(USA specific) When a traffic light turns green and there’s a left turn lane, why does the light need the blinking yellow arrow? Isn’t it already implied that you can turn left as long as you yield to oncoming traffic? I understand why a red and green arrow are necessary for a turning lane, but the yellow seems redundant.
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Arrows are intended to protect very specific movements at intersections. An orb controls all traffic coming from a particular approach. The arrow takes precedence over an orb for a very specific movement as indicated by the arrow. Solid red arrows obviously mean stop. Solid yellow arrows are warnings that the signal is changing to red and green arrows mean that a driver has a protected turn and there will be ZERO conflicting movements allowed while the green arrow is illuminated. A flashing yellow arrow was invented to solve a specific problem. As you mentioned a flashing yellow instructs the turning movement to yield to other traffic but allows them to make the movement if it is clear. A green orb would mean the same thing except that a green orb also implies that everyone else from that approach can proceed as well. So what happens when you want certain traffic to stop (straight traffic) but still allow turning movements? You can’t display both a red orb and a green orb to the same approach because that would be confusing. Which one applies to which movement? Thus enters the flashing yellow that can be displayed at the same time as a green orb or a red orb and removes the ambiguity. Yes a flashing yellow arrow can be displayed at the same time as a red orb which is something that can never happen with just a green orb and red orb because of the conflicting meaning. This allows the turning traffic a longer opportunity to complete the turn.
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