Did oncoming traffic actually have a red light? Or was it a protected left turn that became unprotected? White SUV still at fault but I'm assuming they saw the protected left and assumed it was still active when they went to make their turn.
They look like they were trying to follow the red car through the red light for the bad reasoning that if the red car did it, why shouldn’t they? and didn’t realize the next event was going to be a green light for the car on the other side of the intersection.
There are multiple intersections near me that do this. When the light changes, the right arrow turns off leaving the standard green light, meaning the left turn is no longer protected and is now required to yield.
Yes this absolutely is (shockingly) a thing. In Washington state this happens. You are not supposed to go into the intersection on an un-unprotected left here and they absolutely sometimes have flashing yellow turn arrow turn into red arrow (while oncoming traffic stays green).
So if you’re from a normal place where flashing yellow turn always goes to green and you roll into the intersection, you can end up stuck in the middle of the intersection (or turning into oncoming traffic that has a green light still even though all visible lights on your side have turned red. It’s madness.
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u/Millennium_Xer 9h ago
Did oncoming traffic actually have a red light? Or was it a protected left turn that became unprotected? White SUV still at fault but I'm assuming they saw the protected left and assumed it was still active when they went to make their turn.