The in basket: Jo Clark read the Nov. 27 Road Warrior about the
legality of entering an intersection when the light is yellow,
which essentially said it’s legal if there’s room for you on the
other side of the intersection. Two state troopers agreed with
that.
“If so,” Joe asks, “how can they justify the ‘blue’ lights
installed on the back of signal lights at Marine Drive and some
other places (in Bremerton)? I was the recipient of a warning
(as I recall) for doing what they say is legal, right after they
installed the blue light.
“The trooper told me they sit on the other side of the intersection
and watch for it to turn blue so they can catch the ‘perpetrators’!
I was not speeding – just caught in that very wide
intersection because it was unsafe to stop on the yellow
The in basket: Jo Clark read the Nov. 27 Road Warrior about the
legality of entering an intersection when the light is yellow,
which essentially said it’s legal if there’s room for you on the
other side of the intersection. Two state troopers agreed with
that.
“If so,” Joe asks, “how can they justify the ‘blue’ lights
installed on the back of signal lights at Marine Drive and some
other places (in Bremerton)? I was the recipient of a warning
(as I recall) for doing what they say is legal, right after they
installed the blue light.
“The trooper told me they sit on the other side of the intersection
and watch for it to turn blue so they can catch the ‘perpetrators’!
I was not speeding – just caught in that very wide
intersection because it was unsafe to stop on the yellow.
“Let’s face it – if they put the blue light on the reverse of the
signal, sit and watch for it to come on, and then come after you,
it means they don’t want you to enter the intersection unless you
can get all the way through.
“Somebody’s got it wrong. Either it’s illegal or it isn’t. And if
the WSP say it’s not illegal they should remove the blue
lights!
The out basket: The blue lights, nicknamed tattle-tale lights, tell
an officer sitting in a car off to the side when the light has
turned red without him having to actually see the face of the
light. That way he doesn’t have to create a hazard himself by
following the violator through the light.
Regardless of the legality of entering on yellow, the lights
identify when a car has entered on the red, so serve a useful
function.
And it probably was a Bremerton officer, not a state trooper that
stopped Jo. The light is in the city.
I asked Traffic Capt. Pete Fisher of BPD what his officers are
likely to do when they see a car enter the intersection on yellow
and still is in it when the light has turned red.
He called it “a fairly nebulous thing,” and said it’s a matter of
officer discretion. Was it debatable whether the driver had beaten
the red? “Did they speed up when the light turned amber to make
it?” That can support an even more serious charge, like negligent
or reckless driving, especially if it endangers a pedestrian.
“We’d like them to stop,” he said.
The intersection at Marine and Kitsap Way, where Jo was stopped, is
large and a person can be in it for quite a while on red just
completing a left turn. That might justify a ticket for blocking
the intersection even if there is room on the other side once the
driver gets there.
But if I were ever ticketed for running a red light after entering
on the yellow, I’d go to court, have the officer tell the judge
what he saw and let the judge decide. The law in this state calls
the a yellow light a warning that “the related green movement is
being terminated or that a red indication will be exhibited
immediately thereafter when vehicular traffic shall not enter the
intersection.” It requires a stop only if there are pedestrians
“lawfully” in the intersection.
Greetings from Seattle –
Law Enforcement isn’t always right. Calling up your local police station and asking them a question regarding if something is legal or illegal isn’t always the best way in getting the correct answer.
I’m a security guard that has never spent one day in college. In fact, they say I have a 5th to 6th grade education. So I hope that you’ll find my answer useful.
There is nothing in the law stating that you cannot enter the intersection on a “yellow” light. However, entering the intersection on a red light is illegal. If you’ve already crossed over the ‘limit line’ on a yellow light, then you’ve entered the intersection legally. However, because the yellow means proceed w/ caution in the event that you enter the intersection and get into a collision, then you may be cited and accept some liability.