(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.
In: 6
A green arrow for you means that cross-traffic on the other side has a red light still – they are not allowed to go forward yet.
A steady red arrow for you means that you are not allowed to turn yet and must wait.
Those are pretty clear. What becomes less clear is when you have a situation where you *are* allowed to turn *but* the cross-traffic has a green light and has the right-of-way to go through the intersection.
There are lots of different ways to represent that. It could be a flashing red arrow, except some people might not read the sign that says “left turn permitted on flashing red arrow after stopping” (that is a pretty long message to read when driving). It could just be that there’s *no* arrow, but then you might wonder if a left turn is actually permitted at all because there’s no signal to indicate what you’re doing (also another sign you have to read).
So, a yellow blinking yellow is just *one* of the ways you can communicate that a left turn is allowed, but that you don’t have the right-of-way.
Latest Answers