Of all the traffic light colors, yellow seems to be the most controversial. Some drivers say it means stop, others say go, and the funny ones say “green means go, yellow means go faster.” The truth is that a yellow light gives the driver the decision to stop or go, and that decision must be made with the road situation in mind. During a driving test, yellow lights can make the difference between passing and failing. Driving students make many mistakes when they see a yellow light, and some repeat more than others.
A very serious mistake is not to stop when you can. A yellow light requires drivers to stop if it is safe to do so. Some driving students, eager to finish the exam, speed up when the light changes from green to yellow. If they are lucky, they will cross the intersection with a yellow light. If they’re unlucky and the light turns red, this silly dash to the intersection will count as running a red light, a mistake sure to lead to a crash.
The opposite mistake to the one mentioned above is to stop when it is not safe. If a driver cannot safely stop before the limit line, he should not attempt to stop. Many student drivers are afraid of running a red light and stopping the moment they see a yellow light. Sometimes this is done when they are too close to the intersection, causing them to stop inside the intersection. This is highly dangerous and could lead to an unnecessary stop flag, or worse, the dangerous maneuver critical error.
Left turns at traffic lights pose a lot of problems when it comes to yellow lights. Some places require drivers to enter the intersection before making a left turn. Usually only a small number of cars are allowed in the intersection at a time. When the traffic light turns yellow, some driving students do not know how to react to this situation. Some students enter the intersection when they are outside of it, while others stay inside and do not clear the intersection. Both actions are wrong and can lead to failure.
There is a solution for these yellow light errors: a guide that shows how to behave with traffic lights and yellow lights in particular. A guide like this can show driving students the correct way to react to different situations, something that is essential for passing a driving test.
