Flashing Red, Flashing Yellow, and Then Nothing
It is 11:20 p.m. in early March. A windstorm has knocked out power to a commercial strip in Rochester. You are northbound on a four-lane road approaching a signalized intersection. From about 150 feet out you can see that the signal facing you is flashing red, and the signal facing the cross street, which you can see side-on, is flashing yellow. The painted stop line is faint, one streetlight is dark, and a pedestrian in a dark coat is walking along the sidewalk toward the corner. Cars on the cross street are moving through the intersection without stopping. There is no police officer directing traffic, and no temporary stop sign has been placed.
1. What must you do at this intersection, and why does the yellow signal facing the cross street matter?
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A flashing red is legally the same as a stop sign: come to a complete stop, yield to cross traffic and pedestrians, and proceed only when it is safe.
The cross street's flashing yellow tells you something crucial: those drivers have a warning signal, not a stop signal. They are expected to slow and use caution, but they are not required to stop, and in practice most will not. So you must yield to every one of them rather than assuming they will pause for you.
This arrangement is common in off-peak hours and during power problems: the major road gets flashing yellow, the minor road gets flashing red. It is also the trap. A driver facing flashing red sometimes treats it as "caution, roll through," especially at night when traffic is light, and pulls out in front of a car that had no duty to stop.
2. Suppose the storm had knocked out the signal entirely and no lamps were lit at all. How would you treat the intersection?
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Treat a dark signal as an all-way stop. Come to a full stop, then use normal four-way stop rules: first vehicle to arrive goes first, and if two arrive at the same time, the vehicle on the right has the right of way. Yield to pedestrians throughout.
Many drivers treat a dead signal as uncontrolled and simply drive through at speed, which is how these intersections produce crashes during every storm. The correct default when the signal gives you no instruction is a stop.
Notice the difference from the previous question. A flashing red tells you you must stop while the cross street may not. No signal at all means everyone must stop. Same dark, stormy intersection, different required behavior, so read what the signal is actually doing rather than what you expect it to do.
3. How does the pedestrian in the dark coat change your approach, and what should you watch for after you stop?
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The pedestrian raises the risk on an already degraded corner: a dark coat at 11:20 p.m. with one streetlight out is hard to see, and the person is heading toward a crossing where the pedestrian signal is almost certainly dark or useless.
After stopping, scan the crosswalk and both sidewalks before easing forward, and be ready to yield. If the pedestrian steps off the curb, they have the right of way whether or not any signal says so. Also watch for the second hazard these situations create: a car in the lane beside you that has not stopped, or a car behind you that did not expect a stop. Stop smoothly and early, and do not pull out just because your light turns green in your head. At a malfunctioning intersection, your own confirmed clear view is the only reliable signal.