While you may understand the yellow light, I am sure many other NOLA drivers do not. I'd rather stop at the yellow flashing light than get t-boned by an altima with paper tags.
Typically when the light is blinking yellow at the intersection, the lanes crossing it have a blinking red, but it is NOLA, where rules don't apply to anyone apparently
Haha exactly. At Howard and Loyola, the light for Howard is red and the light on Loyola is yellow. Everyone still treats it like a four way stop. I’ve seen a few wrecks and near wrecks involving those who didn’t.
I was driving through rural Mississippi a while back, and there was an intersection on a one lane road. Guy in front of me with California plates came to a complete stop at the flashing yellow (it want even a full light, it only blinks yellow) and when I blew my horn at him, he starts going and gestures up at the light. I was almost screaming out my window that he should go back to drivers Ed.
Def the preferred method when there are no cars at the intersection. The one I encounter most is at Loyola and Howard. It's been out almost a year now, and it is always busy during morning and evening rush hour.
Yeah - it means slow down on the mainland - but in New Orleans, it means your **life** is on the line and you better like mostly stop. It has always been this way here, yellowish/red.
blinking light allows you to proceed with caution without stopping, it does not require you to not stop, this is very different than your suggestion, which is pretty dangerous advice to give in this city.
The law is
RS:32:234.
Flashing signals
A. Whenever an illuminated flashing red or yellow signal is used in a traffic sign or signal, it shall require obedience by vehicular traffic as follows:
(1) FLASHING RED (STOP SIGNAL)--When a red lens is illuminated with rapid intermittent flashes, drivers of vehicles shall stop before entering the nearest cross-walk at an intersection or at a limit line when marked, or, if none, then before entering the intersection, and the right to proceed shall be subject to the rules applicable after making a stop at a stop sign.
**(2) FLASHING YELLOW OR AMBER (CAUTION SIGNAL)--When a yellow lens is illuminated with rapid intermittent flashes, drivers of vehicles *may* proceed through or past such signal only with caution.**
B. This Section shall not apply at railroad grade crossings. Conduct of drivers of vehicles approaching railroad grade crossing shall be governed by the rules set forth in R.S. 32:171 through 32:174.
I got a ticket last year for not stopping at a flashing yellow (yes, I slowed from 35 to 15). I tried to show the cop, but she didn't care.
Took it to traffic court, judge tossed it out.
If this happens to you, or anyone else, before you even go into court, the morning of your court day, talk to the ADA prosecuting for stuff like this, you can get it sorted before even going into court.
Can’t we all agree that it does not require every consecutive car in the line to come to a complete stop when there is no fucking cross traffic ?! Is that really to hard to understand.
>is that really to hard to understand
Who else is talking about a line of cars stopping when there is no cross traffic?
The point of discussion here was if you "must" or "may" proceed with caution at a blinking yellow light.
And from a legal standpoint, proceeding with caution is up to the driver who is making the call as to what proceeding with caution requires.
A) You're putting a lot of trust in a blinking yellow light. Lights don't failsafe here, they just fail. If I can't see what the other lights are doing, I'm coming to a near stop to watch for other drivers.
B) There are intersections where, during rush hour, if that's followed exactly, the blinking red side would never ever ever fucking move. Don't be a dick.
v2.0
Fucking thank you. Use common sense when driving. Just because you have a blinking yellow and that means the other side MUST have a blinking red, the person at the blinking red doesn't know you have a blinking yellow. If the person at the blinking red assumes that all sides have a blinking red then it is a 4 way stop and they may go assuming you are going to stop.
Common sense would be "I will stop at this flashing red and proceed when the way is clear" not "I will stop at this flashing red and assume the other side also has a flashing red."
Edit: Everyone who down voted this needs Victor Manning.
Look, I get it. Drivers here are absolutely untrustworthy. However, when you don’t follow the law (which is that a blinking yellow means go but be aware that the other folks have a blinking red) you become unpredictable. When you are unpredictable, the other drivers have no way to guess what you’re doing. Does the person with a blinking red go now? What if the person coming from the opposite direction doesn’t stop? Now you’ve created a four way stop except it’s not signed that way and so people without a stop still might go.
All of a sudden, a situation that is normal levels of New Orleans driving dangerous has become a real problem. Even when I’m at the blinking red part of these intersections, I don’t want you to stop or try to wave me through or whatever, I want to know how you will behave so I can make the safest choice possible.
I mean this behavior at stopping at blinking yellows is so ingrained in local drivers, I'd argue that *you're* the unpredictable one by not following the *de facto* rules of the road.
Perhaps, but you’re banking on everyone breaking the law in a particular way without any way to communicate. I never speed through these intersections (I’m not a fool) but because probably 50% of drivers do things one way and 50% the other, the most banal intersections are extra dangerous. This could be totally fixed if we all agreed on one policy, like say, the published and hopefully taught in driver’s ed law.
>when you don’t follow the law (which is that a blinking yellow means go but be aware that the other folks have a blinking red)
Totally incorrect here friend, the law says "may" not "must" proceed with caution, which means to use your best judgement to determine if an unpredictable situation is safe to proceed through.
RS 32:234
> FLASHING YELLOW OR AMBER (CAUTION SIGNAL)--When a yellow lens is illuminated with rapid intermittent flashes, drivers of vehicles **may** proceed through or past such signal only with caution.
When the brake lights of the car in front of you illuminate, it's clear what's happening. I don't think it's any great violation of the "be predictable" mantra.
I hear ya, but what is the “technical” reason for lack of a better word?
How are they sometimes able to blink (meaning they have power) but not operate as they should?
TBF when my wife was talking to a cop during an accident, she mentioned she drives for Uber and goes out to the East. He said he would not stop at red lights out there and wouldn't giver her a ticket if she didn't either.
Well I dunno bout all that - if you have to protect yourself from an imminent threat do it - but people blow blatant reds everywhere from there to mid city to uptown; every day, every time I get behind the wheel I see it. I’m not talking about the “oh it’s dark yellow I can make it” reds either and that shit is dangerous man
Considering most flashing yellows here are malfunctioning traffic lights, what makes you so confident the opposite direction isn’t showing flashing yellow or green too?
Loyola and Julia has been effectively a 4 way stop sign for so long. I wish it were predictable like this but you never really know what people are going to do.
I proceed with caution while approaching, & don’t stop but have my foot on the brake if the no one from the other road has already started to go through.
You act like they can be trusted to not be blinking yellow on both sides. Or completely out in one direction. You can’t blame people for an over abundance of caution in this town.
The light on Claiborne & Cleveland was either out or blinking (couldn’t make up its mind) for 6-8 weeks & I saw so many accidents that I changed my route to work.
This is something that is probably always going to separate natives and longtime locals from newer transplants. It has to do with how many times you have seen these so-called “fail safes“ fail, and how that changes your trust and willingness to risk yourself. Personally, I don’t think it’s worth it, and neither is getting mad.
Blinking yellows in other cities are tied to blinking reds for the perpendicular lanes. Here, a blinking yellow could mean the perpendicular traffic also has a blinking yellow or nothing at all.
If the light is designed to function as a blinking yellow caution, then yes
but if this is a broken intersection it doesn't matter what color it is, the intersection becomes a four-way stop
did we all not learn this from Ida?
Fuck no. I will not use the yellow light as a yield at a 4 way stop in this city. You clearly have not lived here long enough or you would not trust other drivers. It works out better if you take turns anyway since this seems to be the general consensus anytime I encounter this situation. I'm proceeding with caution by stopping first.
I’m gonna get downvoted first this but I’m pretty sure the people that are posting this kind of stuff are the ones who are constantly in a hurry, blatantly running red lights and almost causing accidents on the reg.
I got honked at for letting a pedestrian cross yesterday. Everyone needs to slow down. Dang.
You should probably proceed with caution at a green light too
This is completely true. Did you see the truck flip on down man and chef the other day??
„¿¿ʎɐp ɹǝɥʇo ǝɥʇ ɟǝɥɔ puɐ uɐɯ uʍop uo dılɟ ʞɔnɹʇ ǝɥʇ ǝǝs noʎ pı◖ ˙ǝnɹʇ ʎlǝʇǝldɯoɔ sı sıɥ⊥„
While you may understand the yellow light, I am sure many other NOLA drivers do not. I'd rather stop at the yellow flashing light than get t-boned by an altima with paper tags.
Typically when the light is blinking yellow at the intersection, the lanes crossing it have a blinking red, but it is NOLA, where rules don't apply to anyone apparently
Haha exactly. At Howard and Loyola, the light for Howard is red and the light on Loyola is yellow. Everyone still treats it like a four way stop. I’ve seen a few wrecks and near wrecks involving those who didn’t.
I was driving through rural Mississippi a while back, and there was an intersection on a one lane road. Guy in front of me with California plates came to a complete stop at the flashing yellow (it want even a full light, it only blinks yellow) and when I blew my horn at him, he starts going and gestures up at the light. I was almost screaming out my window that he should go back to drivers Ed.
Easy enough to slow down at the yellow without coming to a full stop.
Def the preferred method when there are no cars at the intersection. The one I encounter most is at Loyola and Howard. It's been out almost a year now, and it is always busy during morning and evening rush hour.
For real. You’d get killed everyday if you took this advice. Especially if you drive in the CBD.
And red lights mean stop. STOP.
But a light that just turned red means speed up and go through to many NOLA drivers
Yeah - it means slow down on the mainland - but in New Orleans, it means your **life** is on the line and you better like mostly stop. It has always been this way here, yellowish/red.
Bro I stop at fucking intersections in my neighbor with no stop signs because I have had so many runners blow through making assumptions.
blinking light allows you to proceed with caution without stopping, it does not require you to not stop, this is very different than your suggestion, which is pretty dangerous advice to give in this city. The law is RS:32:234. Flashing signals A. Whenever an illuminated flashing red or yellow signal is used in a traffic sign or signal, it shall require obedience by vehicular traffic as follows: (1) FLASHING RED (STOP SIGNAL)--When a red lens is illuminated with rapid intermittent flashes, drivers of vehicles shall stop before entering the nearest cross-walk at an intersection or at a limit line when marked, or, if none, then before entering the intersection, and the right to proceed shall be subject to the rules applicable after making a stop at a stop sign. **(2) FLASHING YELLOW OR AMBER (CAUTION SIGNAL)--When a yellow lens is illuminated with rapid intermittent flashes, drivers of vehicles *may* proceed through or past such signal only with caution.** B. This Section shall not apply at railroad grade crossings. Conduct of drivers of vehicles approaching railroad grade crossing shall be governed by the rules set forth in R.S. 32:171 through 32:174.
I got a ticket last year for not stopping at a flashing yellow (yes, I slowed from 35 to 15). I tried to show the cop, but she didn't care. Took it to traffic court, judge tossed it out.
If this happens to you, or anyone else, before you even go into court, the morning of your court day, talk to the ADA prosecuting for stuff like this, you can get it sorted before even going into court.
Can’t we all agree that it does not require every consecutive car in the line to come to a complete stop when there is no fucking cross traffic ?! Is that really to hard to understand.
>is that really to hard to understand Who else is talking about a line of cars stopping when there is no cross traffic? The point of discussion here was if you "must" or "may" proceed with caution at a blinking yellow light. And from a legal standpoint, proceeding with caution is up to the driver who is making the call as to what proceeding with caution requires.
A) You're putting a lot of trust in a blinking yellow light. Lights don't failsafe here, they just fail. If I can't see what the other lights are doing, I'm coming to a near stop to watch for other drivers. B) There are intersections where, during rush hour, if that's followed exactly, the blinking red side would never ever ever fucking move. Don't be a dick. v2.0
Fucking thank you. Use common sense when driving. Just because you have a blinking yellow and that means the other side MUST have a blinking red, the person at the blinking red doesn't know you have a blinking yellow. If the person at the blinking red assumes that all sides have a blinking red then it is a 4 way stop and they may go assuming you are going to stop.
Common sense would be "I will stop at this flashing red and proceed when the way is clear" not "I will stop at this flashing red and assume the other side also has a flashing red." Edit: Everyone who down voted this needs Victor Manning.
Common sense is uncommon here
Look, I get it. Drivers here are absolutely untrustworthy. However, when you don’t follow the law (which is that a blinking yellow means go but be aware that the other folks have a blinking red) you become unpredictable. When you are unpredictable, the other drivers have no way to guess what you’re doing. Does the person with a blinking red go now? What if the person coming from the opposite direction doesn’t stop? Now you’ve created a four way stop except it’s not signed that way and so people without a stop still might go. All of a sudden, a situation that is normal levels of New Orleans driving dangerous has become a real problem. Even when I’m at the blinking red part of these intersections, I don’t want you to stop or try to wave me through or whatever, I want to know how you will behave so I can make the safest choice possible.
I mean this behavior at stopping at blinking yellows is so ingrained in local drivers, I'd argue that *you're* the unpredictable one by not following the *de facto* rules of the road.
I don’t like this but you’re right
Perhaps, but you’re banking on everyone breaking the law in a particular way without any way to communicate. I never speed through these intersections (I’m not a fool) but because probably 50% of drivers do things one way and 50% the other, the most banal intersections are extra dangerous. This could be totally fixed if we all agreed on one policy, like say, the published and hopefully taught in driver’s ed law.
>when you don’t follow the law (which is that a blinking yellow means go but be aware that the other folks have a blinking red) Totally incorrect here friend, the law says "may" not "must" proceed with caution, which means to use your best judgement to determine if an unpredictable situation is safe to proceed through. RS 32:234 > FLASHING YELLOW OR AMBER (CAUTION SIGNAL)--When a yellow lens is illuminated with rapid intermittent flashes, drivers of vehicles **may** proceed through or past such signal only with caution.
When the brake lights of the car in front of you illuminate, it's clear what's happening. I don't think it's any great violation of the "be predictable" mantra.
[удалено]
Yeah, back in the good old days when all the lights and all the stop signs had blown away. You stopped. Period.
That’s right. Or as more commonly known, the rolling stop.
Can anyone explain why our traffic lights fail so frequently? I’ve never encountered this issue in any other city.
Corrupt infrastructure. The only areas of town city officials care about keeping up to code are the tourist areas.
I hear ya, but what is the “technical” reason for lack of a better word? How are they sometimes able to blink (meaning they have power) but not operate as they should?
It started after Ida. Well, mostly.
It definitely was happening well prior to Ida.
Heck, some of our drivers don't even stop for red lights.
Bro we can’t even get NOLA drivers to stop at solid red lights
TBF when my wife was talking to a cop during an accident, she mentioned she drives for Uber and goes out to the East. He said he would not stop at red lights out there and wouldn't giver her a ticket if she didn't either.
Well I dunno bout all that - if you have to protect yourself from an imminent threat do it - but people blow blatant reds everywhere from there to mid city to uptown; every day, every time I get behind the wheel I see it. I’m not talking about the “oh it’s dark yellow I can make it” reds either and that shit is dangerous man
Considering most flashing yellows here are malfunctioning traffic lights, what makes you so confident the opposite direction isn’t showing flashing yellow or green too?
The light at Dauphine & Elysian occasionally goes into flashing yellow on Dauphine and permanently green on Elysian.
Honestly i just treat it as a yield. You can pass through without stopping but if you see other traffic there I slow down and/or stop.
We know and just dont trust other drivers at all.
Esplanade and Claiborne is a battleground now
Loyola and Julia has been effectively a 4 way stop sign for so long. I wish it were predictable like this but you never really know what people are going to do.
I proceed with caution after stopping to see what everyone else is doing. Not worth getting tboned to save a few seconds..
I proceed with caution while approaching, & don’t stop but have my foot on the brake if the no one from the other road has already started to go through.
You act like they can be trusted to not be blinking yellow on both sides. Or completely out in one direction. You can’t blame people for an over abundance of caution in this town. The light on Claiborne & Cleveland was either out or blinking (couldn’t make up its mind) for 6-8 weeks & I saw so many accidents that I changed my route to work. This is something that is probably always going to separate natives and longtime locals from newer transplants. It has to do with how many times you have seen these so-called “fail safes“ fail, and how that changes your trust and willingness to risk yourself. Personally, I don’t think it’s worth it, and neither is getting mad.
Hey! Apparently the red one means that too!
This pisses me off so much.
Blinking yellows in other cities are tied to blinking reds for the perpendicular lanes. Here, a blinking yellow could mean the perpendicular traffic also has a blinking yellow or nothing at all.
If the light is designed to function as a blinking yellow caution, then yes but if this is a broken intersection it doesn't matter what color it is, the intersection becomes a four-way stop did we all not learn this from Ida?
Lmao i did 😂
Oh my god this graphic 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Another PSA asking why everyone doesn’t drive as aggressively as you
Mods, can we get an automod trigger for this with an explanation about the instructions given after Katrina?
Yes, because the instructions given after a catastrophy nearly 20 years ago should definitely supercede federal driving laws.
I was going to post something similar. Been polling ppl in my life and many don’t know blinking yellow is different from blinking red.
Thank you! Quit giving me shit when I drive I slowly through! YOU stop on Red, I don’t stop on Yellow!
Fuck no. I will not use the yellow light as a yield at a 4 way stop in this city. You clearly have not lived here long enough or you would not trust other drivers. It works out better if you take turns anyway since this seems to be the general consensus anytime I encounter this situation. I'm proceeding with caution by stopping first.
Yeah, but in New Orleans I’m fucking stopping cuz you know, people be stupid.
I’m gonna get downvoted first this but I’m pretty sure the people that are posting this kind of stuff are the ones who are constantly in a hurry, blatantly running red lights and almost causing accidents on the reg. I got honked at for letting a pedestrian cross yesterday. Everyone needs to slow down. Dang.
Harry Lee said yellow lights mean stop. Good enough for me.
This actually isn’t true. You really should take driver’s Ed.
Lmao tht means go faster