A general-position problem for planar line arrangements

For all $\delta>0$ and infinitely many $n \in \mathbb N$, we show that there exists a set $L$ of $n$ lines in $\mathbb R^2$ such that there are no intersecting quadruples, but for every subset $L' \subset L$ such that $|L'| \geq n^{\frac{4}{5}+\delta}$, there exist three lines from $L'$ with a common point of intersection. This gives an improved bound for a dual form of a theorem of Balogh and Solymosi. As a consequence, we derive an improved lower bound for the Hadwiger-Debrunner number $HD_2(p,3)$. We also give, for all $0 \leq s \leq 1$ and arbitrarily large $n \in \mathbb N$, a construction of a point set $S \subset [n]^3$ with cardinality $|S|\geq n^{3-s}$, such that $S$ contains $O(n^{6-4s})$ collinear triples. This shows that a supersaturation lemma of Balogh and Solymosi is optimal, up to logarithmic factors.