My neighbor claims that a friend of his was recently ticketed for “running a yellow light.”
My understanding is that, in most states, a yellow light means prepare to stop, but there is no legal obligation that you must stop on a yellow. Indeed, if you are in the intersection while the light turns RED, you are permitted–in fact, you physically have no choice–but to proceed through the intersection as quickly and safely as possible.
To back up my claim, I pointed out that, traveling at 40 mph, it takes maybe 2/10 of a second to react to a yellow light and another 2-3 seconds to safely stop your vehicle. By that point, you could easily be in–or all the way through–the intersection in question, meaning that “running a yellow light” is sometimes unavoidable. In some circumstances, in fact, I’d argue that the act f stomping on your brakes poses its own public safety dangers.
I know someone that got a ticket for running a yellow light. They could have stopped, but sped up and got past the line right before it turned to red. So they didn’t actually run a red light. But an officer saw them and gave them a ticket, saying that it caused a safety hazard or something of the sort…
Years ago I got a ticket for running a yellow light, so yes.
Yellow doesn’t mean prepare to stop. It means clear the intersection. I don’t know exactly how the law is written, but I’m sure the idea is to clear the intersection in a safe and prudent manner. This could be either by stopping or by proceeding, depending upon one’s speed, position, and perhaps other factors.
Having taken safety and defensive driver courses in New York State, I remember being surprised that it was illegal and not just unsafe to run a yellow light there.
In practice I’m sure that the police have some discretion between “running” a yellow light and not being able to stop for one in time, but the ticket is a legitimate one when they slap you with it.
If you think about it, surely you can see how an abrubt change from green to red would be rife with problems.
I dunno. You had a poor instructor? They don’t purport to try to teach every single traffic law? They expect you to read the state’s driver’s handbook?
Yellow means “stop if it’s safe to do so” here (Darwin) as well and also in New Zealand.
I think people get in trouble with the law when they think that yellow means “speed up and try and get through the intersection before the light goes red”
If you have to speed up to make the intersection, then you certainly had plenty of time to stop.
Most police officers that I know view persons who are traveling at a legal speed who can safely stop when presented with a yellow signal should do so. If you’re beyond the cross walk or too close to safely stop, then proceding through is the better option. These same officers take into account vehicle size, e.g. a tractor trailer has greater yellow light latitude than a Kia.
As one officer expressed to me: I’d rather have someone in a large truck go pink and maintain control of their vehicle, than have then lose it in the intersection.
There’s also a question of what’s meant by “running a yellow light”. It could mean “I entered the intersection while the light was yellow and exited the intersection while it was still yellow,” which is certainly legal in many states, and it could mean “I entered the intersection while the light was yellow and it turned red before I got all the way through,” which is certainly illegal in some if not all states. The latter used to be legal in California up until sometime in the 90’s – the rule was that as long as the light was not red when you entered the intersection, you were ok (barring other circumstances like traffic causing you to stop in the intersection). They changed that law so that you’re illegal if the light is red at any point during your travel through the intersection.
I got a ticket for "speeding up for a yellow’, at least that’s how the officer explained it. I saw the don’t walk indicators change, which is a precursor to the signal change. I accelerated (while not speeding) and made my left turn.
The officer stated that what I did was illegal, and I asked him how I could contest this ticket. I ended up speaking with his chief who said “even if you were in the middle of the intersection, stopped, you would still have the right of way for a left turn”. Since I remained under the posted speed limit, and there was nobody else around, I satisfied the “proceed with caution” requirement of going through a yellow light.
Turns out that the cop never even turned the ticket in, probably since I had let him know that I planned on contesting it. It seems to make some cops mad when you do such things, as he took the time to write me this ticket in a downpour of rain.
My advice is, if you can’t talk your way out of the ticket, ask for specifics on contesting the ticket. It’s better than getting a moving violation and a fine.
Anway, BobT made a comment about a scary traffic light incident that compels me to share my own.
I came upon an intersection between a state and federal highway one day while some road work was going on. People were working on the traffic lights, and officers had been directing traffic.
I pulled up just as the crew was wrapping things up. The lights were changed to red in all directions, and the police moved out of the intersection. They were preparing to start the regular traffic cycle again.
Whether by accident or just by some function of the traffic light system restarting, ALL the red lights in every direction started flashing at the same time. Wouldn’t you know it, half a dozen cars lurched out into the intersection and almost ran into each other. Not five seconds after this, the regular cycle began and nobody knew what to do because these impatient idiots were all sitting cockeyed in the intersection trying to figure out who should go when. Good thing the police were close by. I can’t imagine how many tickets those guys got to write that day.
(bolding mine)
Me thinks you got this backward. Wecome to California land where everybody enters intersections very pinkish.
From the California vehicle code
Back when I got my DL here in California (1967) it was illegal to leave the intersection on a red light. My buddy failed his driver’s test for that. (entered yellow, turned red while still in the intersection)
Now as long as it is not red when you cross the limit line you are legal, not safe IMHO, but legal.
Interesting. That’s definitely what I was told (by a traffic school teacher, no less), but I must have been misinformed.
Not to say you’re wrong, but the law you’ve cited doesn’t actually settle this question definitively. It prohibits entering the intersection on a red light (implying that it is, at least under some circumstances, ok to enter on a yellow light), but it doesn’t say anything about whether you need to give yourself enough time to get all the way through the intersection before the light turns red. Since I can’t find any CA law which says anything about that issue, I’ll concede that being in the intersection while the light turns red must not be prohibited.
Wow! Never did I expect such contradictory and complex answers.
Problem is, this should be crystal-clear. Given the gravity of the matter–and the number of ticketed persons annually–there shouldn’t be any doubt on this topic. It should be written in stone. The fact that more than 15 experienced SDMB drivers hold opposing views doesn’t make sense to me at all.
Sure, a particular state may have an odd twist, but can anyone explain why the applicable laws aren’t common knowledge? We’re not talking quantum mechanics here.
