Police To Ticket Motorists Who "Block The Box"

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Alpharetta commuters beware: if you are caught blocking an intersection, you will have to pay up.

Starting Monday, Nov. 16, police will be monitoring intersections and ticketing drivers who “block the box” at some key intersections throughout the city.

Those who do will be subject to monetary fines and up to three points on their driver’s licenses, the city said on Thursday.

A motorist “blocks the box” when he or she enters an intersection when the cars on the other side of that intersection prevent the driver from making it all the way through.

If the traffic signal changes to red before the driver can get out of the intersection, he or she is blocking cross traffic from moving forward and preventing mobility in crosswalks.

This increases traffic congestion, reduces safety -- and is illegal in Georgia.

“Drivers who block intersections...increase congestion and create additional delays for every driver on the road, including themselves,” said Alpharetta Public Works Director Pete Sewczwicz. “Any intersection is capable of handling only so many vehicles in a given amount of time. When a driver tries to force his way through an intersection when there is no room, he exceeds that capacity and increases congestion on the cross street and the road on which he is traveling. As a result, fewer vehicles are able to pass through the intersection during the subsequent green cycle of the traffic signal.”

Beyond increasing congestion, however, Alpharetta officials are concerned about the reduction in safety that occurs when intersections are blocked by inconsiderate drivers.

“When cross traffic cannot get through an intersection because someone has blocked the box, neither can our emergency vehicles,” Alpharetta Public Safety Director Gary George added. “When we are responding to a fire, injury accident, or other emergency, every second matters. A driver may not want to wait for the next cycle of that traffic signal, but is it really worth the possibility of someone losing their life because our firefighters or police officers are delayed due to him or her blocking the intersection?”

Alpharetta will introduce its “Don’t Block The Box” campaign at two intersections: Old Milton Parkway at North Point Parkway and Old Milton Parkway at Haynes Bridge Road.

The program will then be expanded to include other intersections at which drivers are frequently found to be blocking them. Officials indicate that the intersections of North Point Parkway at Kimball Bridge Road and Windward Parkway at Westside Parkway are likely candidates.

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Graphic via city of Alpharetta