Comment by Spivak
5 days ago
Yep, something something Chesterton's fence. If you couldn't drive through a yellow then you effectively have two lights go/stop which makes drivers choose between the safe but illegal thing of running the light or the dangerous but legal thing of slamming on their brakes.
You can't have an instant switch between go/stop which yellow— effectively meaning unsafe stopping distance go, safe stopping distance stop— solves very neatly.
> effectively meaning unsafe stopping distance go, safe stopping distance stop— solves very neatly.
That's how it works in Poland and it works reasonably well.
On the other hand when light is about to turn green, yellow lights up. So red and yellow at the same time means prepare to go.