Being crunched from behind is why I do not use the left turn at the south end of Metrocenter, but instead go thru the parking lot just northwest of it. As dangerous as that can be (people don't stop at the stop signs in the PL either, and drive at road speeds in it), it's still safer than that particular left turn (or the right turn at the same place), because most people approaching that light from Metrocenter just finished shopping or working there, and just want to get home. They are not paying attention to anything except their thoughts of home, dinner, whatever, and sometimes they don't even stop for the light when there is traffic already moving the other way on Dunlap!
I'm surprised that there are not more actual collisions there, rather than just a bunch of close calls. Every time I am at that intersection, I see at least one near-miss, and sometimes several. I'm only there for at most a couple of minutes, once a day, on my way to work, on the other side of that intersection, up to five times a week. Yet I see up to a few dozen "almosts", and once a month or so a crunch either while I'm there or the remains of one that recently happened.
I used to make my left turn there anyway, but the last day I did that was the day a car didnt' even slow down for the red light with cars stopped in all lanes. He finally noticed the light was red and a few tons of metal were in their way, then instead of even touching his brakes, he swerved LEFT around all of the cars, INTO oncoming traffic, who managed to part around him, and he just went thru the intersection anyway. I was amazed that no one hit anyone, because if they had, there would have been deaths for sure.
I was near the front of the line, with a few cars between me and the moron, but if he had hit them going that speed, unless they already saw him coming and held their brakes down hard, they probably would still have been knocked forward hard enough to domino together to crush me against the one in front of me.
If I had not had a rearview mirror, I wouldn't have even noticed the guy, as I wouldn't have been turning my head that far back around (the road curves) to check for that, especially with all the other cars already stopped behind me. But I did see the motion in the mirror, and then turned and watched (probably slackjawed) as this guy managed to not become the next Darwin award recipient, by some miracle.
Another problem at this particular intersection is that it only allows thru traffic east-west, on Dunlap. On 29th Avenue, you must turn left or right, on either the north or southbound sides. Lots of people, perhaps one every other time I am at that light (meaning probably hundreds per day given how short a time I'm there) will go straight thru, around the barriers to prevent that. Often the police are there but they almost never even attempt to do anything about it, even when it is an extremely dangerous move that could have (almost did) cause an accident or injure someone.
The main problem with the going straight across is that often enough they'll do it while running the red light, too, with pedestrians in the crosswalks. So far I've never seen anyone hit, but I am sure it happens, too.
If I didnt' see the same stuff happen other places, I'd just say that getting close to Metrocenter turns people into morons, because there are just SO MANY incredibly stupid things I see happen there all the time.
(one of my pet peeves is the delivery trucks that park in no-parking zones, and also in no-stopping-any-time zones where it is dangerous to do so, hence the reason for the zones! The police won't do anything about it, and neither will the companies responsible for the trucks and drivers.
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