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Yellow doesn't mean "you can go through if you can beat the red". It means "stop if it is safe to do so". If it's just firm braking and not actual tires-squea

by Pxtl 8y ago

Yellow doesn't mean "you can go through if you can beat the red". It means "stop if it is safe to do so". If it's just firm braking and not actual tires-squealing stop? The driver probably did the right thing.

gizmo686 8y ago
Safe is relative. If he almost got rear ended, it probably wasn't safe. Of course, the other driver should have given ample distance himself and have been paying attention, but people often don't do that. At the margin, I think it is safer to err on the side of running a yellow then stopping abrubtly. I have never seen someone run a yellow and think they were being unsafe (even when the yellow turned red), but have seen people stop on yellow in a way that seemed unsafe.
- cptskippy 8y ago
  So what you're saying is that drivers should endanger themselves by taking risky maneuvers to spare the person driving behind, who are endangering them by following too closely, from an accident?
  - gizmo686 8y ago
    Driving is a risky maneuver. The question is what is the less risky way of handling a stop light. The point of yellow lights is so that drivers can continue through the intersection after the light left the green state, because not green=stop is unsafe. Running a yellow is less dangerous to the person driving then stopping for yellows. That is why we have yellow
  - loco5niner 8y ago
    That's not what they are saying...
  - snowwrestler 8y ago
    It's not risky to go through an intersection when the light is yellow. If your light is yellow, the cross light is red. Proceeding through a yellow is no riskier than a green. Traffic lights originally only had red and green. Municipalities added yellow specifically to prevent brake-slamming stops that led to crashes. Slamming the brakes on yellow is contrary to its purpose.
- jcranmer 8y ago
  > I have never seen someone run a yellow and think they were being unsafe (even when the yellow turned red) I have seen people who have so egregiously missed the yellow that the cross-signal turned green before they entered the intersection. Saying that running a yellow is safer than not trains people to be entitled to running yellow lights, and that is going to make their actions much less safe. If there is someone in front of you, do not plan on running a yellow light. That is a very simple rule to follow and is going to be safe to follow. If you planned on running the light, and the driver in front of you did not plan on doing so, it is you who is going to be at fault.
  - gizmo686 8y ago
    And saying that stopping on yellow is safer than not trains people to slam the breaks when the light turns yellow. > If there is someone in front of you, do not plan on running a yellow light. Can I plan on running a green? Because greens turn into yellows abrubtly. > If you planned on running the light, and the driver in front of you did not plan on doing so, it is you who is going to be at fault. If someone slams their breaks in the middle of a clear road and I rear end them, then I am at fault. That doesn't mean it was safe to do so.
loco5niner 8y ago
> It means "stop if it is safe to do so". if you have to slam on your brakes, it is (arguably) not safe to stop.
- zlynx 8y ago
  Slamming the brakes means different things for a sports car vs a SUV. In my Subaru STI I can stop faster than some Escalade with only 2/3rds the brake pedal pressure. I'm not even close to maximum braking force. It's even more true in a lighter car like a Porsche 911. Just as if they were driving a large commercial truck it is the SUV driver's responsibility to not be too close to me.
  - loco5niner 8y ago
    Even following at a safe distance, if you stop suddenly, they will have to stop suddenly. The point is, don't stop suddenly unless you HAVE to. Try to be smooth and predictable.

by Pxtl 8y ago

gizmo686 8y ago

Safe is relative. If he almost got rear ended, it probably wasn't safe. Of course, the other driver should have given ample distance himself and have been paying attention, but people often don't do that. At the margin, I think it is safer to err on the side of running a yellow then stopping abrubtly. I have never seen someone run a yellow and think they were being unsafe (even when the yellow turned red), but have seen people stop on yellow in a way that seemed unsafe.

cptskippy 8y ago
So what you're saying is that drivers should endanger themselves by taking risky maneuvers to spare the person driving behind, who are endangering them by following too closely, from an accident?
- gizmo686 8y ago
  Driving is a risky maneuver. The question is what is the less risky way of handling a stop light. The point of yellow lights is so that drivers can continue through the intersection after the light left the green state, because not green=stop is unsafe. Running a yellow is less dangerous to the person driving then stopping for yellows. That is why we have yellow
- loco5niner 8y ago
  That's not what they are saying...
- snowwrestler 8y ago
  It's not risky to go through an intersection when the light is yellow. If your light is yellow, the cross light is red. Proceeding through a yellow is no riskier than a green. Traffic lights originally only had red and green. Municipalities added yellow specifically to prevent brake-slamming stops that led to crashes. Slamming the brakes on yellow is contrary to its purpose.
jcranmer 8y ago
> I have never seen someone run a yellow and think they were being unsafe (even when the yellow turned red) I have seen people who have so egregiously missed the yellow that the cross-signal turned green before they entered the intersection. Saying that running a yellow is safer than not trains people to be entitled to running yellow lights, and that is going to make their actions much less safe. If there is someone in front of you, do not plan on running a yellow light. That is a very simple rule to follow and is going to be safe to follow. If you planned on running the light, and the driver in front of you did not plan on doing so, it is you who is going to be at fault.
- gizmo686 8y ago
  And saying that stopping on yellow is safer than not trains people to slam the breaks when the light turns yellow. > If there is someone in front of you, do not plan on running a yellow light. Can I plan on running a green? Because greens turn into yellows abrubtly. > If you planned on running the light, and the driver in front of you did not plan on doing so, it is you who is going to be at fault. If someone slams their breaks in the middle of a clear road and I rear end them, then I am at fault. That doesn't mean it was safe to do so.

loco5niner 8y ago

> It means "stop if it is safe to do so". if you have to slam on your brakes, it is (arguably) not safe to stop.

zlynx 8y ago
Slamming the brakes means different things for a sports car vs a SUV. In my Subaru STI I can stop faster than some Escalade with only 2/3rds the brake pedal pressure. I'm not even close to maximum braking force. It's even more true in a lighter car like a Porsche 911. Just as if they were driving a large commercial truck it is the SUV driver's responsibility to not be too close to me.
- loco5niner 8y ago
  Even following at a safe distance, if you stop suddenly, they will have to stop suddenly. The point is, don't stop suddenly unless you HAVE to. Try to be smooth and predictable.