his green light meant Weaver's light should have been red. To be fair, KVAL News went to see if this scenario was true. The double green happened every time. There is a lag for at least 2 or 3 seconds. KVAL News contacted the Albany Police Department. The officer who issued the citation was not available, and neither was the Public Information Officer. I did get a chance to speak with someone in the records department. He told me in the video from the patrol car, it is clear that the officer's light turned green. The video does not show Weaver's light. Ron Irish, the Transportation Systems Analyst for the City of Albany, said the Oregon Department of Transportation is in charge of the timing of the light. Rick Little with ODOT says they will look into this. "I hope ODOT comes down here and makes this light 4 seconds longer," says Weaver. Even if they don't, Weaver says he is prepared to go all the way. "I will appeal it all the way to the Supreme Court," he says. KVAL requested video from the patrol car. We were told we could not access the video because Weaver plans to appeal the case. Weaver told KVAL it costs $189 to file an appeal. |
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