Not all traffic laws can be crystal clear. How fast is “too fast for conditions” or “reasonable and prudent”? How close is “following too close”? Some things cannot be feasibly quantified.
I don’t know if anyone is interested to know but I am telling anyway:
In Germany it is legal to run a yellow light. You should stop but if you don’t it does not matter as you can only be fined if the light has been red longer than a second.
The second part is wrong. You can be fined 50 € during the first second and 125 € after that.
Well, that’s news to me. I don’t know if that’s new or not enforced at any time.
I have run a red light a few years ago and was caught because it was a junction with one of these automatic cameras for red light offences. No fine.
Well, in the UK amber means stop (highway code linky with helpful diagrams ) with the disclaimer that
As to what a driver would be charged/ticketed with, I couldn’t say with enough degree of certainty that I would post it GQ.
The Ontario *Highway Traffic Act * says:
"Amber light
(15) Every driver approaching a traffic control signal showing a circular amber indication and facing the indication shall stop his or her vehicle if he or she can do so safely, otherwise he or she may proceed with caution. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 144 (15)."
"Penalty for disobeying red or amber light
(31.2) Every person who contravenes subsection (15) or (18) is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not less than $150 and not more than $500. 1998, c. 5, s. 26."
Obviously, there is an element of judgment involved in section 15, but it is clear that “running” the light (proceeding without caution or when you can safely stop) is punishable in Ontario.
I live in Virginia. Years ago I got a ticket for going through a yellow light. I am given to understand that in Virginia, yellow really means stop. I was told that if my front wheels are past the white line, it is ok to proceed through the intersection; anything less than that requires you to stop.
Haven’t had to take a driving test in years so I don’t know what the law states these days. Whatever it is, it is not one of those things that is rigorously enforced. I don’t believe I have ever seen anyone (besides myself) physically stopped for going through a yellow (or red for that matter).
My husband got pulled over for running a yellow light a few weeks ago. I was with him in the car. The cop told us that in Michigan the law requires that you at least attempt to stop for a yellow light and if you just run it outright it is the same offense and penalty as running a red light.
The way it seems to be enforced as a whole around here is that cops will generally let it go as long as the light is yellow the whole time you are in the intersection, but if it turns red and you are not clear then you could be SOL.
He got off with a warning for it, though.
This matches what I was told by a Los Angeles County Sheriff deputy about a year ago. My wife and I were witnesses to an accident in which this was an issue, and after things calmed down I asked him what the law was.
In trying to piece together what happened in the accident, and who (if anyone) to cite, the various officers present became focused on one particular item: Was the light red or yellow at the moment when the vehicle crossed the limit line? They were very interested in finding a witness who could answer that specific question with some certainty.
I once had a physics question used by traffic planners based on Calilfornia law:
How long must a yellow light be for an intersection of length X, speed limit Y, and assumed stopping distance (including reaction time) of Z.
Yellow lights are (supposed to be) timed so that you should be able to stop on a yellow or, if you’re too close, go completely through the intersection before it turns red. The only reason to be in the intersection when it’s red is if you were speeding (increased stopping distance) or just didn’t stop for the yellow. (Barring interruptions like pedestrias, emegency vehicles, etc.)
Makes good theoretical sense.
Here’s what the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices has to say in the U.S. Scroll down to “Steady yellow signal indications shall have the following meanings:”
Last time I checked (years ago), my state had adopted either the MUTDC, or something pretty close to it. My understanding is as long as you enter the intersection while it is yellow, it is legal.
Probably just that the camera had run out of film.
I can confirm this, as there are a few of these some blocks from my house, and I see them get triggered all the time. In some places there are periods where all lights are red, in order to give time for people to clear the intersection, but for the most part drivers have learned to wait on a green.
I don’t have evidence for this, but it is my impression that yellow lights have gotten longer to allow people entering on the yellow to clear, which has just made the situation worse. I’ve stopped at times when the light changes to yellow, and feel I’ve been there a long time before it goes red.
Here in the UK, it’s against the rules to enter an intersection if it’s not possible to clear it without stopping - you’re supposed to wait at the lights until there’s sufficient space. It’s all too often ignored, very quickly causing unnecessary traffic chaos.
The exception is if you’re turning right (note: = left for everyone else, ie crossing traffic), and the only reason for you to wait in the intersection is for a gap in oncoming traffic. The lights have an extra phase of a couple of seconds (red - red & amber - green) which gives time to turn before the other route goes green if necessary.
Here also. In fact in New York City this is a big offense, because those in the intersection when the light turns red prevent others from moving, possibly causing gridlock. Even in California some of the worse intersections have signs about this. I got blocked by a clown not able to proceed in a left turn lane this very morning.
Made me wish I drove a tank.
The law is not crystal clear so that a certain amount of interpretation can be made by the officer at the time of the traffic stop. Usually, if you are ticketed for this offense, you went through the intersection in what they judged as a careless manner. (OR if they have a quota to meet this month…)
In New Jersey, if you stop for a yellow light, you are going to get hit from behind. No question. The drivers behind you EXPECT you to go through.
I took a Driver’s Safety course once (in New York State) to get a better auto insureance rate and we were told in the class that, there’s no such thing as a yellow light!
You’re either going on green or you’re preparing to stop.
Unless, of course, you simply fail to see the light change from green to yellow until some time has elapsed, such as when you are checking rear view mirrors, looking at the speedometer, or chatting blithely on your cell phone while grinning like an idiot at the cheerleaders doing a car wash for camp funds. 
California and Ohio have virtually the same language regarding traffic lights and the meaning of yellow. I recall one time a few years back on this issue finding a statute that implied that it was illegal to impede the flow of traffic across an intersection after the light had turned red; now I can’t find hide nor hair of this beast. I’ll still poke around, but likely most cases where a person has been told that he/she can’t “run a yellow light” they were really being told that certain types of driving in that situation will be considered reckless or otherwise unsafe. Unless anyone can find a statute that explicitly makes entering an intersection while the light is yellow, or being in an intersection when it turns red, illegal, then it would appear that there is no such actual violation in this country.
I defer to your legal expertise but, if your interpretation is correct, why hasn’t this absence of statutory regulation been challenged again and again in court?
Couldn’t someone argue that the courts are essentially engaged in what is tantamount to fraud by ruling against yellow-light runners in the absence of laws making such light-running illegal?
A final question: Does the absence of specific yellow-light-running statues mean that police officers do NOT have the power to decide what driving behaviors are dangerous and unlawful?
Sorry, Carnac the Magnificent!, I think you missed my point. I didn’t say that driving into an intersection while the light was yellow couldn’t be a violation of the law. I said that, in the absence of a statute making that action per se a violation of the law, then officers would have to apply other statutes with a more generalized purpose, such as reckless driving prohibitions. The accused may not realize what the code section referenced on the ticket actually proscribes.
And you don’t see appellate cases regarding traffic laws usually because states don’t offer an automatic appeal from a vehicle code violation trial. Trials rarely occur because most people simply pay their fine and move on with life. I am certain that there are, however, plenty of people who do challenge the interpretation of the officer regarding such things as unsafe driving; I’ll leave it to someone who has perhaps sat as a traffic court judge to talk about how successful such challenges are.