Flashing Yellow Arrow With a Fast Box Truck and a Honking Driver
It is 4:55 p.m. in Colorado Springs, and you are first in the left-turn lane at a wide intersection. Your signal is a flashing yellow arrow. You want to turn left into a shopping center. Oncoming traffic is heavy: a box truck is about 250 feet away and closing at 45 mph, and behind it are several cars. A pedestrian is walking in the crosswalk on the far side of the intersection, moving left to right. The car behind you honks once, then again. You have already crept past the stop line by about two feet. The light for straight-ahead traffic is green. Your view of the oncoming left lane is clear for about 300 feet, but a bus in the right oncoming lane is slowing near the corner.
1. What does the flashing yellow arrow permit, and what must you check before turning across the oncoming lanes?
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A flashing yellow arrow does not give you a protected left turn. It means you may turn left only after yielding to oncoming traffic and to pedestrians in the crosswalk. The box truck is about 250 feet away at 45 mph, which is roughly four seconds of travel, but that is not a comfortable gap for a left turn across its lane; if it maintains speed, it will arrive about when you would be in its path. The bus slowing near the corner also matters because it may stop and release pedestrians. The honking car behind you has no better view and no authority to send you across. Wait for a clear gap, and remember that the pedestrian on the far side has the right of way.
2. You have crept two feet past the stop line, and the arrow turns solid yellow while you wait. What should you do now?
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The steady yellow arrow means the protected left-turn phase is ending. If you are already past the stop line and in the intersection, do not reverse and do not stop in the middle of conflicting traffic; complete the turn when it is safe. If you have not entered the intersection and can stop comfortably, stop. Because you have crept two feet past the line, first determine whether you are actually blocking the crosswalk or the intersection; if you are, clearing it safely is usually better than backing up, which is illegal and unpredictable. Never back up in an intersection to 'undo' a creep.
3. The pedestrian is still crossing, and the driver behind you is honking repeatedly. How do you handle the competing pressures?
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The pedestrian controls your turn until the crosswalk is clear. Even with a flashing yellow arrow, you must yield; the arrow permits the turn, it does not protect it. The honking driver may be impatient, but turning while the pedestrian is in the crosswalk would be a violation and a serious risk. Wait, watch the pedestrian's path, and check for the bus and the box truck again before moving. If the light changes before a safe gap appears, stay put and wait for the next cycle. Your delay is measured in seconds; a left-turn crash with a truck or a pedestrian is measured differently.