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[fwydriver405]

A while ago, I was looking for something in Maine law regarding green arrows when I came across this section:

D. Red and yellow illuminated together, means the operator may not enter the intersection, as the intersection is reserved for the exclusive use of pedestrians.   [PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. B, §5 (AFF).]

For those who don't know what this part of Maine law is describing, the red+yellow phase was an older way of denoting an exclusive pedestrian phase, before pedestrian signals came to be ubiquitous. This phasing can be found on some older traffic signals/controllers in Massachusetts, like these ones in Brockton, Malden and Wakefield. From what I'm told, this intersection in Arlington used to have the red+yellow phase when it was initially installed (1970s or older?), until dedicated pedestrian signals were added a while ago. This red+yellow (or amber) phase should not be confused with a completely different sequence used in some European countries, denoting the signal is about to change to green.

My question is, given this part of Maine law, was this red/yellow exclusive pedestrian phasing ever used outside of Massachusetts? I'm especially curious about if Maine (or other New England states) ever used this phasing ever since that red+yellow phase is specifically written into Maine law...

[jakeroot]

Never heard of this kind of phasing before. How very strange. No such law in WA for sure.

It makes sense before pedestrian signals came into being (whenever that was), as going by the vehicle signals was a bit of a gamble depending on when you decided to cross vs. when the signal phase ended.

[mrsman]

If I saw that, I would assume the signals were broken.  Especially cause all signals are displaying the same indication.

The red-yellow sequence in Europe, meaning an upcoming green signal, is much shorter, so I would think it were a normal signal phase.  Especially, as it would seem to match cross street yellow.

[doogie1303]

I always thought this was strictly a Massachusetts thing, especially just around the Boston area. Interesting that Maine traffic law allow for it also.

[jamess]

I always thought this was strictly a Massachusetts thing, especially just around the Boston area. Interesting that Maine traffic law allow for it also.

Maine was part of MA!

[Mr Kite]

I think that was long before traffic lights were a thing.

[SidS1045]

Maine was part of MA!

Doubtful that's relevant to motor vehicle law, since Maine became a state independent of Massachusetts in 1820.

[BuildTheRussian]

Here in Russia, many traffic lights (all of them in my city) have a red+yellow phase for about 1 to 3 seconds before the traffic light turns green, similar to the UK. The meaning is different here, it has no relation to pedestrians whatsoever. It's just there to tell the drivers to get ready to go.
It's also not required unless the traffic light is coordinated. Most traffic light intersections in Moscow, Perm, and Yekaterinburg go red straight to green. In these cases it's a bit redundant since most traffic lights there have countdown timers.
Personally, I prefer the red+yellow phase, especially if there's no countdown timer, because if a traffic light a second ago was red, and a second later is green, I don't spot it as fast I would've otherwise.

In the Soviet Union, traffic lights used to change from red, to lone yellow. The meaning was the same. Nowadays it's rare, but I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a set of LED traffic lights go from red, to yellow!
Sadly I've got no video to prove it. This is the intersection where that happens. https://www.google.ru/maps/@56.3137901,90.5272553,3a,24.3y,165.21h,87.24t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sfevPOUBAMBlHMhnJgc358g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656