At least in my country and I suspect many others, yellow / amber mean "stop if it's safe to do so", effectively the same as a red light.
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If I see you compromising public safety because you think you're above the rules we set in place to keep our communities safe, then I'm calling you worse things than thundertwat.
Yellow means stop if you can. It's not permission to drive recklessly in order to save yourself a minute of time.
I'm in no rush to be anywhere, anytime. If my caution and safety are a detriment to your schedule, that's your problem. Maybe you should leave with more time to get wherever you're going safely instead of trying to rush the yellow lights and put everyone else's lives at risk.
This. Yellow means stop if you can (edit: if you can safely)
Yellow means stop if you can... do so safely.
If you're going to fast to make a normal turn at the light, you're too close to that intersection to stop safely, and you should proceed without braking.
Yellow means it's turning red. Beyond that the safest way to treat it is how everyone else in the area treats it. It's like what I tell my stepson, it's better to be predictable than right. There's a lot of dead pedestrians and cyclists that had the right of way.
Agreed that predictability is the priority on the road. But people shouldn't be expecting everyone to rush through yellows with disregard either.
if you can
That is the key though. I see so many people treat the yellow light like “you must be at a stop before it turns red… right now” and slam on the brakes even though they could have made it through either at their current speed or slightly speeding up.
But instead they create a dangerous situation where the car behind them almost rear ends them.
That dangerous situation is created by the following driver and their failure to maintain a safe following distance
If you need to speed up to make it through, you were either going too fast or could have stopped. Which is it?
Lots of cities like to kill people by making their yellow lights short. There is no standard for yellow light timing. They have been getting longer which I like, along with all red periods.
Red light cameras are partly to blame; it makes people more afraid to safely clear the intersection instead of slamming on the brakes
Only if the light timings are such that stopping in time is difficult. Which I know is the case in some shitty places, but it's the fault of the timings, not the cameras.
It's a once burned, twice shy sort of thing where even if people are technically ok to continue through they might really (ironically) air on the side of caution and aggressively stop to avoid that red light ticket.
Never mind some municipalities were caught shortening the yellow light timings specifically to aid the red light cameras in ticketing more people.
What? No. It has nothing to do with the timing. You could give 12 seconds yellow lights, plenty enough time to get through, but as soon as you put up a camera, some jackass is still going to come to a complete stop rather than risk the possibility of a camera catching them "running" a red light.
It has nothing to do with the timing of the lights, and everything to do with the psychology of people being recorded.
If it lasts 12 seconds, you have 12 seconds between the light turning amber and it turning red. No-one is slamming on the moment it turns to amber, because no-one believes they will blast through it if they continue at that point. There is no risk, so the psychology of people can't make them avoid the risk.
The timings are inseparable.
You're assuming you know how long it lasts, as does everyone else on the road. That is an exceptionally poor assumption. You can't make that assumption simply because you set the timing on your traffic light to 12 seconds of yellow. To make that assumption, every driver who sees your traffic light must not have ever seen any traffic light with a shorter yellow. One driver whose home town used 3-second yellow lights and red light cameras is not going to know you use 12-second yellows, and he's going to slam on his brakes as soon as they come on. Your 12-second drivers behind him are going to be forced to panic stop because of him.
If his home town used 3-second yellows without traffic cameras, without excessive enforcement, he's going to roll through anyway. He's not going to slam on his brakes
This is a property of the distribution of light timings across a territory, and is still not something to do with red-light cameras.
If his home town used 3-second yellows without traffic cameras, without excessive enforcement, he’s going to roll through anyway
He's going to blow a red light? And you think that's a better situation than him not blowing it?
In my country I believe all traffic lights have approximately three seconds. It's enough; you need to have a good idea coming up to each light of when you're going to disregard the light, so that you've done your decision-making before it changes. Then, if it changes just before that point, you need to brake positively, not leisurely. Somehow, all learner drivers manage it.
If you view amber lights as "stop as long as able" rather than "continue if able" you wouldn't be in the embarrassing position of seemingly advocating purposefully blasting through red lights.
He’s going to blow a red light? And you think that’s a better situation than him not blowing it?
Correct.
After the yellow, there is a period of 2-4 seconds where all lights in every direction are red, before cross traffic is given a green. Our 3-second (no camera) driver completes his journey through the intersection during this "red all-ball" stage.
This is a property of the distribution of light timings across a territory,
That is exactly what I said. I went further, and reminded you that traffic light timings are not universal. They differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Generally not by much, occasionally by a lot.
In my country I believe all traffic lights have approximately three seconds.
Your country is the exception, then, and not the rule. Generally, yellow light duration is supposed to be calculated from the greater of the posted speed limit, or actual, observed speeds. 3 seconds is not adequate for an intersection 45mph or greater.
and is still not something to do with red-light cameras.
Where cameras are largely absent, drivers tend to favor "reasonable effort" to comply with the yellow. The "reasonable effort" driver will only brake for a fresh yellow light if they can complete a normal stop; they will not initiate hard, "panic" braking. The additional "red all-ball" signal stage provides ample protection. No additional danger arises from a "reasonable effort" driver choosing to proceed instead of introducing the unnecessary hazards of "panic" braking.
Where cameras are present, drives tend to favor "strict compliance", braking hard and dangerously to ensure they don't cross the stop bar during the red and risk a citation. The "red all-ball" stage is superfluous to this driver.
"Panic" braking introduces a risk of control loss from loss of traction, as well as excess wear and tear on tires, wheels, brakes, suspension and steering components. "Panic braking" poses considerably higher risks than a "reasonable effort" approach to yellow-light compliance.
What you're saying is that at minimum we can get rid at least some of the inefficient all red phase if drivers actually treated the amber phase as they're supposed to. At maximum, we can reduce collisions.
How long does it take you to brake firmly to a stop from 60mph then? Longer than 2.5s? Next time you're driving at 60 with traffic, use a fixed reference like a lamppost to count your following distance to the vehicle in front. I hope you count more than two Mississippis, cause otherwise if that vehicle swerves an obstacle at the last moment you're probably screwed.
A longer time could be warranted for faster roads, but 3s should actually be enough. You don't need to "panic brake" you need to be positive.
I had two different instances of a yellow light.
I was approaching an intersection and someone made their left slowly in front of me causing me to slow down as I approached and I kept going cause it was turning yellow and could still make it and got honked like hell.
Next day I saw a light turning yellow well ahead of me so I applied the brake early because it's like a 70(km/h) to signal that I'm going to stop and then stopped before crossing. The person behind me didn't anticipate that and turned at the last second to just miss rear-ending me. My brake lights were active for a hell of a long time so I'm not sure what they were doing.
I say both of these stories because I hate driving in general....
How does rushing yellows put people's lives at risk, exactly?
Because you don't know when exactly the red will come, so you might blast through on red, which should be obvious enough as to why it's dangerous.
The point of amber/yellow lights is a signal to stop that you can ignore without risk if it's already too late to stop, as opposed to reds which are the actual protection against conflict. Is that not fucking obvious?
The state of the LEDs doesn't mean anything for safety. It is however dangerous to impede on opposing traffic's right of way. Reds don't provide protection, it's just a clear signal for right of way. It's also dangerous AF to drive assuming green lights give protection. It's just right of way.
Do you think running reds doesn't risk lives then, wise -ass?
It doesn't necessarily risk lives. "Running red" is dependent on the state of some LEDs. It's dangerous to impede the right of way of a vehicle traveling at high speeds. It's much less dangerous to run a red that's been red for one second rather than, say, 15.
Driving itself risks lives.
I'll never understand what part of driving a 2-ton metal machine makes people think you're an asshole for not doing it recklessly enough
Yellow means stop; but you don't get a fine in case you can't stop safely.
Red means stop; if you're in the intersection for even 1/100th of a second you can get fined.
I ride a motorcycle. I hate those who pass by me when I stop yellow
If you think you made it, it's just because you couldn't see the stoplight turning red just as you entered the crossroads
The universal opposition to running yellow lights in these comments is hilariously awesome.
If you plant your front bumper up their tailpipe and floor it, you can both make it.
You're welcome.
This isn’t the real crime. The real crime is going slow enough we both could have made it, then accelerating when you see it turn yellow so only you get through the light.
I don't get it. If both of you would have made it at a slower speed, how does accelerating mean only the front vehicle now does?
something like: "Both of them could have make it at 40km/h but the Huy in front was driving at 30 km/h and just accelerated at 60km/h when they noticed the yellow light and only them made it on time"
Implication is if they were going at the final speed they ended up at the whole time, both could have got through.
acceleration is just a change in velocity. Perhaps they meant a negative acceleration.
Slowing early for a potential yellow-light and stopping as needed is the :3 of driving tho.
Yellow lights are for 3-6 seconds. That's also around the time it takes to come to a stop, depending on the speed of the vehicle. And you should give the vehicle ahead of you about 3 seconds of lead time. So if they have enough time to stop before reaching the intersection, you almost certainly wouldn't have had enough time to follow them through while it's still yellow unless they slammed their brakes or you are riding their ass.
I'd double-check your local traffic regulations; there are places where you can get written a ticket for running a yellow light.
I’d double-check your local traffic regulations; there are places where you can get written a ticket for running a yellow light.
Holy shit, then what's the difference in those places between a red light and a yellow light?
"you could have stopped but didn't" vs "you should have already been stopped but weren't"
Basically, when you come to a yellow light, there are two ways you can look at the situation: "can I safely stop before reaching the intersection?" or "can I make it through the intersection before the light turns red?" The idea behind "yellow running" regulations is that drivers should be asking themselves the first question, not the second.
How the fuck does a court much less a cop make that determination? As long as they're going at or under the speed limit I see no problem with "running" yellows.
My understanding is that, at least where applicable in the US, it's pretty rare to get a ticket for running a yellow. So it might be one of those things that never actually comes up, or only when part of another charge.
If you were significantly more than your stopping distance in front of the light when it changed, you should stop - if you didn't, you're liable.
Ok now how do we factor in reaction times? Should drivers be expected to keep their eye on the LED instead of checking if anyone on an opposing direction is going to run the red light instead?
A standard generous reaction time is part of your standard stopping distance. Did you not learn this as part of learning to drive?
Yes, you should be watching for traffic lights changing as you drive.
I see I shouldn't be asking if you learnt this, because you obviously never venture out from underneath your bridge except to eat passersby and be a pillock on the internet.
No amount of drivers ed and giving people tickets will stop people from running fresh reds, even accidentally. The only things that help with the consequences is making people understand this, raising intersections, and longer all red periods.
No-one runs a red accidentally except through inattention. Whichever it is, it's an attitude incompatible with driving. Those people need to be removed from behind the wheel.
You really haven't seen some light timings. Lots of cities make yellow lights really short.
How short?
It depends. Some are 2 or 3 seconds. It's mainly to get revenue for the police department via red light running tickets.
Anyone should be able to stop their vehicle within 2 seconds. For an emergency, that is generous. For a traffic light, that is quick - but it is easily achievable for exactly the same reason. And, because you can see the green light, you are able to anticipate it changing, and so react quicker than you would to an unanticipated event like an emergency, so it is easier still.
Amber light timings in my country are, I believe, 3 seconds universally.
In the U.S. speed limits are high enough where stopping within 2 seconds (including reaction time) would require slamming on the breaks.
Also yellow lights should not be a static time. See https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kyFLRXSxgPw
I think we're mostly in agreement about a lot of this stuff. A lot of drivers here don't drive defensively, and that is a problem. Clearly it's a problem everywhere and it's much more reasonable for drivers to expect red light runs especially on fresh reds than to expect every driver to never run a red light ever, especially at high speeds when checking to see if someone is going to run the very much non-fresh red on the conflicting direction.
My main point is that "red light running" is purely a distinction based on the state of the LEDs. It's dishonest to make a meaningful distinction between someone entering an intersection on a yellow vs a very fresh red. Especially compared to someone on their phone who blows into a full intersection of cars on a non-fresh red which is what's actually dangerous (because of the people there with right of way).
I live in Phoenix which is apparently the red light running Capitol of the country. It's gotten a lot better now that Phoenix and other cities have extended their yellow light timings and red only periods. As it turns out not all red light runs are equal.
If you slam on the brakes at high speeds on a modern car, you will stop in much less than 2 seconds. In practice you need some time to react as well, but the time to react to an anticipated event is short and should be about a quarter of a second.
The "state of the LEDs" that you keep referring to is the signal that tells other drivers they may proceed. Stop minimising it.
I agree that red light running leads to deadly collisions. However that's not the whole picture. You have to have nuance.
So time to react is a quarter second, meaning the driver isnt allowed to look at anything but the traffic light when approaching one? Sounds dangerous.
What country are you from?
My point is that blindly teaching drivers about traffic rules makes them extremely unprepared for the reality of driving. I've run red lights accidentally many times. It happens. I've precented collisions by LOOKING AT THE ROAD and knowing when a driver is going to run a yellow or red when I'm turning left/stealing the intersection. You're treating every red light run the same. It's like saying speeding on the freeway by 15mph is just as dangerous as speeding by 15mph on surface streets. The latter is MUCH more dangerous by like, at least two factors of 10.
If you accidentally ran reds many times, you need to stop driving right now before you cause a serious injury or death. I'm not exaggerating. You've admitted you're unfit to drive.
If you can't monitor the road ahead and spot when a light changes your eyes or attention are not sufficient to the task. Maybe you can be retrained, but it's important you do that rather than continue as you are until forced to stop due to a catastrophe.
I'm not saying this as a rebuke. I just think no-one should be driving if they can't reliably stop for red lights.
People say "stopping distance" with many different definitions all the time. Also it's different per state.
That is not any kind of problem.
I don't understand
I'm saying that the thing that you said here is not relevant to what I said. It's not a problem to the enforcement of amber lights.
Every driver should have an idea of their own stopping distance, regardless of different so-called definitions, so that they can drive at an appropriate distance from the vehicle in front (fat chance of that, given driving standards). If you are 3 seconds away from a light the moment it turns amber and decide not to stop for it, you went through when you were able to stop, and ought to get a ticket. A police car capturing video would be able to determine that objectively. Hence: objective enforcement is possible.
With red, the context doesn't matter. You run a red light, you get fined. With yellow, the context does matter: you only get fined if you clearly could've come to a stop safely, but didn't.
The severity of the fine also differs (talking about Germany here). If you run a red light you get at least one "point", which is a semi-permanent mark on your record that will lead to more severe punishment if you rack up too many of them. If you endangered someone, caused an accident, or the light was red for more than a second, you also get your driver's license taken away for a month. You don't get any of that with a yellow light, and the monetary fine is also much lower.
Nah fuck you, most of you are gonna end up sitting on social media scrolling some shorts so think about that when you break the law so you can watch two more shorts while risking to kill people, and just so you know I can see you cursing me in the mirror and I'm cursing you too, ugly ass bitch.
Bah! You'll be fine, just speed to the next light.
How long does a stop light take? Three minutes? Look at your damn phone, that's all you're going to do when you get wherever you're going, anyway.

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