Driving thru Salem: what is a flashing green traffic light supposed to mean? Instead of solid green.
Submitted by human-potato_hybrid t3_xu5z2v in massachusetts
Just wondering. From USA but never seen this before.
Comments
MASKcrusader1 t1_iqv2300 wrote
This is the answer BUT they do not mention this variation in the MA driving guide book and MUTCD banned any flashing green lights a long time ago so I wonder if Salem just didn’t get the memo?
Ecstatic_Tiger_2534 t1_iqvd32z wrote
I know of one in Stoneham, at a crosswalk by the Stone Zoo.
Stop_Drop_Scroll t1_iqw42xz wrote
Also one in Beverly on Cabot St. it’s a walk light at a crosswalk.
TheSkiGeek t1_iqxrcjp wrote
https://www.mass.gov/doc/chapter-4-rules-of-the-road-0/download does list a "pedestrian hybrid beacon (PHB)" with red and yellow lights:
>A Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon (PHB) allows pedestrians to safely cross a roadway. A PHB only operates when activated by a pedestrian. When all lights are dark, you can proceed with caution. When the bottom yellow light is flashing, you must slow down. When the bottom yellow light is solid, you must prepare to stop. When the top two red lights are solid, you must stop for pedestrians. When the top two red lights are flashing, you must stop and proceed with caution if clear.
But "flashing green circle" is not listed. I don't remember ever hearing about those in Driver's Ed and I've never seen one.
The town where I live has pedestrian crossings with a button that turn on blinky yellow LED lights temporarily. Or ones that trigger a traffic light to turn red. Those seem to be the more modern version.
Edit:
http://archive.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/02/03/lines_lights_and_rule_breakers/?page=1 quotes a Cambridge PD officer (in 2008) saying flashing green is the same as solid green but intended to get people to slow down, typically used when the cross traffic has a flashing red.
I used to live somewhere where some lights would change to flashing yellow along the main street and flashing red on the side streets late at night. But still never seen a flashing green.
MASKcrusader1 t1_iqxtfwu wrote
They have one of these in Hadley on Rt. 9. It confuses everyone all the time. Seems like the same purpose as this blinking green, just more up to code. I’d be curious what mass highway says about the blinky greens.
dmoisan t1_iqu9cgp wrote
There is one light on Lafayette St. that is still red-yellow. I believe it to be the last one in Salem. Flashing green lights are often paired with flashing red lights in the opposing part of the intersection; flashing red is treated as a stop sign.
kdex86 t1_iqvk931 wrote
I've seen a simultaneous red and yellow light in Malden. I think it only does that if someone presses the "walk" button on one of the lights to cross a crosswalk.
NoMoLerking t1_iqtxyw8 wrote
Basically “go, but watch out”
Academic_Guava_4190 t1_iqu09kj wrote
Isn’t that what flashing yellow mean? Proceed with caution?
warlocc_ t1_iquv1xv wrote
No, no. Flashing yellow means proceed with more caution than flashing green, but not as much as a flashing red, which includes stopping.
Welcome to Massachusetts.
ItsRicklesBaby t1_iqummr5 wrote
Flashing yellow is a yield sign in disguise
Galuvian t1_iqvulqv wrote
Pretty much. But it's based on an older convention for pedestrians. mriguy posted about it above.
Flashing green -> Red + Yellow
In effect, the driver should behave just like a flashing yellow turning to red. But the flashing green was used for pedestrian crossings. Most of these were converted to the modern walk buttons with a standard red light. But that takes funding. The new cheaper pedestrian crossings with the yellow LED lights have the same function now.
human-potato_hybrid OP t1_iqtyb90 wrote
Hmm 🤔🤔
human-potato_hybrid OP t1_iqtydz5 wrote
Does it ever turn red then? Why not just have a no turn on red for the cross street?
NoMoLerking t1_iqvlv4r wrote
You’ll usually see it at a crosswalk, it turns red when someone pushes the beg button.
oceansofmyancestors t1_iqw2di3 wrote
Basically means…mayyyyybe
evilmullet t1_iqugvxq wrote
Close your eyes and floor it.
downwardspiralstairs t1_iqvvrvw wrote
The short answer is that it means yeild.
h2g2Ben t1_iqwd77w wrote
Proceed with reckless abandon.
dorelda t1_iqua522 wrote
It usually means pedestrians can use the walk button to cross, so use caution and be prepared to stop.
Right turn on red is okay after you come to a full stop and only if there isn’t a pedestrian in a crosswalk or traffic turning. If there’s a “no turn on red” sign, you can’t turn either.
Trying to get a “jump” on a pedestrian in the crosswalk is the fastest way to add points to your insurance.
At this time of year in Salem, just assume a cop is watching.
If you head up Maine way in your travels, just remember there’s no right turn on a steady red arrow. Otherwise, right on red after stop is fine.
Ecstatic_Tiger_2534 t1_iqvdcl0 wrote
TIL no right turn on a steady red arrow.
Super-Lifeguard4494 t1_iqv7rd2 wrote
It means my brother is out and about so look out
Solid-Suggestion-653 t1_iqw53m3 wrote
go but with caution...similar as the blinking yellow light
Monkibizness t1_iqtyhnl wrote
You have the right of way, but other lanes coming into the intersection will treat it as a “right on red” in which they’ll go if they see an opening. In other words, the road is yours, but be cautious
Loinpurloin t1_iqtyzz6 wrote
ALERT YOU TO PEOPLE CROSSING
IF PEOPLE PRESS BUTTON (OR IS SENSOR) WILL FLASH YELLOW SOMETIMES RED
CARS HAVE RIGHT OF WAY HERE BUT PEEPS HAVE RIGHT OF NOT CRUSHED
THEY ARE BE CAREFUL LIGHTS
Competitive-Boat4592 t1_iqu1jt3 wrote
I read this in a screaming voice lol
Loinpurloin t1_iqu2dcy wrote
THINK TALKING OLD DOG IN TRENCH COAT VERY ENCOURAGING THIS CLAMSHELL WITH PEN ON STRING SEEN SOME THINGS
EricD915 t1_iqv9rex wrote
Go, stop, go, stop, go, stop, go, stop, go
Cautious_Leader_3487 t1_iqw336a wrote
That means it’s time to change the bulb. 😛
Bearawesome t1_iqw9r9v wrote
It's that stupid intersection in downtown? That means be careful because people don't know there's a road there. It's tourist season, I would avoid that area at all costs. Remember that stop sign that was live streamed because people always ran it? It was in Salem the roads are nuts and nothing makes sense.
kizzolie t1_iqwhsi1 wrote
Flashing red is a stop sign. Flashing yellow is caution. Flashing green is nothing.
FluxCapacitorMechan t1_iqu7tck wrote
In the Masshole world it means go and go fast or someone is laying in their horn at you if you slow down.
mriguy t1_iqu58yo wrote
Flashing green is Massachusetts only and pretty rare nowadays (there were a lot more of them when I was a kid).
It means caution, and that the light may go to red and yellow (another MA exclusive) if somebody presses a walk button. Red and yellow simultaneously means a pedestrian light. When I was taking drivers ed that meant you couldn’t drive across a crosswalk when red and yellow was on. No right on red (this predates that) and you stop even if you are in the middle of the intersection (so you don’t cross a crosswalk). I haven’t seen a red and yellow in a few years though, so maybe they don’t do them any more.