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Why do so many people STOP at YELLOW Traffic Lights now?

Every other car in front of me will come to a complete stop when the light turns yellow instead of driving through it. PLEASE EXPLAIN!

The other thing that drives me crazy is when people are making a left into oncoming traffic, they no longer go into the intersection then make the left after the light turns red. Noooo, they now stay back at the line and wait wait wait. They wait through several light changes before making the left. WHY?

by Anonymousreply 97June 11, 2021 4:14 PM

They are extraterrestrials afraid of doing the wrong thing.

by Anonymousreply 1June 9, 2021 9:01 PM

What mythical land do YOU live in?

by Anonymousreply 2June 9, 2021 9:01 PM

They don't know how to drive?

by Anonymousreply 3June 9, 2021 9:02 PM

Red light cameras.

by Anonymousreply 4June 9, 2021 9:03 PM

R4, unfortunately, nails it.

I’m on your side, OP! Totally.

by Anonymousreply 5June 9, 2021 9:08 PM

I’ve noticed the left turn thing too. Maybe drivers Ed teaches not to get into the intersection now.

by Anonymousreply 6June 9, 2021 9:10 PM

No red light cameras on these traffic lights.

by Anonymousreply 7June 9, 2021 9:11 PM

Millennials?

by Anonymousreply 8June 9, 2021 9:11 PM

R7/OP, it doesn’t seem to matter. I don’t know why, I really don’t. I just know it doesn’t.

Here’s another one, since you’re not in NYC proper, making a right on red when it’s permitted. Bitch, why the fuck are you sitting there?

by Anonymousreply 9June 9, 2021 9:16 PM

NYer...

'nough said.

by Anonymousreply 10June 9, 2021 9:16 PM

Assertively moving into the intersection in order to force other drivers to let you make your left is pretty obnoxious, but I grew up in a place (an Eastern city) where it was always done this way. In fact, it was the only way you could get to go left at many busy intersections. It's rarely done where I live now, and I'm glad. It's pushy, like people from the Northeast.

by Anonymousreply 11June 9, 2021 9:18 PM

....

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by Anonymousreply 12June 9, 2021 9:19 PM

I have observed that they are not even stopping at red lights now, and I live in NY too.

by Anonymousreply 13June 9, 2021 9:22 PM

[quote] Assertively moving into the intersection in order to force other drivers to let you make your left is pretty obnoxious,

No, that’s not what we’re talking about. When you make a left turn you’re supposed to be IN the intersection to square your turn. If the light changes to red while you’re in the intersection, the oncoming traffic will be stopped and you can go. If you don’t, you could sit there all night until there’s no oncoming traffic.

by Anonymousreply 14June 9, 2021 9:25 PM

Thank you, R14. Some people are too stupid to get that.

by Anonymousreply 15June 9, 2021 9:30 PM

The best are people in a two lane road going the same way and coming to a stop sign and turning right in the left lane, right in front of the right lane driver.

by Anonymousreply 16June 9, 2021 9:30 PM

Because they don't want to be KILLED by someone trying to beat the light on the cross street?

by Anonymousreply 17June 9, 2021 9:31 PM

women, OP.

by Anonymousreply 18June 9, 2021 9:32 PM

There are also those drivers who slow down as they approach a green light , then speed up as it turns yellow. You are left there at a red light when both of you could have made the intersection if the one ahead had not slowed down for a green.

Here there are also people who don't understand the concept of a left turn arrow. They wait for oncoming traffic that can't enter the intersection until that arrow is gone.

by Anonymousreply 19June 9, 2021 9:37 PM

Well, if it's turning yellow for the driver ahead of you it would presumably be red by the time you got to it, so you would have to stop anyway. Though I doubt you do.

It is a well known fact that red light in the US travels at a speed of 1 foot every 30 seconds.

by Anonymousreply 20June 9, 2021 9:48 PM

My brother was in an accident because someone immediately stopped on a yellow. At the bottom of a hill they stopped on yellow - it was raining and he wasn’t expecting them to stop and to avoid rear ending them he swerved, hit a small tree, took it down and crashed into another car. Everyone was ok - except him. He broke his arm and totaled his truck.

He was still lucky though. He could be dead. If I’m remembering correctly, they were old.

by Anonymousreply 21June 9, 2021 9:50 PM

[quote]Here there are also people who don't understand the concept of a left turn arrow.

I don't know what you're talking about either. Signal?

by Anonymousreply 22June 9, 2021 9:52 PM

R14 is basically correct. You don't have to--and maybe shouldn't--wait in the intersection to make your turn, but you *are* supposed to square it off. No one seems to know the correct way to make a left turn. You don't veer left as you turn, threatening to clip the corner of the cars in the lane at a right angle to you (on your left). You pull up and then turn, making a corner.

by Anonymousreply 23June 9, 2021 9:58 PM

R21 If it was raining and they were driving down a hill toward an intersection, it sounds like maybe your brother should have slowed his speed to put enough space between him and the driver ahead in the event that a sudden stop would be needed. It's called defensive driving. Lights can change at any time so the stopping wasn't beyond the realm of possibility.

by Anonymousreply 24June 9, 2021 10:02 PM

The left turn thing drives me crazy. These morons who don't move up so traffic behind them going straight can pass. Shitty drivers.

I don't get the stopping on yellow if there's no camera.

by Anonymousreply 25June 9, 2021 10:04 PM

When I was in high school, we had drivers education in the classroom and drivers training in a vehicle.

While in drivers training, I turned left out in front of oncoming traffic, copying what I watched my father do. The teacher shit his pants and pushed his brake petal. I learned fast.

These days many drivers act like they don't know the standard traffic laws. It would be nice if schools brought back those classes and taught the people the traffic laws.

by Anonymousreply 26June 9, 2021 10:04 PM

These things wouldn't bother you if you were happy.

by Anonymousreply 27June 9, 2021 10:12 PM

It's senior citizens. They slow down and come to a stop a mile away from a yellow light, and show up an hour and a half early for a doctors appointment,

by Anonymousreply 28June 9, 2021 10:23 PM

It's not seniors, women or kids exclusively. There's no pattern. I've seen young guys in baseball caps doing this. Texting, perhaps?

by Anonymousreply 29June 9, 2021 10:28 PM

[22] Maybe it's a New England thing, but many intersections have green arrow signals, green lights and red lights. You may get a green arrow signal to turn left, while everyone alongside you still has a red light. This allows you to turn left before oncoming traffic gets a green light. Some people don't understand that if there is a green arrow signal you have the right of way and oncoming traffic is still stopped by a red light. So they wait until the people to their right have a green light. By then, oncoming traffic also has a green light.

by Anonymousreply 30June 9, 2021 10:54 PM

I've seen idiots who don't seem to understand the difference between a left green signal which changes to nothing (meaning you can still make a left, but oncoming traffic now has the green, so you need to proceed with caution) and left green signal that turns to a left red signal which means wait your ass until you get the left green signal again.

by Anonymousreply 31June 9, 2021 11:03 PM

OH THAT ARROW. Many busy streets have that here. That's easy. I'm talking about less busy areas. I lived in Connecticut for several years, they need to spend money on street lights before arrows.

by Anonymousreply 32June 9, 2021 11:04 PM

There is no point in an all way stop sign unless you live in Mayberry, because I once had a fucking asshole with road rage follow me because I got to it a nanosecond before he did, so I started to go ahead but he wouldn't have it and he followed me and maneuvered in front of me (crossing double yellow line) so I couldn't keep going. I don't doubt I'd be dead if he had a gun. Fucking psycho.

by Anonymousreply 33June 9, 2021 11:08 PM

Only a real thing in places that have converted their thoroughfares into speedtraps with speed cameras.

by Anonymousreply 34June 9, 2021 11:10 PM

In my area it’s usually old, Asian drivers who are the culprits.

by Anonymousreply 35June 9, 2021 11:14 PM

It amazes me how people continually blame others for their bad/unsafe driving habits.

I do not pull into the intersection when turning left.

First, you are technically running a red light.

Two, I’ve seen multiple cars plowed into at a local intersection because when the light turns red, they turn, and then hit by someone running the red light. My safety is not worth it so the left turn lane can progress by ONE FUCKING CAR.

Three, depending on the car you drive, my car is too low to the ground to see around typically bigger/taller SUVs that are turning on the opposite side of the intersection. I can’t see what’s coming, and again not going to risk my safety so you cunts can get to your destination 4 minutes earlier.

by Anonymousreply 36June 9, 2021 11:24 PM

I've posted this before - yes, it's mostly the elderly.

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by Anonymousreply 37June 9, 2021 11:25 PM

R36 must live in FL

by Anonymousreply 38June 9, 2021 11:25 PM

R36 in traffic:

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by Anonymousreply 39June 9, 2021 11:28 PM

“If you are turning left, you should wait at the stop line or crosswalk until there is a gap in traffic large enough to allow you to pull into the intersection and complete your turn. Pulling into the intersection to wait to turn left blocks the intersection for emergency vehicles, limits visibility for oncoming traffic and puts you in a position to get in an accident if the light changes and oncoming traffic runs the red light while you are making your turn. Never turn the front wheels towards the left while you are waiting to turn. If you happen to get rear ended, you would be pushed into oncoming traffic”

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by Anonymousreply 40June 9, 2021 11:32 PM

Seniors like to stop at red traffic lights. They RUN STOP SIGNS.

by Anonymousreply 41June 9, 2021 11:37 PM

The worst are people who drive slowly in the left lane for 20 miles because the place they are going requires them to turn left.

by Anonymousreply 42June 9, 2021 11:54 PM

You would probably get a chance to pass on the right within 20 miles of driving...

by Anonymousreply 43June 9, 2021 11:56 PM

[quote]You cannot enter an intersection if traffic is backed up on the other side and you can not get completely through the intersection. Wait until traffic ahead clears, so you do not block the intersection.

Pulling into the intersection is by definition blocking it.

God I love it when I am right and can gloat.

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by Anonymousreply 44June 9, 2021 11:58 PM

R40, it is unrealistic in places like NYC or LA --where the traffic is already a mess-- to have a line of cars behind you waiting to go straight or right, only to have the light change several times before you even get through. Traffic would be backed up if every driver waited behind the crosswalk to make a left turn. It may work in CO, but not in major cities with hellish traffic.

I'm in Brooklyn and I could probably get to VA quicker than I could the UES if we followed the rules you copied.

by Anonymousreply 45June 9, 2021 11:59 PM

R40, That's COLORADO. HA!

by Anonymousreply 46June 10, 2021 12:10 AM

So Denver is not a major city with traffic R45?

Did you see the same rules for NY?

Stop trying to justify your shitty driving.

by Anonymousreply 47June 10, 2021 12:12 AM

R47, I never said we didn't have the "rules," but it's simply not enforced. I've actually seen cops honk for a car to move up so we can all pass behind that driver.

And the population of Denver is smaller than my neighborhood for heaven's sake.

by Anonymousreply 48June 10, 2021 12:21 AM

Yeah cops are the bastion of good driving.

Look R48 - I’m not trying to shit on people who do it, knock yourself out, but I’m not going to, and it is technically illegal, so don’t shit on people who don’t choose to do it.

by Anonymousreply 49June 10, 2021 12:28 AM

R49, my point is that it's pretty much an unwritten rule --at least in NYC-- that you move up into the intersection so that the cars behind you can pass. I wouldn't do it in places like FL because I know those drivers are insane, but where I am, it's just expected.

by Anonymousreply 50June 10, 2021 12:32 AM

Just accept you are all dick drivers and get over it.

Living in New York does not give you an get of of being an asshole card.

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by Anonymousreply 51June 10, 2021 12:39 AM

^ Naïve

by Anonymousreply 52June 10, 2021 12:48 AM

[quote]The other thing that drives me crazy is when people are making a left into oncoming traffic, they no longer go into the intersection then make the left after the light turns red. Noooo, they now stay back at the line and wait wait wait. They wait through several light changes before making the left. WHY?

This drives me fucking batshit.

by Anonymousreply 53June 10, 2021 12:49 AM

Assholes like OP are what caused that Venus Williams's car crash. She had a green light, pulled into the intersection, some sedan making an illegal left turn on a RED light cut her off, forcing her to stop. The old lady who just got a green light didn't bother to slow down and plowed right into Venus's car. The impact killed her dumbass husband.

Moral of the story: green = drive, yellow = slow/caution, red = stop.

by Anonymousreply 54June 10, 2021 1:14 AM

Sure "yellow = slow/caution,," NOT STOP.

by Anonymousreply 55June 10, 2021 1:24 AM

You are right R52. I should just accept that regarding driving when in NYC, everyone is an asshole with no regard to safety. They six extra minutes they spend sitting in traffic on their way to Starbucks or on their what to a SATC themed shoe sale is worth causing an accident.

by Anonymousreply 56June 10, 2021 1:26 AM

Red=stop, green=go, yellow=go faster

by Anonymousreply 57June 10, 2021 1:26 AM

Where do you live R46? Let’s look up your state’s DMV manual.

by Anonymousreply 58June 10, 2021 1:39 AM

R56, does everyone in Denver have such road rage issues?

by Anonymousreply 59June 10, 2021 1:41 AM

I hate it when cars don't signal when they turn.

by Anonymousreply 60June 10, 2021 1:41 AM

I hate the slow assholes who then speed up when the light is about to change red and leaving you at that light. Motherfuckers!

by Anonymousreply 61June 10, 2021 1:43 AM

R61 = safety nut!

by Anonymousreply 62June 10, 2021 1:54 AM

Yes R59, and that is why you need to obey the fucking traffic laws and not depend on a Joe Pesci impression to excuse your bad driving.

Being a New Yorker gets you a pass nowhere for driving like a fucking manic.

by Anonymousreply 63June 10, 2021 2:00 AM

I'm still alive, ain't I?

by Anonymousreply 64June 10, 2021 2:01 AM

I have to admit, I’m a little surprised myself at my reaction to this thread. It just pisses me off to no end, when I am driving safely, and legally, and some aren’t happy until I cut off people, pull into a busy intersection, and drive 95 on a 75 highway, just because they chose to do it.

ESPECIALLY on the road, the world does not revolve around you fuckwads.

Ok. Vent over.

by Anonymousreply 65June 10, 2021 2:03 AM

Pics or this never happened.

by Anonymousreply 66June 10, 2021 2:08 AM

R65, I happen to be a safe driver. I don't speed (much). I use my signals and abide by most laws, but again, in NYC, they'd want to strangle you if you didn't move up so that cars behind you could pass because traffic would become insane if they didn't. People could never get anywhere and I don't think it's very common to get hit in the intersection around here because there's a bit of delay so that the person can make the left before opposing traffic begins. I've been driving for over 20 years and I've never seen someone get hit in the intersection.

by Anonymousreply 67June 10, 2021 2:14 AM

R16 That's in the Boston Drivers’ Handbook.

by Anonymousreply 68June 10, 2021 2:16 AM

Because, as one poster very cleverly and accurately offered in a local news Website's "Comments" section recently, people on their cellphones think that the traffic lights are their personal telephone booths.

They purposely slow up so that they can use the impending red-light stop to check, read and respond to their texts. This is why lately if there is more than one lane at a coming set of traffic lights that is not restricted to left- or right-only traffic and there is a vehicle stopped in front of me, I'll purposely signal into that other lane to wait for the light to turn green and start up again from there. Because 9 out of 10 times now, the vehicle in front of me will just sit there, because--you know it--they're looking at their phone, oblivious or apathetic to those maybe stuck behind them. Or more precisely, I should be referring to drivers of SUVs, pickup trucks, or low-riders: Since they seem pathologically to be the worst such regular offenders, from some unknown reason.

by Anonymousreply 69June 10, 2021 2:22 AM

We do it to fuck with you OP

Seems to be working

by Anonymousreply 70June 10, 2021 2:23 AM

Yes, fuck those people sideways with a chainsaw that drive 10 mph under the speed limit, worming along and you're forced to follow them. Then the light turns yellow and they floor it and you're stuck at the light. If they'd just maintained the speed limit both of us could've made the light. It all works out great for them but screws over the rest of us.

by Anonymousreply 71June 10, 2021 2:31 AM

R11. When I moved to Boston, I had previously driven in Maryland, N. Carolina, and N. Florida. Within the first few weeks in Boston, I was on a road with one lane in each direction. It was rush hour, and I needed to make a left turn where there was a solid line of traffic coming on the other side of the road. I carefully waited for a break in the oncoming traffic without going into the intersection, the way I drove “down south.” Finally, there was a break in the oncoming traffic long enough for me to move forward into the intersection and make my right-angle left turn. A cop was standing on the corner of the street I turned into, and he yelled at me, “Were ya gonna wait the whole damn day?” (i.e., why didn't I rush forward and cut someone off to make my left turn). From that moment on, I knew driving in Boston was going to be different than anywhere I had ever lived before.

by Anonymousreply 72June 10, 2021 2:53 AM

R36 waits for someone to send him an engraved invitation before making his left.

by Anonymousreply 73June 10, 2021 1:52 PM

R70 = 87 year old granny

by Anonymousreply 74June 10, 2021 3:41 PM

I assume from your outrage that it's different in the US vs the UK, but in the UK if a traffic light turns amber that actually means STOP. Most people wrongly think it means "prepare to stop" but the Highway Code states:

"AMBER means 'Stop' at the stop line. You may go on only if the AMBER appears after you have crossed the stop line or are so close to it that to pull up might cause an accident."

Of course, people interpret the second sentence rather liberally, but the point still stands that most people think it means "get ready to stop" rather than simply "stop".

by Anonymousreply 75June 10, 2021 3:53 PM

But y’all drive on the wrong side of the road though.

by Anonymousreply 76June 10, 2021 3:55 PM

Michigan Traffic Laws FAQs:

Question: My husband just got a ticket for running a yellow light. How is that possible? I thought as long as you didn't speed up, you could go through a yellow.

Answer: MCL 257.612 states in part, " ...vehicular traffic facing the signal shall stop before entering the nearest crosswalk at the intersection or at a limit line when marked, but if the stop cannot be made in safety, a vehicle may be driven cautiously through the intersection."

The bottom line is, unless it is dangerous to stop, you must stop when the light turns yellow. The only exception is when you are preparing to make a left turn and you are already within the intersection. You can complete your left turn after oncoming traffic has stopped, even if the light turns red.

by Anonymousreply 77June 10, 2021 4:01 PM

A woman in her 50s I used to work with LEARNED to drive in Houston. She was so traumatized she said she would never drive again upon returning to New York. But a few years later she was happy driving in Queens, Brooklyn, Long Island... she said it was easier than Texas.

R75, how interesting. It doesn't apply to this thread.

by Anonymousreply 78June 10, 2021 4:02 PM

R78 take your cuntiness down a notch, as you can see from R77 response, in fact (at least in Michigan) they do have a similar traffic law so it's possible the OP is also mistaken.

by Anonymousreply 79June 10, 2021 4:15 PM

It drives me crazy when people who are not yet in the intersection think it's OK to speed through after the traffic signal changes to yellow. Especially when there are cars already in the intersection trying to complete a turn.

by Anonymousreply 80June 10, 2021 4:24 PM

R60 I hate the elderly who turn on the flashers for a right hand turn a mile before the exit or turn.

Then, if the turn signal doesn’t cancel itself after they’ve turned, they can’t hear the sound emanating from the firewall or see the blinking light on the dashboard, so the flashers stay on for another mile’s driving.

At least Cadillac seems to know their customers. They use chimes instead of a buzzer and the chimes get louder and louder the longer they’re on.

by Anonymousreply 81June 10, 2021 4:50 PM

R80, most of the time the yellow lasts long enough that you don't have to "speed" to go through it. Are you one who jams on the brakes the second you see a yellow?

by Anonymousreply 82June 10, 2021 5:06 PM

What pisses me off is when I am poised to make the left turn as the light is turning red and someone coming toward me runs the red light

by Anonymousreply 83June 10, 2021 5:12 PM

Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, Oregon, Virginia and Wisconsin require motorists to stop at yellow lights.

by Anonymousreply 84June 10, 2021 5:19 PM

And you know that how. r81?

by Anonymousreply 85June 11, 2021 12:00 AM

The yellow light is your clue that the light is about to turn red. If there is no one on your tail, it makes sense to stop; if someone is right behind you and you can safely go through the yellow, do it. I was told when I moved to L.A. never to "jump the green," and that was good advice. People go through the red (for them) green (for me) all the time.

by Anonymousreply 86June 11, 2021 1:23 AM

Hey, Denver: Were you driving in Brooklyn today? I had some turtle in front of me. It's a wonder the heavy cream I bought didn't turn to butter.

by Anonymousreply 87June 11, 2021 1:25 AM

R86 In Boston, you almost have to go through a yellow light if there is someone close behind you, because they may be planning to beat or go through the upcoming red light. I have been rear-ended at least 4 times driving in Boston: twice stopping at a yellow light, and twice stopping at a crosswalk to let pedestrians or bicyclists cross. It has become a reflex for me to look in my rear view mirror whenever I hit my brakes. The theory of the rules of the road are one thing; reality is different in Boston.

by Anonymousreply 88June 11, 2021 3:25 AM

[quote]Assertively moving into the intersection in order to force other drivers to let you make your left is pretty obnoxious, but I grew up in a place (an Eastern city) where it was always done this way.

That's how I was taught to drive. The teachers literally said, "Get out there like you mean it!" I've run into a lot of people my age who were taught the same phrase.

by Anonymousreply 89June 11, 2021 8:16 AM

They're afraid of some Barney Fife wannabe handing out tickets if you cross over the line a half-second too late.

by Anonymousreply 90June 11, 2021 8:59 AM

This is total speculation, but don't civil engineers account for drivers turning left from the intersection?

I'm originally from Ohio, where we (well, most of us) sit in the intersection when we have a green light but no arrow. This is what I was taught in drivers ed (early 2000s). Even at busy intersections, where you do eventually get an arrow, drivers ease out before the arrow appears and turn on green. If they didn't -- if every driver stayed behind the line until the arrow appeared -- the congestion during high-traffic times would be unbelievable. Often, the green arrow does not allow many cars through before disappearing.

The whole setup depends on drivers easing into the intersection and turning without the arrow.

by Anonymousreply 91June 11, 2021 9:43 AM

Red light cameras, girl! You’re lucky if you don’t live in an areas that has them. It’s an easy way for cities to rake in millions.

by Anonymousreply 92June 11, 2021 9:57 AM

My partner is English. When we first started dating we were in my car and I had to make a left turn at a light without a green turn arrow. I pulled into the intersection. He said, "I see you do this the English way. Good. No one knows how to drive here."

by Anonymousreply 93June 11, 2021 10:23 AM

[quote] It's a wonder the heavy cream I bought didn't turn to butter.

😂😂😂

by Anonymousreply 94June 11, 2021 11:56 AM

R91 gets it.

by Anonymousreply 95June 11, 2021 11:56 AM

Just yesterday I was waiting in a line of nine cars making a left at a long light. This light takes forever because there's traffic from the left and right, and traffic getting off the Bronx River Parkway, nothing directly in front. Light turns green and our lane of cars proceeds. When light turns yellow, there's a few seconds to make your left. Dummy in car just stopped at the yellow, forcing us to wait another round.

by Anonymousreply 96June 11, 2021 2:57 PM

Kill yourself?

by Anonymousreply 97June 11, 2021 4:14 PM
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