The Flashing Yellow Arrow in the Rain
Renee is driving home at 9 p.m. in steady rain. She approaches a signalized intersection on a four-lane arterial where she wants to turn left. The left-turn signal is a flashing yellow arrow, and a sign beside it reads LEFT TURN YIELD ON FLASHING YELLOW. The through light for her direction is green. Oncoming traffic includes a pickup with its headlights on about 300 feet away, and a pedestrian in a hooded jacket is stepping into the crosswalk on the left side of the road she intends to turn into. The light has been green for several seconds. Renee has her turn signal on, is first in the left-turn lane, and the driver behind her taps the horn. She is unsure whether the flashing arrow means she has a protected turn, whether she should wait behind the stop line or pull into the intersection, and whether the pedestrian matters when the signal is green.
1. What does the flashing yellow arrow permit, and how is it different from a steady green arrow?
Read the worked answer
A flashing yellow arrow means the turn is permitted but not protected.
Renee may turn left only after yielding to oncoming traffic and to pedestrians in the crosswalk. The signal is telling her the turn is legal, not that the path is clear.
A steady green arrow is the opposite: oncoming traffic is stopped by a red light, so the turn is protected and she may proceed without yielding to vehicles (though she still must not run over pedestrians already in the crosswalk).
Because the arrow is flashing, the pickup 300 feet away has a green light and the right of way. The sign reinforces the standard meaning; it does not create a new rule. Renee should treat this like a yield-controlled left turn: signal, creep forward only when it helps her see, and wait for a genuine gap rather than a hopeful one.
2. Should Renee pull into the intersection to wait for a gap, or stay behind the stop line?
Read the worked answer
In these conditions, staying behind the stop line is the better judgment call.
Pulling into the intersection to wait is common and generally permitted where it can be done without blocking, but it carries real risks here: the pavement is wet, stopping distances are longer, and the crosswalk she would be nosing into currently has a pedestrian in it. Blocking or stopping on a crosswalk is unlawful and puts the pedestrian at risk.
There is also the horn. The driver behind her is pressing for a turn that is not yet safe. The horn is not new information about the gap, and yielding to it would mean turning across a pickup that has the right of way. Her obligation is to the oncoming vehicle and the pedestrian, not to the impatient driver's schedule.
If she does enter and the light changes to red while she is legitimately waiting to complete the turn, she may finish the turn - but that is a fallback, not a reason to enter early.
3. Does the pedestrian affect Renee's decision if the through light is green and she has a flashing yellow arrow?
Read the worked answer
Yes - the pedestrian controls the turn.
A green through light and a flashing yellow arrow do not give Renee priority over a pedestrian in the crosswalk. The pedestrian is crossing the roadway Renee wants to enter, and pedestrians in a marked crosswalk with the signal have the right of way. Renee must yield, meaning she should not enter the crosswalk area at all while the person is in it.
The hood and the rain matter practically, not legally: visibility is reduced, the pedestrian may not see her, and stopping on wet pavement takes longer. That argues for slowing earlier and waiting farther back, not for hurrying through.
If Renee turned now, she would be cutting across a crosswalk occupied by a lawful pedestrian while also competing with oncoming traffic - two failures at once.