Red means stop. Green means go. Yellow means speed up?

I learned something while I was in Minnesota- people up North actually slow down when they approach a yellow signal on traffic lights. I looked it up- the “amber” color does actually mean “prepare to stop.” Go figure. Growing up in the South, I always thought it meant, “GO, GO, GO… You can make it!!!” I had a friend in college who averaged about one traffic incident a month. One month, she slammed into the back of another car. When we asked her what happened she said, “Well, I was trying to make the yellow light and the car in front of me wasn’t.”

I have actually noticed drivers behind me get angry if I slow down when approaching a yellow light. I always tend to look in my rear view mirror, just to see their response. The face tightens, the brow furrows, the hands pop off the steering wheel in that “C’MON” kind of way. You know what I’m talking about. Those people. I have been one of those people. But, now I’m changing my ways.

In the past few days, I have watched several cars speed on through yellow lights, which often turn red before they even enter the intersection. Just yesterday, my turn signal lit up and as I started to accelerate, a car came speeding past my front end. Two seconds. Two seconds and I would have been far enough out for that car to slam into my driver’s side door, likely causing injury. I can just hear the driver’s story now.

“What happened?”

“Well, I was trying to make the yellow light and she thought that green arrow meant it was safe for her to turn. She must be from up North.”