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This is unsafe for pedestrians. The yellow light means "Clear the intersection," not "Slow down." The purpose is to give time to people crossing the sidewalks
by kunai 13y ago
This is unsafe for pedestrians.
The yellow light means "Clear the intersection," not "Slow down." The purpose is to give time to people crossing the sidewalks to finish walking over to the other side. Shortening them is a safety hazard for pedestrians like me who don't own a vehicle.
I don't live in Florida, but this is shameful and disgusting.
- talmand 13y agoFor some reason, that has never occurred to me. That is an excellent point that reducing the yellow not only increases the likelihood of traffic accidents but of problems for pedestrians as well.
- steve-howard 13y agoI'm pretty sure the flashing-hand signal is what gives pedestrians time to clear the intersection (often with a counter!).
- JensenDied 13y agoI've seen enough crosswalks that go from solid red hand to a flashing red hand immediately, that I now ignore the flashing red hand until the street light turns yellow. Shortening it makes it dangerous for a lot of parties.
- enf 13y agoPlease complain to your local traffic engineers. The MUTCD requires at least a 4-second walk signal and specifies 7 seconds as the normal minimum. http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/htm/2009/part4/fig4e_02_longdesc.htm http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/htm/2009/part4/fig4e_02_longdesc.h...
- abduhl 13y agoThis is absolutely incorrect. Traffic lights are for vehicles. Pedestrians should be obeying the pedestrian signals and your cue to "clear the intersection" is the blinking red hand. Traffic lights do not switch to yellow until after the pedestrian signals are solid red hands. This obviously only applies where pedestrian signage exists.
- kunai 13y agoObviously, you and I live in different areas. Where I live, the traffic lights turn yellow even when the yellow light has not become solid. Then, there's also the issue that many pedestrians are still in the process of crossing when the hand turns red.
- dopamean 13y agoWhere do you live that traffic lights are for pedestrians. I really believe you have misunderstood something.
- Avenger42 13y ago> the traffic lights turn yellow even when the yellow light has not become solid I'm sorry, but this sentence doesn't make sense to me. Did you mean: > the traffic lights turn yellow even when the "do-not-cross" signal is still flashing If not, could you explain? If so, where do you live that the lights do this? I've never seen that behavior (although I'm the first to say I haven't lived many places).
- josephers 13y agoThe yellow light does mean "clear the intersection", but its purpose is not to give pedestrians time to finish their crossing. There are many things that have to clear the intersections, not just pedestrians. Plus, the decrease they talk about in Florida is only by fractions of a second, anyway. Here in Toronto, we have an additional two seconds of "all red" light after any yellow lights, to give time for left-turning vehicles to finish their turn.
- kbenson 13y agoPlus, the decrease they talk about in Florida is only by fractions of a second, anyway. The decision was made for poor reasons. There's nothing preventing them from making the same decision for the same reasons again, effectively increasing the reduction of time. It's important to call out poor behavior in government lest, even if it's slight, lest it become institutionalized and then exacerbated.