The flashing green color of the traffic light creates big problems in traffic for drivers. Many of them do not know its duties and end up honking aggressively without knowing the risks of doing so.
Flashing green rule Photo AV
The green light of the right flashing traffic light allows access to the intersection, but does not give any kind of priority. If you want to turn right and you have a flashing green light, you must give priority to pedestrians, who are crossing, and to all cars, regardless of where they are driving.
Viorel Teacă, a former policeman from Sibiu, with over three decades of experience in the system, explained the flashing green dilemma on social networks. “You don't have priority, but they let you through“, says Viorel Teacă, on Facebook.
Many people do not know the meaning of the flashing green, and from this many unpleasant moments arise in traffic.
“This green causes a lot of headaches, headaches for the uninitiated. Many, you know, do not know what the priorities are, the attributions of this green. It's like a red light, which allows you to go through the intersection, provided you don't affect anyone, give priority to everyone, and pedestrians engaged in crossing, but also all vehicles. It is created with the goal of not congesting an intersection“, says the former policeman.
But what do we do when we want to go forward from the first lane and the traffic light shows flashing green to the right? You are safe on the road because the law, in this situation, does not oblige you to give priority to the person who wants to turn right.
“I happen to see drivers who stop at a flashing green light, even though they are signaling that they will turn in the direction indicated by the flashing green light. It also happens that someone in the queue, who wants to turn right, aggressively honks at those in front of him, because they are standing at a red light, wanting to go forward or to the left, the road has only one lane. Finally, he nervously cuts the solid line, goes into the opposite direction and turns right cursing profusely. There are also situations where on lane 1 we have markings ahead and to the right, and those on lane 1 receive horns from those behind, that they have flashing green and want to turn right – this in the condition that there is no signposting of the obligation to preselection “one person comments on Viorel Teacă's post.
Unreasonable or excessive honking can result in hefty fines
Thus, those entering the first lane at an intersection where there is also a flashing green light are not obliged to turn right.
Those who honk to clear their lane and allow them to turn right are liable to a fine because, according to the Highway Code, the horn can only be used to avoid imminent danger.
Drivers may not use the signal at a distance of less than 25 meters from those to whom the audible warning is addressed.
The police can penalize those who abuse the horn with a class two fine, with 4 or 5 fine points, equivalent to 680 or 825 lei.
