Blinking Green Ball

My (non-roadgeek, but roadgeek-aware) girlfriend is in Canada on
business. While driving there she encountered several intersections
where the traffic light sequence was:

Solid Red Ball
Blinking Green Ball
Solid Green Ball
Solid Yellow Ball
etc.

She was perplexed as to what Blinking Green Ball meant.

What she eventually found the meaning to be is: You have a leading
green and oncoming traffic doesn't yet have their green, so go ahead
and make a left turn, just like we would with a solid green left-
arrow.

Is Blinking Green Ball used anywhere in the U.S. for this purpose or
any other purpose?

wrote:

>
> She was perplexed as to what Blinking Green Ball meant.

If someone has a blinking green ball I would suggest they go see a
doctor ASAP!;-P

(I figured somebody would do the joke. It might as well be me.)

Take care,
Rich

God bless the USA

--
And if I claim to be a wise man
it surely means that I don't know.

--Kansas

On Aug 15, 8:47?am, wrote:
> My (non-roadgeek, but roadgeek-aware) girlfriend is in Canada on
> business. While driving there she encountered several intersections
> where the traffic light sequence was:
>
> Solid Red Ball
> Blinking Green Ball
> Solid Green Ball
> Solid Yellow Ball
> etc.
>
> She was perplexed as to what Blinking Green Ball meant.
>
> What she eventually found the meaning to be is: You have a leading
> green and oncoming traffic doesn't yet have their green, so go ahead
> and make a left turn, just like we would with a solid green left-
> arrow.
>
> Is Blinking Green Ball used anywhere in the U.S. for this purpose or
> any other purpose?

I think the sequence is actually solid red, solid green, blinking
green, yellow and then back to solid red.

>From what I recall, the blinking green is to indicate that the light
will soon turn yellow.

Ask your girlfriend if this is the sequence she saw.


-Brent

On Aug 15, 2:10 pm, Brent Jonas > wrote:
> Ask your girlfriend if this is the sequence she saw.

As an Ontarian, I can confirm that this is the correct sequence. We're
now getting away from the blinking green to represent an advanced
green, but there are still a few intersections that have it.

Never seen a blinking green around yet, but something else interesting over
the weekend in Mass. --- red traffic lights with strobes. It's a red light
with a strong strobe line in the middle and those things really DO get your
attention! The signals were on a two-lane highway-like road, so it was
obviously meant to be seen by far-approaching traffic. At first, I thought
it was one of those flashers that signal emergency vehicles are changing the
lights and coming through, but upon closer inspection, they were definitely
strobes splitting the red lights. Pretty cool, I thought.

John B.

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> My (non-roadgeek, but roadgeek-aware) girlfriend is in Canada on
> business. While driving there she encountered several intersections
> where the traffic light sequence was:
>
> Solid Red Ball
> Blinking Green Ball
> Solid Green Ball
> Solid Yellow Ball
> etc.
>
> She was perplexed as to what Blinking Green Ball meant.
>
> What she eventually found the meaning to be is: You have a leading
> green and oncoming traffic doesn't yet have their green, so go ahead
> and make a left turn, just like we would with a solid green left-
> arrow.
>
> Is Blinking Green Ball used anywhere in the U.S. for this purpose or
> any other purpose?
>

wrote:

> My (non-roadgeek, but roadgeek-aware) girlfriend is in Canada on
> business. While driving there she encountered several intersections
> where the traffic light sequence was:
>
> Solid Red Ball
> Blinking Green Ball
> Solid Green Ball
> Solid Yellow Ball
> etc.
>
> She was perplexed as to what Blinking Green Ball meant.
>
> What she eventually found the meaning to be is: You have a leading
> green and oncoming traffic doesn't yet have their green, so go ahead
> and make a left turn, just like we would with a solid green left-
> arrow.
>
> Is Blinking Green Ball used anywhere in the U.S. for this purpose or
> any other purpose?

Yes, as mentioned elsewhere in this thread, but I'll transcribe FAQ
Question 11.1 for you here

"11.1

Q: What does a blinking green light mean?

A:

California
Only used on newer ramp meters (see 11.11) , means that the meter is
inactive. (See also below)

Delaware
Means that the crossroad has a flashing red, but that the signal goes
into normal operation if a car triggers a sensor on the crossroad by
waiting a given amount of time. Flashing green/red resumes soon after.
(These have likely been removed from the state.)

Massachusetts/New Hampshire/Rhode Island/British Columbia
Same as DE's, but only found at crosswalks, and triggered by a button
pushed by pedestrians. May be located at a side road or crossroad with
a stop sign so the cross traffic can take advantage of the red time on
the main road.
In MA, NH, and places in CA, this is also found at fire stations.

Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario/Quebec/New Brunswick/Nova Scotia
Means that traffic has the right-of-way over oncoming traffic (in
other words, oncoming traffic has a red light). Depending on the
province, either a green ball or green arrow or both flash, often at a
more rapid speed than a light in a flashing beacon signal. Essentially
the same as a green ball/arrow combination elsewhere.
http://www.davesrailpix.com/ttc/htm/ttc341.htm (includes accompanying
sign found in ON until the mid-1980s)

Mexico/Austria
Means the yellow light will soon follow; happens at the end of a green
phase.

See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unusual...traffic_lights .

Mar 8, 2007"

http://www.roadfan.com/mtrfaq.html#110

__________________________________________________ ___________________
Marc Fannin|musxf579 @hotmail.com|http://www.roadfan.com/

"John B." > wrote in message
...
> Never seen a blinking green around yet, but something else interesting
> over
> the weekend in Mass. --- red traffic lights with strobes. It's a red
> light
> with a strong strobe line in the middle and those things really DO get
> your
> attention! The signals were on a two-lane highway-like road, so it was
> obviously meant to be seen by far-approaching traffic. At first, I
> thought
> it was one of those flashers that signal emergency vehicles are changing
> the
> lights and coming through, but upon closer inspection, they were
> definitely
> strobes splitting the red lights. Pretty cool, I thought.

I see those on high-speed roads often. As the MTR FAQ states:

Strobes are installed within a red signal lens at intersections at which a
signal is not expected, such as after a long stretch of a high-speed highway
with no signals. The strobe light is there to call attention to the red
light. In some instances a stand-alone red signal with a strobe is used. The
strobes are either linear across the red lens or circular around its edge.
The frequency of the strobe light is much less than that which is required
to trigger a response in people with epilepsy, so it is not a danger to
them.
States where these are or have been found include AL, AZ, IL, IN, FL, MD,
MA, MI, MN, MS, NJ, NY (especially on NY 17), NC, OH, PA, TN, TX, and VA.
Various states have used strobes in flashing yellow and/or red signals (NC,
RI, VT, WV), with WV applying them to both the stand-alone beacon and the
yellow warning sign supplement

On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 15:02:30 -0400, "John B." >
wrote:

>Never seen a blinking green around yet, but something else interesting over
>the weekend in Mass. --- red traffic lights with strobes. It's a red light
>with a strong strobe line in the middle and those things really DO get your
>attention! The signals were on a two-lane highway-like road, so it was
>obviously meant to be seen by far-approaching traffic. At first, I thought
>it was one of those flashers that signal emergency vehicles are changing the
>lights and coming through, but upon closer inspection, they were definitely
>strobes splitting the red lights. Pretty cool, I thought.

Broadway (Rte. 138) and East Broadway in Taunton, Mass. at the
Cumberland Farms store - light blinks green facing Broadway, and
blinks red facing East Broadway. I think it's activated only by
pedestrians, when it goes all red.

John B. wrote:
>Never seen a blinking green around yet, but something else interesting over
>the weekend in Mass. --- red traffic lights with strobes. It's a red light
>with a strong strobe line in the middle and those things really DO get your
>attention! The signals were on a two-lane highway-like road, so it was
>obviously meant to be seen by far-approaching traffic. At first, I thought
>it was one of those flashers that signal emergency vehicles are changing the
>lights and coming through, but upon closer inspection, they were definitely
>strobes splitting the red lights. Pretty cool, I thought.

They've recently started this in rural areas in South Carolina at
intersections that have higher than normal accident/fatality rates.


--

We're all here
because we're not all there.

On Aug 15, 7:19 pm, "Murderous Speeding Drunken Distracted Driver
(Hector Goldstein)" > wrote:

> They've recently started this in rural areas in South Carolina at
> intersections that have higher than normal accident/fatality rates.

I've also seen one of these at an offramp from I-90 in New York. I
can't recall exactly which exit, but it's the one where you get off
the highway if you're going to Cooperstown.

--JL