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i remember visiting extended family back in, i think, the early 80s. down in alabama or something. their traffic lights went green>yellow>red, as expected. but then went red>yellow>green.
This is normal in Europe too, and actually helps to clear up the traffic. You see red+yellow lights on, you put on first gear and prepare to start moving.
in many (maybe even 'most') american towns and cities, there would be too many drivers going on that yellow and not waiting for the green.
There's a clear difference though. Yellow = no-go, yellow+red = prepare to go
They'd be running a red light
What would you expect them to do? Go straight from red to green?
That's what normally happens
Yes. That's what happens in most countries
So they just go straight to green without any warning?
More or less. If you're paying attention to what's going on around you you'll notice other traffic stop before your light turns green. There's also typically a second or two where all lights are red before one turns green to make sure the intersection is clear.
Why would you need a warning? It's not a race. In fact, that's probably part of the reasoning of not having a yellow before changing to green
So you can get in gear, do observations and be ready to move when the light turns green.
That's what traffic lights do here in Spain. I don't actually know if Red-yellow-green has any advantage
That's the part where you spin your tires to burn
Purple.
Green!!
In the UK, they go Green-Yellow-Red-Yellow-Green, which seems pretty sensible to me.
Imagine green-blinking green-yellow-red-red+yellow-green.
Czechs do this too. Gives you time to menacingly rev your engine at the car next to you.
I've seen that in some German places as well
All German places I've seen, this seems to be a national thing.
@zout No. Green, Yellow, Red, Red+Yellow, Green...
There. Are. Four. Phases.
After Yellow always comes Red. (At least in Germany)Never noticed this, will look out for this next time I cross the border.
In some biggest country traffic lights FSM looks like this: red->red+yellow->green->blinking green->yellow->red, and can transition to blinking yellow from any state.