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As I'm visiting this forum, I realize, this was NOT my first LEO encounter since I had my LTC. Dunno what I was thinking & maybe because I was off my game from the whole encounter & being sick at the time of typing it? I dunno.

n5wd wrote:

Gaidheal wrote:When I was very new to driving in Texas, I twice took off at major intersections because I thought I had the green, only to realize halfway across, as malevolent stares greet me from behind other windshields, that I don't have right of way ... oops!

I got it worked out right quick, I can tell you ;)

And, even if you do have the green light, jumping away at the first instance of green can get you hurt.

My wife and I were stopped at a major intersection in Fort Worth a couple of years ago... it was an interstate highway, and we were on the side where the traffic was coming from our right, headed off the freeway ramp. and we were in the far right lane (closest to the traffic coming off the freeway off ramp).

The light turned to green, and something told me to hang back just a second or two. About the time the inevitable horn, from the car behind me, sounded... a late light-runner zipped across the highway right in front of us, missing three lanes of cars, but clipping the front end of a car in the left turn lane.

After catching my breath, we went ahead and pulled through the intersection, and into the mini-mall just on the other side of the street, where we were headed. After parking, another car pulled in behind us, blocking us in the parking spot. The driver rolled down her window and told me "I'm so sorry I honked at you - I was in a hurry, and if you had taken off right when I honked, that car would have hit you and your wife." Yep, I agreed... we were lucky we weren't in a hurry.

Speed kills, in many different ways!

Stories like this & having dinner next to a family of 4 that 3 of 4 were killed 20 mins later in the intersection not 200' from our dinner table have caused me to triple and I mean TRIPLE check before entering an intersection first.

First, I was a doofus. I got caught up in what I was doing at home, that next thing I know, I'm running late to pick up my woman from the airport. She flies in every weekend just about & I had lost track of time. So I was running late & texting/calling her & making dinner plans. I was at a redlight doing all this. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, caught a glimpse of green & started moving. I was almost all the way through the intersection when I realized it was the left turn signal & the other side's left turn vehicle's horn.

I was in the far left lane, and Lewisville PD was in the far right lane. When the light turned green & I cleared the intersection, he lit me up. I pulled over immediately & he was at my window really quick. He said he wanted to make sure I wasn't intoxicated or anything. Asked for my license & insurance, but since I was in her car, I wasn't sure where she kept the docs. I wasn't worried about it because I know she has a policy & I found the complete policy, just not the ID card. I gave him my ID/CHL, he asked if I was armed & I said it was on my person.

Overall, he was very pleasant & let me go with a verbal warning. He even said he's been there, done that pulling out at that light. I said I don't normally do stuff like this, but just the conflagration of phone calls/texts & hurrying to the airport got me out of my typical focus on driving.

It kind of messed with me too the rest of the night, I just wasn't as sharp as I know I normally am. I think it was also because I was getting sick too. Been coughing with an upper respiratory infection for a week, or as my Dad called it: The Creeping Crud. It's bounced all around the house . . .