No. I have not timed them and if you have I'll take your word for it that the ones you've timed are 3 seconds. But whatever the actual times are, many are still not long enough because not only is it unsafe to have to slam on the brakes bcause you don't know who is behind you, it is also very fuel innefficient. I don't think longer yellows would encourage more red light running.
I agree with you that there is far too much red light running. I've seen people run red lights not only right after the light turns red but sometimes after it has already been red for a while. Also, in recent years, there seems to be far more malfunctioning lights that sometimes are stuck on red, so after three or four minutes of waiting you have no choice but to proceed cautiously. (I thought if there is a malfunction they automatically supposed to switch to flashing red or amber.)
Do you know if a red light camera would catch someone who goes through a red in the middle of the cycle or are they only set up to catch someone after a fraction of a second?
I think DOT knows about the intersections with the short ambers and wants them that way. But I'll try and send them an e-mail anyway. They are not your most responsive agency. They pretty much do whatever they want but that's another subject.
They have to know that the amber at 58th Street and Queens Blvd is too short because even if its 3 seconds long for 58th Street (it seems like 1 second), it's far too short for a car to cross the main road and both service roads. What they do is after the light turns red for 58th Street they make it so it doesn't turn green for Queens Blvd for another 3 seconds. With all that, there are still always 3 or 4 cars still in the middle of the intersection during the rush hours at least after the Queens Blvd cycle turns green and not all of them are waiting to make a left. Queens Blvd traffic then can't move for the first three seconds of its cycle.
DOT's approach to increase safety is to close off a lane causing congestion so all traffic has to crawl. In my opinion, not the best solution.
I'd like to see ticketing of aggressive drivers which I never have seen. They are a bigger danger than speeders and those who pass a red light after a fraction of a second.