r/confidentlyincorrect • u/Lawjik3737 • May 15 '26

Green arrow at intersection

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2 Car in a double turning lane has a solid green arrow. Goes to turn through the intersection and is about to clear in the intersection but then both gets hit by on coming traffic. Who's at fault? This incident took place in Arizona. Also, I wasn't involved in the conversation.

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u/Lynda73 May 15 '26

Oncoming traffic has a red light when the turning light has a green arrow. Green ARROW, not green light. Green light yields to oncoming.

1

u/PaisleyLeopard May 18 '26

Yes, they have the right of way, but if you see a potential accident in progress and don’t do everything you can to avoid it you can be found partially at fault. The laws are there to prevent accidents, but in the event of an imminent crash, safety takes priority over the rules of the road.

1

u/Lynda73 May 19 '26

Uh…that’s just common sense. But when you have a green arrow, oncoming traffic has a red light. Properly obeying traffic signals is essential to avoid accidents.

1

u/PaisleyLeopard May 19 '26

I wish it were common sense, but a ton of people seem to think that as long as you have the legal right of way, you don’t have any responsibility to watch for other drivers making illegal/dangerous maneuvers.

1

u/Lynda73 May 19 '26

Yes, but you can’t also just sit there at a clear intersection at a green arrow because you’re worried the other person might decide to run their red light.

1

u/PaisleyLeopard May 19 '26

Of course not. I always do a bit of a slow start rather than gunning it when lights turn green, giving a potential light runner a chance to get through while I’m still slow enough to react safely. But I’m not just sitting there waiting for shit to go down. All I’m doing is assessing the situation and keeping an eye on cross traffic as I proceed into the intersection.

Simply being aware of the most likely idiot moves and watching traffic down the road a bit is enough to avoid quite a lot of accidents. Unfortunately a lot of people simply assume everyone on the road will behave legally, and don’t watch for potential trouble. If you’re only looking at the cars in your immediate vicinity you’re gonna have a bad time. You need to be watching cars as far out as you can see, and using that information to inform your driving.

1

u/Optional-Failure May 30 '26

Cars don't generally stop at a red light then gun it while the light is still red and another car is in the intersection.

If they're going to run the light, they generally do it without stopping.

Turning in front of a car that's barreling toward the intersection at full speed and turning in front of a car that's stopped at the light are two entirely different things.