Which states have the permissive yellow light law?

[Veritas Vincit]

In Virginia the law says that traffic must stop before entering the intersection when the light turns amber unless it is 'reasonably safe' to continue. I guess people may differ in what you consider 'reasonably safe', so it's going to be a judgment call by you and any cop observing the scene. From what I understand in practice the rule is interpreted as:


(1) You can enter the intersection on yellow if you're close enough at the time of change that you'll make it through the intersection before the signal turns red at the speed you're already going i.e. they'll write you a ticket if you speed up to make it.


(2) You should not creep up into the intersection to turn left on yellow as blocking an intersection is never deemed safe.


However, you do occasionally see the 'creep-up' for sure. It's not surprising given how many folks learned driving in other states and in fact nearby Maryland has a permissive yellow light law while DC on the other hand has an even more restrictive one. So within one metro area you have three different takes on this issue, and I doubt people adjust their driving when they cross the river.

[Bluefox]

Wow, learned something new. At driving school we were taught the permissive yellow law as if that was the law everywhere, which is interesting because this was less than 20 miles from the Michigan border where apparently that’s illegal.

Every once in a while I’ll be behind someone who refuses to enter an intersection turning left if there’s any oncoming traffic. I don’t honk at them but I always wonder why they’re so timid. Now I’ll wonder if they’re from one of those 13 states.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by Bluefox

Wow, learned something new. At driving school we were taught the permissive yellow law as if that was the law everywhere, which is interesting because this was less than 20 miles from the Michigan border where apparently that’s illegal.

That is news to me, and I live in the Detroit suburbs. Usually I see multiple vehicles here make a left turn after the traffic light turns red. Without a green left turn arrow at many intersections, you could never make a left turn unless you proceed with a red light.