What do the Blue Lights on the Traffic Lights Mean in St. Cloud?

Ever notice the blue lights on several of the traffic lights around town?  Apparently they do have a purpose, but it doesn't seem to be working all that well in the St. Cloud area.  These blue lights turn on when the light turns red.  They are to aid police officers in catching people who run red lights.

The main purpose of the blue lights is to help law enforcement officers catch drivers running a red light in an efficient and safe manner. The blue lights come on when the signal turns red so officers can see the blue light and what vehicle has entered the intersection while in their squad vehicle at a distance.

If you haven't noticed... and would be because you have been living under a rock, or you never drive around town, the people who run red lights has turned into an epidemic.  It's awful. It's to the point where if you are a person waiting at a red light and your light turns green, you better wait a few seconds and look both ways before you enter the intersection.  There are generally at least one car if not two or three that will go through after the light has turned red.

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During the winter, if it's slippery... or possibly slippery, sometimes you do need to make the decision if you have time to stop or if you need to just go through the stop light.  This is on a rare occasion where you  are driving up towards a green light, and it turns yellow at a point where you wouldn't necessarily be able to stop without being in the middle of the intersection.  Of course, if this were the case, you probably need to adjust your speed for the conditions of the road.

Hopefully this will be something that will change.  But so far, it doesn't seem to be helping.  Unfortunately.  So for now, always look both ways - green light or not.