That's a little confusing, though, isn't it? A blinking regular yellow light means "you have the right of way, but proceed with caution". But this blinking left arrow would mean "you don't have the right of way, so proceed with caution". The distinction may sound subtle, but is quite large.
Not quite. Yellow blinking left arrows are always for a protected left turn lane. So when blinking, it does become more like an unprotected 'turn left on green' type of light, but you don't have the straight-through traffic coming up behind you, since you're on a dedicated turn lane. And the yellow flashing arrow is usually timed so that it happens at the safest time to make an unprotected left.
The sign that warns driver does actually blink though, for this exact reason. I believe there's a separate electronic sign further up the road as well that flicks on when a vehicle triggers the sensor. Even without all that, an educated driver should just see the sign on the tunnel and determine their truck doesn't fit...
Funnily enough, blinking taillights are actually banned here because it's very difficult to guage distance and speed from a blinking tail light.
> Handling yellow lights properly, involves us having to predict how long they will remain yellow for
No. That isn't how yellow lights work in the US. If the light turns yellow and you have enough space/time to make a safe stop you do it. There's no need to predict the remaining time on yellow phase. We don't need robot cars bending these rules.
>I always found blinking lights extremely distracting. They make it hard for me to concentrate
In the UK I don't think flashing lights are allowed on moving vehicles/cycles unless they're emergency vehicles or otherwise hazardous. Lots of cyclists still use them though.
Please don't use blinking lights only. Due to the blinking others cannot estimate your location and speed. We humans can track a continuous light source pretty well, opposed do a blinking one.
If it’s on a British road, said self-driving car will see normal yellow indicators, since red is not a permissible colour. As mentioned in the article.
I am quite happy with the yellow indicators. I had the opportunity to drive in the US and found quite awkward those integrated red indicators (compared to other restrictive/protective laws like edible toys).
Where I come from our green lights blink five times before the light goes to yellow, then red. I've found that it's much more useful than having just a yellow light to estimate when I should accelerate at a light and when I should stop.
Speaking of bad turn signals (though in this case for other drivers, and not the driver of the vehicle), can we make it illegal for cars to only indicate from their rear by blinking the entire brake light? I think I've heard it's a requirement in some countries for the rear indicators to use the amber light alongside the brake lights, which makes a lot of sense because making the brake light serve double duty is frequently confusing and dangerous. You have to stare at the light for a couple of seconds to confirm the light is blinking because the person is signalling, and not because they tapped their brakes and you only saw a change.
My solution is to have a blinking green, which indicates that it’s about to turn yellow. We might also lengthen the yellow duration, but knowing that the light will switch gives time to decide if you can speed up or decelerate safely, without wasting energy.
I’d be very curious to see how a blinking green system plays out in tests.
Another thought: if we manage traffic like regulating fluid flow and pressure, we could avoid situations where a single car exiting a parking lot shuts down the highway instantly. That single car should have to wait maybe 5-10 seconds before triggering the lights, and the blinking green would let highway drivers adjust. Forcing 20 cars to rapidly stop for an already stopped car makes no sense.
As the single car waits, pressure “builds” so to speak, and eventually the light decides that the fluid flow should change.
I don't have a problem with those. If you can only see half the car, hazards that blink normally still look like a turn signal blinking too. Yeah, the motion calls extra attention, but paying extra attention to a car with its hazards on seems fine.
I've always thought the differences between the solid light and arrow was too minor for the average driver. I mean, look at the skills of the average driver.
In Washington state unprotected lefts weren't legal maneuvers for quite a while. They were introduced gradually starting at intersections where it would be a traffic benefit, for signaling the state adopted a blinking yellow arrow that then goes solid to signify the 'almost over' meaning of a typical yellow light.
I’ve been thinking for a long time that a blinking yellow would be revolutionary and simple.
They should make the yellow begin to blink when it’s x number is seconds from going red. Because as is you have little reference to how soon it will shift.
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