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My brother came to Michigan to visit from the UK. After a few days he said: "So, I can go on a red light for a right turn, but sometimes I have to wait at a gr

by helipad 10y ago

My brother came to Michigan to visit from the UK. After a few days he said: "So, I can go on a red light for a right turn, but sometimes I have to wait at a green light for a left turn?" It was then I realised how peculiar the signals in the US can be.

bisby 10y ago
If you have to cross lanes of traffic, you have to wait for a light. If you are merely "changing lanes" you just have to wait for right of way. (in my state at least) you're allowed to turn left from a one way to a one way on red, because you're not crossing any other lanes. So do the math... how many lanes are involved. If it's just "current lane" and "target lane", you can go when the coast is clear. If there are ANY other lanes involved, wait for a light.
camiller 10y ago
Flip side, having driven in England 20+ years ago. In England, when stopped at a red they politely blink a yellow light when your stop light is about to turn green. In the US not only do we not do that, but many localities put extended shields around the lights, polarized lenses, etc. To prevent you from knowing when your light is about to turn by observing the lights for the perpendicular street. In other words... England provides more information to the driver expecting the driver to use that information to make good driving decisions. The US hides information from drivers in an attempt to control their behavior because they don't trust the driver to make good driving decisions. and now I'm once again angry about it.....
- rogerbinns 10y ago
  The majority of cars in the UK are manual (ie not automatic) gears. Consequently that forewarning gives the driver something to do as it does take a second or two to get into gear.
- technofiend 10y ago
  It's apocryphal but my history professor stated US stoplights used to actually have the red to green warning in order to assist large trucks which need a few seconds to build momentum. It caused more wrecks because of red light runners not clearing the intersection in time and people with a fresh green light trying to immediately enter the same intersection.

by helipad 10y ago

bisby 10y ago

If you have to cross lanes of traffic, you have to wait for a light. If you are merely "changing lanes" you just have to wait for right of way. (in my state at least) you're allowed to turn left from a one way to a one way on red, because you're not crossing any other lanes. So do the math... how many lanes are involved. If it's just "current lane" and "target lane", you can go when the coast is clear. If there are ANY other lanes involved, wait for a light.

camiller 10y ago

Flip side, having driven in England 20+ years ago. In England, when stopped at a red they politely blink a yellow light when your stop light is about to turn green. In the US not only do we not do that, but many localities put extended shields around the lights, polarized lenses, etc. To prevent you from knowing when your light is about to turn by observing the lights for the perpendicular street. In other words... England provides more information to the driver expecting the driver to use that information to make good driving decisions. The US hides information from drivers in an attempt to control their behavior because they don't trust the driver to make good driving decisions. and now I'm once again angry about it.....

rogerbinns 10y ago
The majority of cars in the UK are manual (ie not automatic) gears. Consequently that forewarning gives the driver something to do as it does take a second or two to get into gear.
technofiend 10y ago
It's apocryphal but my history professor stated US stoplights used to actually have the red to green warning in order to assist large trucks which need a few seconds to build momentum. It caused more wrecks because of red light runners not clearing the intersection in time and people with a fresh green light trying to immediately enter the same intersection.