Yellow lights. Why so short? (Brookline: income, shopping mall, ticket)

[clevedark]

I would greatly appreciate if anyone on this board with a background in traffic could explain something to me.

As soon as the light turns yellow I have to brake immediately to avoid crossing the intersection after the light turns red. In NJ, where I was born and raised, the yellow lights are considerably longer, and a fair amount of traffic passes through the intersection on the yellow light.

I suspect in MA that the opposing line of traffic doesn't show green until well after the light turns red.

It's curious. Any thoughts?

[xbreaka]

In MA a yellow light means stomp on it, and make in through the intersection in that split second its yellow.

[Brave Stranger]

Yellow lights used to be longer when I was younger in Mass & in NH for that matter. Why it's changed I have no idea. It's a good question.

[clevedark]

Originally Posted by xbreaka

In MA a yellow light means stomp on it, and make in through the intersection in that split second its yellow.

They are too short for that. By the time you step on it, it's already red and you've gone through the intersection on a red light. It's either that or stop short and hope you don't get rear ended.

[1979]

...do you actually believe because you're in MA that the yellow lights at every intersection are systematically timed shorter than they are in NJ? FYI, the traffic lights here vary....just as I'm sure they do in NJ.

[clevedark]

If you have knowledge about this, I'd appreciate any time you could spend explaining.

[CoastalMaine]

Cleve, you can call the town/city PD where this is occuring with your concerns. They are individually set and are timed to coordinate with other lights if they're in a row on the street (block to block) or for traffic controls in and out of shopping malls, etc. Maybe a thunderstorm, etc. knocked the electrical timing out?

[clevedark]

It's a consistent thing I've noticed here in Brookline and on the South Shore over the past nine years. If I called the town they'd probably think I'm crazy.

But a PP in this thread concurred with me, so maybe I'm not crazy. Just wonderin'. Sometimes there's someone on the board with a professional background who can explain.

[Brave Stranger]

Originally Posted by clevedark

It's a consistent thing I've noticed here in Brookline and on the South Shore over the past nine years. If I called the town they'd probably think I'm crazy.

But a PP in this thread concurred with me, so maybe I'm not crazy. Just wonderin'. Sometimes there's someone on the board with a professional background who can explain.

I did some reading on this and it seems this tactic has been used to increase income from tickets when you get caught going through the light as it turns red too quickly to stop.

[clevedark]

I'm surprised I haven't gotten a ticket yet. Some days I go through five red lights in a row and I have to make a concerted effort to *stop short* at the yellow.