Is it illegal to go through a yellow traffic light?

trooper3316

By reading the other answers, I appears many are confusing a steady yellow with a flashing yellow. Flashing yellow means slow down, proceed with caution. A solid yellow means stop, unless you are so close you can not do so safely.

As for the other car, I am guessing he was going the opposite way as you, and was faced with the same light. He was probably already in the intersection, waiting for traffic to clear. A left turn requires you to yield to all vehicles legally in the intersection. Your whole case depends on how long it was yellow, and if you could have safely stopped.

The yellow lights in my state are about 4 seconds long in the 25mph zones. At 25mph, you are traveling approximately 40 feet per second. That means you can travel about 160 feet during the 4 seconds of yellow. A car with decent brakes can stop in about 50 feet at 25mph, so this leaves you with about 110 feet reaction time. The fact you admitted to speeding up probably led the officer to believe you could have stopped. Apparently the car turning left thought so too.

This one is going to be tough for you to prove.

nathanmedic2003

If it works as my own personal accident did and from talking to other police, then you are both considered to be at fault.

Let me explain my situation first:

I actually went through a GREEN light and struck a car turning left. I was "anticipating the green" from about 100 ft. before the intersection as I approached a red light. It turned green before I came to the intersection and I accelerated. I never saw the car turning left until it was too late, because the intersection was HUGE, I was in the far right lane, and all the other traffic blocked my view.

The other driver was obviously pretty late, but because the intersection was so large, he probably started his turn on a yellow arrow (or at least COULD have).

So, according to the police, he had a responsibility to know he wasn't going to beat the green light and shouldn't have turned. On the other hand, I had the responsibility to not go through the intersection until it was confirmed clear. Therefore, we were both at fault, and I think this applies to your example as well.

Doesn't seem fair, but that's the way it fell for me.

Nathan

kleighs mommy

you were at fault you sped up to beat a red light to me that says you had plenty of time to stop and didnt and entered the intersection on a clearly red light

theres only 3-4 second delay between lights follow the driving rules or dont drive your stupidity could have killed someone

R Dub

sounds like the other person ran a red light and hit you, however... yellow means slow down! so you sped up, resulting in speeding. also... most lights in bigger intersections have a few second delay to prevent those kinds of acctidents. i'd need more info about the other driver. its too hard to say, but it sounds like his fault.

â™¥â˜†Mrs. Roseâ˜†â™¥

both of you i guess. It's only illegal if it's red. Sometimes I go through when they are orange lol

summerLOVE

umm i just took drivers ed a couple months ago and they call it "the point of no return" when you are coming to a light and it turns yellow but it would be too dangerous for you to stop safely. i think that it would be the other person fault because you always give up the right-of-way when you are turning left. but i am not a law inforcer so i dont know for sure.

rumbler_12

If the light turned red while you were still in the intersection then you will probably be judged at fault.

You are only supposed to go through the caution light if you know you can clear the intersection before the light goes red.

If the light was still yellow when the accident occured then he would be at fault, that may be hard to prove.

chances are you will both be considered to share fault for the accident.

Good luck to you.

shewolf

You must be through the intersection before the light turns red.
What ever the police said will usually rule.
Get an attourney, or find out with your insurance company.

jeligula

The blame for the accident lies with both of you. Turning on a red is obviously not sound policy, but speeding up to beat a yellow is just as dangerous. Had you slowed down as you were supposed to, the accident would likely not have happened. Had the other guy not turned on a red, same result. Both factors were present, therefore an accident occurred.

pioglio

this is a tough call, you really need some help go to a traffic lawyer but i would think you have the win unless.... i think if your coming to the light and your past the point of no return you should go through,,, but the light should turn red when u reach the opposite crosswalk but if you are about 1/2 way through and it goes red then you are a idiot ... it all depends on that

The Logical Approach

You can go through a yellow light, it's their fault and that's the bottom line.

Rachael R

well if your going and its green but it turns yellow all of the sudden thats perfectly legal. your not really supposed to go when its already yellow, but everyone does it and almost no one gets in trouble for it

Random I

the idiot who made the turn. it was obviously his fault because you're not supposed to turn on left but you CAN if you're cautious

GreenBrigade

i dont know the law where you are but i'd say the turning car should have given way for you to pass, lights here in North Ireland can be difficult. I was in a similar situation this week but i stupidly put the breaks on late n the car behing hit me. although on another day i could have hit the gas n maybe hit a pedestrian or turning car! Iv learnt my lesson now though!

Jacquelyn! 18 weeks & counting=]

so technically you both went through a yellow light, which as far as i know is not illegal. Person going straight always has the right away & the person turning should always yield... So in my opinion, I'd say the other person was in the wrong. Insurance companies are crazy so I really don't know what they would consider.

ememazngrl

probably as soon as ur eyes left the yellow light it turned red which means the other car's traffic light turned green so technically, noone's fault or....if the traffic light is not exact and is still yellow for you but turns green for the other car, blame the trafic light

â˜†Cutieâ˜†

To be honest, it wasnt your fault at all. When a light turns yellow, it usually means that you have to go faster to get trhough or slow down to stop. When a light turns red theres still like 5 seconds until the other light turns green. They do this to prevent accidents, its not your fault, the guy ate his red light thinking it was about to turn green.

Hassan

It's not illegal to go on yellow light. But it might have been his fault not yours.

TunS

seeing the yellow/amber light you should have reduced your speed, so its your fault... :-(

Mr. Twenty6Answers.

That's going to be very hard to prove, you should return to the scene & check if there were any cameras. Who was ticketed? That's extremely vital to a case...I would suggest hiring a P.I. attorney.

coffee1234

No. It is not illegal. Here is the law on running a red light.
If you pass the white line, with your front tires, after the light turns red you are running a red light. The person who hit you would have had to do what is called a fast start, which is illegal... Furthermore if you were speeding that is against the law though if you were going faster than usual and it was still yellow than the person that hit you would have had to of run their red light or started way to fast... Either way I would say your in the clear...

msu_fan58

It was the other cars fault because if the light was just turning yellow the light was still red for him. Don't give him a dime.

on184

it's not illegal to go through a yellow light but it is your judgement that was wrong, if you were able to stop you should have if not then you made the right choice.

Darren G

Most likely you, because I'm pretty sure by the time the other car turned the light was already red!

Your claims adjuster will most likely find you both at a 50/50 fault!

Dan S

"sped up" tells me you werent already commited..so i would say you

Sally P

It is not illegal to go through a yellow traffic light. Red, yes, but yellow, no, but you should know that a red light is coming. I think that the other guy is at fault.

Pyar

Sounds like the other guy is at fault . he rear ended you . Red means stop . Green means go . Yellow means caution.

ladiesman217

i think its ur fault cos u sped up not aware of the sorrounding traffic

Wes

It is not illegal and the fault belongs to the car turning left. The car has to yield and if he didn't, well...look where you are now.

THE DARKSIDE !

your fault

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