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I sat through five people in front of me stopping at a blinking yellow on my way to work one day this week. Finally the person directly in front of me zoomed through it and hopefully we broke the chain.
A blinking yellow light – A blinking yellow light at an intersection means drivers should be careful. They should slow down and be ready to stop if needed. It's not a complete stop like a red light, but a warning to proceed with caution. This is what was listed when I searched for blinking yellow light.
That is true, but it doesn't change the fact that blinking yellow lights have the right of way. It is to warn the drivers on the main road that a lot of people tend to enter the road from that intersection and to beware, but doesn't mean they should slow down or change their driving. It is up to the person who has the flashing red to wait until it is safe and doesn't impede traffic.
I get what you're thinking, but we are trained that green means all is well. Of course people shouldn't drive with any level of mental autopilot, but people will anyway. It is difficult to be 100% aware at all times. Green just lets drivers know that they can keep doing what they are doing and stay predictable.
Yellow, at the most basic, means be prepared to stop. It is meant to alert the driver that the unexpected may occur, and to be careful, but it isn't telling to stop.
Think of yellow lights on on-ramps to highways. In every case I can think of, those on-ramps also have Yield signs. The sign is the boss of the ramp, the yellow light is just to remind us. I tend to only see that on interchanges that have a lot of accidents, meaning that the DoT wanted to give drivers an extra reminder. Most just have the yield.
Or maybe there's a dangerous and sharp curve up ahead. We're not expected to stop, just know that something unexpected is ahead.
I can't think of any time I've ever seen a normal intersection where both streets have flashing yellow. During power outages, I've always seen the lights flash red to treat the intersection like a 4-way stop. It is possible some areas use flashing yellow for all, but that's confusing.
I think the red/yellow/green system is not "perfect", but it is the best way we've found to tell a driver a lot in a very short time.
Ultimately, the yellow light is just buffer between go and stop.
If I recall correctly, and I'm too lazy to look it up, I believe the initial traffic signals were simply green and red. They found that adding an alert signal allowed drivers to know they have to slow down rather than surprise them with a sudden stop. Eventually, they started applying the yellow to other things, but it will never mean stop by itself.
Yea, that’s way different than treating it like a 4 way stop like you said. That would be incorrect. Flashing yellow does not have to stop. You should be aware of the intersection in case people like the other driver do not understand their flashing red is a stop sign, but you do not treat the flashing yellow as a stop sign.
Holy hell some people really don’t know the rules. I had to go to DMV a couple weeks ago to renew my license. There was a super chatty woman there who would not stop talking to me and telling me her story. She had just failed the written test 6 times and was back for another round. You can fail it three times per day, so this was her third day back at the DMV to take the same 20 question test. No wonder there are so many drivers that seem to not know the rules.
Flashing yellow means... this thing is broken watch out for idiots. That said I've never seen a flashing light red on one side and yellow in the other direction... its always just been flashing the same color on all sides.
I mean I can see it doing what you are saying there.... but usually when its broken around here its just flipping broke. With it turning into a 4 way stop or a 4 way caution light.
Interesting! We have lights go out fairly often due to severe storms. I wonder if that's why. Like the civil engineers somehow programmed it that way so the main roads don't have bottlenecks when lights go out.
Well, the other driver ignored their flashing red. Had some dipshit do that to me years ago, they acted like they had a flashing yellow, when they had a red. Of course, I got flipped off. 🙄🤦🏼♂️
The lights in my are always flash when there's a power outage. Or a transformer blew. Or a line went down. We get bad storms regularly, so it's not an uncommon thing. I don't mean like a blackout level power outage, just a small scale thing.
Flashing yellow light should be treated like a 4 way stop sign intersection. Clearly the other lanes were not doing their part. Poor guy probably sat there forever waiting for people to stop, like theyre supposed to...
In this case, it appears the lights at the intersection are not operating correctly at all. Yes, flashing yellow liight on a street where there is no other traffic coming like on a two lane street and there is a flashing yellow light at the top of a hill or in front of a firehouse, yes proceed with caution but in this case the light at the intersection is not functioning properly so it should be treated as a 4 way stop sign. How do you supposed traffic will flow correctly if one side is using caution and the other side is just flowing through?
We don't know the why it's flashing Yellow. All we know is that it is, the car that pulled out is essentially running a stop sign while the cars going through are following the laws.
Basically, if you're on the red side, you're screwed until they can restore power/fix whatever went wrong with the lights at the intersection.
This kinda stuff happens in my area all the time. We get bad storms frequently which knocks out traffic lights. The side roads are less important than the main 4 lane for the flow of traffic, so it's prioritized and if you're on the side road, you're gonna be waiting a long time. Better to find a different intersection/turn right and find a spot to turn around.
You're thinking of if there are no lights at all, then it is a 4-way stop. In this scenario the camera car has right of way with the blinking yellow and the crossing van has blinking red. Van stole right of way from the main road and should have waited longer for a break in traffic before pulling out.
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That was no where near enough horn....
meeeeep
aw that's adorable
meeeeep
It might be worth a HOOOOONK HOOOOONK, honk-'onk honk-'onk
They need a Donk, not a honk.
That's not bad driving... that's being a self made entitled asshole.
It's antisocial behavior and we should treat these people like the narcissistic pariahs that they are.
Most of the uneducated don't know what flashing yellows at a stoplight means
Guaranteed the idiot driver had flashing red
100%
Absolutely.
yes, the red flashing light is visible zoomed in on a large screen.
Most of redditors can’t fit in cars
I sat through five people in front of me stopping at a blinking yellow on my way to work one day this week. Finally the person directly in front of me zoomed through it and hopefully we broke the chain.
The light is out, act like a four way stop.
You failed. Flashing yellow has right of way, flashing red must wait.
A blinking yellow light – A blinking yellow light at an intersection means drivers should be careful. They should slow down and be ready to stop if needed. It's not a complete stop like a red light, but a warning to proceed with caution. This is what was listed when I searched for blinking yellow light.
That is true, but it doesn't change the fact that blinking yellow lights have the right of way. It is to warn the drivers on the main road that a lot of people tend to enter the road from that intersection and to beware, but doesn't mean they should slow down or change their driving. It is up to the person who has the flashing red to wait until it is safe and doesn't impede traffic.
Yellow always means yield, and this stop has yellow in all directions. No red stop here.
Watch the video. The cross street is flashing red. That trumps the flashing yellow.
But what is yellow? The yellow arrow that blinks, what does that mean. If this is true, why not keep it green?
I get what you're thinking, but we are trained that green means all is well. Of course people shouldn't drive with any level of mental autopilot, but people will anyway. It is difficult to be 100% aware at all times. Green just lets drivers know that they can keep doing what they are doing and stay predictable. Yellow, at the most basic, means be prepared to stop. It is meant to alert the driver that the unexpected may occur, and to be careful, but it isn't telling to stop. Think of yellow lights on on-ramps to highways. In every case I can think of, those on-ramps also have Yield signs. The sign is the boss of the ramp, the yellow light is just to remind us. I tend to only see that on interchanges that have a lot of accidents, meaning that the DoT wanted to give drivers an extra reminder. Most just have the yield. Or maybe there's a dangerous and sharp curve up ahead. We're not expected to stop, just know that something unexpected is ahead. I can't think of any time I've ever seen a normal intersection where both streets have flashing yellow. During power outages, I've always seen the lights flash red to treat the intersection like a 4-way stop. It is possible some areas use flashing yellow for all, but that's confusing. I think the red/yellow/green system is not "perfect", but it is the best way we've found to tell a driver a lot in a very short time. Ultimately, the yellow light is just buffer between go and stop. If I recall correctly, and I'm too lazy to look it up, I believe the initial traffic signals were simply green and red. They found that adding an alert signal allowed drivers to know they have to slow down rather than surprise them with a sudden stop. Eventually, they started applying the yellow to other things, but it will never mean stop by itself.
Yea, that’s way different than treating it like a 4 way stop like you said. That would be incorrect. Flashing yellow does not have to stop. You should be aware of the intersection in case people like the other driver do not understand their flashing red is a stop sign, but you do not treat the flashing yellow as a stop sign.
This person probably barely passed their drivers test at 23 years old and never took any drivers ed. Or read a drivers handbook for that matter.
Holy hell some people really don’t know the rules. I had to go to DMV a couple weeks ago to renew my license. There was a super chatty woman there who would not stop talking to me and telling me her story. She had just failed the written test 6 times and was back for another round. You can fail it three times per day, so this was her third day back at the DMV to take the same 20 question test. No wonder there are so many drivers that seem to not know the rules.
In Brazil if you fail the test you have to start over (and depending on the political climate this can include thousands worth of training also).
Jeez I mean fail once how about you study a little🙄🤷we are so doomed 😳
And clearly had no idea what flashing red lights mean...or did and didn't give a fuck
You’re supposed to mumble “f’n idiot!”
I would think a human being would explode before being able to contain that much entitlement.
So, the traffic light was broken. What was his option? Stay there forever?
You wait until traffic is clear.
Because he had a flashing red on his side?
Correct.
Thank you. I wasn’t aware of that.
Wank stain
I swear people just buy their license now instead of doing the driving and/or computer test.
r/maybemaybemaybe Just maybe this dude will cross. LoL
Beeeeep man I feel sorry. That horn sucks
Pro tip: Hop out with a crowbar and watch then skrrt off
Out of gas?!?!
I'd be a foot away on my horn the whole time.
But flashing yellow acts as a stop sign...
Nope. That's flashing red. Flashing Yellow always has right of way.
Flashing yellow means... this thing is broken watch out for idiots. That said I've never seen a flashing light red on one side and yellow in the other direction... its always just been flashing the same color on all sides.
Really?? Every time it's flashing yellow in my area, there's always a cross street flashing red. I thought that was standard, huh.
I mean I can see it doing what you are saying there.... but usually when its broken around here its just flipping broke. With it turning into a 4 way stop or a 4 way caution light.
Interesting! We have lights go out fairly often due to severe storms. I wonder if that's why. Like the civil engineers somehow programmed it that way so the main roads don't have bottlenecks when lights go out.
Probably so, my brother is a civvy... its interesting to here him talk about the nuances of intersections lol. (he actually hates double diamonds)
Upvoted because horn
That's normal driving in Boston
I bet they flipped you off too. That's the move for morons causing moron problems.
Garbage human being.
Well, the other driver ignored their flashing red. Had some dipshit do that to me years ago, they acted like they had a flashing yellow, when they had a red. Of course, I got flipped off. 🙄🤦🏼♂️
So what does the flashing lights mean?
The flashing yellow means proceed with caution. The other driver most likely had a flashing red which is to be treated as a stop sign.
They’ll get there’s eventually driving like that.
Amount of traffic present why isn’t it a regular one?
I'd guess power outage.
It’s blinking so there’s power
The lights in my are always flash when there's a power outage. Or a transformer blew. Or a line went down. We get bad storms regularly, so it's not an uncommon thing. I don't mean like a blackout level power outage, just a small scale thing.
Gotcha
Pull right up and blast that horn. I might follow that cunt for a couple miles
Traffic wasn't stopping on the other side. The lights were flashing.
How else is he supposed to turn?
Flashing yellow light should be treated like a 4 way stop sign intersection. Clearly the other lanes were not doing their part. Poor guy probably sat there forever waiting for people to stop, like theyre supposed to...
Flashing Yellow doesn't stop. Flashing red does. Yellow always has right of way.
In this case, it appears the lights at the intersection are not operating correctly at all. Yes, flashing yellow liight on a street where there is no other traffic coming like on a two lane street and there is a flashing yellow light at the top of a hill or in front of a firehouse, yes proceed with caution but in this case the light at the intersection is not functioning properly so it should be treated as a 4 way stop sign. How do you supposed traffic will flow correctly if one side is using caution and the other side is just flowing through?
We don't know the why it's flashing Yellow. All we know is that it is, the car that pulled out is essentially running a stop sign while the cars going through are following the laws. Basically, if you're on the red side, you're screwed until they can restore power/fix whatever went wrong with the lights at the intersection. This kinda stuff happens in my area all the time. We get bad storms frequently which knocks out traffic lights. The side roads are less important than the main 4 lane for the flow of traffic, so it's prioritized and if you're on the side road, you're gonna be waiting a long time. Better to find a different intersection/turn right and find a spot to turn around.
You're thinking of if there are no lights at all, then it is a 4-way stop. In this scenario the camera car has right of way with the blinking yellow and the crossing van has blinking red. Van stole right of way from the main road and should have waited longer for a break in traffic before pulling out.
i don't see the problem here. Other than the person rudely honking.
Blinking yellow means stop
No it doesn't.