Tale Of The 3-Second Yellow Light

CBS News ^ | June 12, 2003

[RoughDobermann]

I've heard that if a light has a motion detector, then you can flash your high beams as you approach and it will turn green.

Nope.

[Hatteras]

Sounds like we just need to work on our reaction time then, don't it?

All of your numbers go out the window if you're determined to not have to stop. And guess what? You don't have to stop, it was never ratified in the constitution! Besides, what's a li'l ol' fine for a minor traffic violation when you have so many other fish to fry? Hell, that's pocket change. Run the dang light, Einstein, take your physics chalkboard down to see the judge! Heh, heh, I know a judge down in Dare County that would just love to see your equations. Just don't forget to bring your toothbrush... ;-)

[Wolfie]

Looks like somebody stubbed thier toe on the physics. ;^)

[Question_Assumptions]

In New Jersey, we often have long yellow lights and a pause before the other way turns red. People do stop for the light by the time it is red but no one has to make a panic stop.

You might want to take a look at this page.

[Myrddin]

The red light "scameras" used short yellows to increase revenues in San Diego. They also INCREASED traffic accidents as people slammed on the brakes to avoid a red light ticket and got rear-ended instead. Some sharp lawyers in San Diego tripped up the scamera operators by citing a state law that forbids the use of speed traps. The camera operators have to estimate if a car entered the intersection after the light turned red. I requires an inferred calculation of speed to interpolate when the car crossed into the intersection. By definition, it is a speed trap. Thousands of people successfully had the tickets tossed on this legal technicality.

[JTN]

Check out the link in #44. Headline: "Rear-end crashes go up after red-light cameras go in."

[Consort]

It must be nice to have enough money to afford the fines for driving through yellow lights. If I had the money, I would do the same thing. I would never stop for yellow lights. Why should I?

[CougarGA7]

I always thought it meant caution too.

Every time I see the light turn yellow, I try to race to the flag.

[TotusTuus]

The gudge was impressed with the 9 decimal places).

As am I. Any instrument that can measure seconds accurately to the ninth decimal must be extraordinarily expensive. As an engineer, I want one!

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

If you are not exceeding the speed limit, you have ample time to stop.

What an idiot. You clearly don't what you're talking about.

The slower the timing of the yellow light, the more 'grey area' there is where making a stop or going through the intersection are BOTH unsafe. Research what you're talking about before spewing this fascist nonsense.

[Frapster]

Yellow means slow down, not go faster.

nope - yellow means caution and be prepared to stop. Accelerating or decelerating through an intersection is not recommended. Maintain speed and stop when necessary.

[TotusTuus]

I got ticketed in Manhattan a few years ago.

I'm thinking of calling you a liar. Having visited Manhattan, I've always wondered why they bothered having traffic lights of any color!

[laredo44]

Why this light in Bethesda was three seconds might have a million dollar answer. Literally. This one traffic camera earned the county $1 million in fines over 14 months.

When I read stuff like this, I immediately think "hidden agenda." Why the context free data? How much in fines was collected at the other nearby lights?

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

Excellent post. IIRC, the duration allowed by law for yellow lights is generally 4-6 seconds, making a 3 second yellow illegal or borderline illegal depending on the circumstances.

A 6 second light would suffice in just about every case, but as others say it doesn't pay for the pork that some freepers seem to want. Most cars running red lights do so within the 1st second of red, meaning an extra second of yellow makes it legal. All accidents involving runnint the red happen well after 2-3 seconds since there is usually a delay and at least that much time for the adjacent lane to react.

There's also the aspect of increased rear-end accidents that have been documented with short yellow light intersections. All for the sake of revenue.

[Hatteras]

"...the more 'grey area' there is where making a stop..."

...coupled with the grey area in the above calculations with regards to reaction times, you don't have a case. What is the legal allowable reaction time in your jurisdiction?

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

All of your numbers go out the window if you're determined to not have to stop.

Actually, the numbers are good for someone who's first instinct is to stop. Anyone having to think about it adds another second easily to the 0.5 s reaction time.

You must be a traffic officer.

[Paradox]

Remember that old bit from "Taxi"

Oh my god, that had to be one of the funniest moments in TV history. I still crack up when I tell it to people... man, made my belly hurt...

[LibWhacker]

Once heard a cop in the gym defending variable yellows on the grounds that "we" don't want the driving public ever to think it's safe to go through a yellow light. If we standardized the timing of yellow lights, people would get very good at timing them. In other words, they could avoid getting a ticket by timing it to get to the intersection before the light turned red, but they would still end up being in the intersection for several long seconds (particularly at the larger intersections), travelling at a high rate of speed, with the red light against them. It's a recipe for disaster. Fatalities would go through the roof.

Sounded pretty good to me at the time, though I still hate non-standardized yellow lights!

[Fury]

Bump for later read. Thanks for posting.

[Lichgod]

If it were truely a matter of safety, the time length of yellow would not matter. What would matter is when the cross traffic light changed from red to green. If all the lights were red for a period of time, say 3 sec, before one set turning green, the amount of collisions would be truely reduced to those folks running a red light.

Of course, little revenue would be generated. These cameras are solely for revenue generating.