Yellow Box, Green Light, and a Raised Hand
You are third in line approaching a signalised city intersection. The light is green for your direction. Beyond the stop line is a large yellow box junction with cross-hatched markings, and past the box the road narrows to a single lane. The queue on the far side has stopped, and its last car is sitting just past the box, leaving only about 6 metres of clear space beyond the box - less than your vehicle plus a safe gap. The driver behind you is tailgating and has honked twice. Ahead-left, a traffic enforcer stands in the intersection with his right arm raised, palm toward your direction, even though your light is still showing green.
1. Do you move into the yellow box junction? Justify your answer.
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No.
The yellow box marking means: do not enter unless your exit is clear. It exists so that a queue on the far side does not strand vehicles in the middle of the intersection and gridlock the cross traffic when the lights change.
Applying it here:
- Clear space beyond the box ≈ 6 m. A typical car or van plus the gap you would want ahead of you needs far more than that, and the far queue is stationary, not moving.
- Entering would leave you sitting inside the box - blocking the crossing traffic, and the pedestrians and turning vehicles that get their phase when the light changes.
- The horn behind you is social pressure, not a legal permission. Stopping before the stop line is the correct and lawful response; the honking driver is the one creating the problem.
What to do: hold position behind the stop line, leave the box completely clear, and wait until there is enough space past the box for your whole vehicle plus a margin before you commit.
2. The enforcer's raised hand conflicts with your green light. Which governs, and what exactly do you do?
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The enforcer's signal governs. A traffic officer directing traffic at an intersection overrides the signal lights and the road markings. Signal heads can be faulty, overridden for an emergency, or running a special phase.
Reading the signal: a raised hand with the palm facing your approach is the standard stop command for your direction.
So:
- Stop before the stop line - do not creep into the box, and do not try to squeeze through on the argument that your light is green.
- Do not edge forward when the cross traffic starts moving on his direction; expect pedestrians and turning vehicles to be released into the space in front of you.
- Watch the officer, not the light head, for the release. When he waves your direction through, move off promptly but cautiously - his go-ahead does not override your duty to check the intersection is actually clear.
- If he waves you through while the light is red, follow the officer, but proceed at a speed from which you can stop.
3. Your light turns amber just as the far queue begins to move. What do you do?
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Stay stopped.
- Amber means stop unless you are so close to the line that stopping would itself be dangerous. You are stationary and behind the line, so neither exception applies.
- The far queue starting to move is not an exit-clearance guarantee. Six metres of space does not become a safe exit the instant the lead car's brake lights go out; the queue can stall again two metres later and strand you in the box.
- Entering on amber leaving a full queue of cars behind you also sets up the next driver to follow you in, which is how box junctions fail.
Sequence to follow: wait for green (or the officer's release) and for enough clear space past the box to hold your whole vehicle plus a margin. Only then commit. If the light cycles again before both conditions are met, you simply wait another cycle - that is the correct cost of the rule, not a failure.