http://blog.mlive.com/michigan/2008/01/leftturn_lights_will_flash_yel.html
So why can't they just leave it alone. If it ain't broke......
I saw the demo thing and it will just confuse the hell out of drivers.
A green left turn light should mean that all oncoming traffic must
stop. Not be allowed to continue and put the turning vehicle into
harm's way. IMNSHO, it's an accident waiting to happen.
Florida has nothing to do with this. The feds are getting rid of the
flashing red arrow to signify a permissive left -- which never should
have been allowed in the first place. The intersection you're always
complaining about in Florida doesn't use a flashing red, so this has
no effect there.
Maryland uses flashing red arrows for permissive lefts; in this part
of the world a flashing red requires a stop before the left turn.
Replacing this with a flashing yellow arrow will probably produce the
exact same behavior among Maryland drivers.
All I know is that the first time I went to Michigan that I had no
earthly idea what the hell was up with the flashing red lights on left
turn lanes...
>All I know is that the first time I went to Michigan that I had no
>earthly idea what the hell was up with the flashing red lights on left
>turn lanes...
No joke. I didn't have a clue what to do until I saw a vehicle with Michigan
plates stop and then turn left.
--
To reply by e-mail, remove the "restrictor plate"
The simple solution is to stop using flashing arrows and go back to
the decades old familiar signal of green ball. Everybody knows what
the green ball means.
I've driven in Maryland but I never saw a flashing red arrow. How
extensively is it used?
I thought everyone understood what Green Ball meant, until I spent a
few days in Jacksonville, FL. On some of their larger streets, they
have a separate signal head for each lane. A Green Ball over the Left
Turn Only lane means the same as a Left Arrow does anywhere else. In
that environment, I'm not sure how I would communicate "permissive
left".
> I thought everyone understood what Green Ball meant, until I spent a
> few days in Jacksonville, FL. On some of their larger streets, they
> have a separate signal head for each lane. A Green Ball over the Left
> Turn Only lane means the same as a Left Arrow does anywhere else. In
> that environment, I'm not sure how I would communicate "permissive
> left".
I've seen places where "permissive left" is never permitted if there is
a left-turn-only lane.
I have also seen "yield to on-coming traffic" signs.
**Pretty rare around Baltimore...I don't know the rest of the state that
well yet.
Pete