Florida Traffic Signals

[RedAngie]

Are ree-dik-you-lus.

At times you can be a mile or more away and still proceed thru the green light.

But if you get stopped on red, you can compose and post a dozen DIS messages.

OK, that’s only a slight exaggeration.

The most frustrating intersection we’ve encountered so far is on Sheridan Street at US 1 in Hollywood. The green on Sheridan only let 5 or 6 car cross before turning yellow. But the left turn signal lasted forever even after all the cars turned. It took 3 cycles to make a straight, about 10 minutes.

And the forecast was for mostly sunny but there are off and on light showers at the beach.

On the bright side, there are several beachfront bars.

 

[kdonnel]

Could be worse.

https://amp.northjersey.com/amp/2133765001

Every day during the morning rush hour, a light on Clinton Road at Route 23 stays red for nearly 57 minutes each hour — or 2 minutes and 15 seconds each time the amber gives way to red.

 

[NotUrsula]

Remember that a lot of the stoplights in Florida are set up with weight sensors. If you are first in line and waiting forever, check where you are; the light may not know you are there. Most intersections that have sensors have them in place just behind the thick white stop line; if you are over it, the light won't change for you.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Welcome to South Florida. Have you experienced someone shooting all the way across the interstate & cutting right in front of you to get on the expressway or take an exit? How about the people that drive in the right lane to pass those waiting to turn left, then cut in front of them, when the light turns green? If not, give it time. It'll happen.

PS: DH said not to worry about the horn blowing. They're just being friendly.

 

[fla4fun]

I hear you on the traffic lights. Not all intersections are that bad, but I used to have one on my commute (Conroy Road and Vineland Road, near Mall at Millenia) that maybe three cars could get through on the left turn arrow, and then it seemed like each direction had its own separate turn to go. I timed the light once when I just missed the green and it was five minutes. I hate that intersection.

I agree on the people cutting others off in wild ways. I was watching the traffic report on the news this morning. There was an accident on the Beachline that closed the right hand lane, so that traffic had to merge left. Of course, being rush hour, that caused traffic to come to a snail’s pace. A semi was merging left from the closed lane, but decided to go diagonally through all three lanes of barely moving traffic to get in the far left lane. There weren’t any breaks in the traffic, so it just sat across the lanes waiting to go over one more. I imagine there was some very colorful language going on from the other drivers.

After several decades of living here, I have found the only way to survive on the roads is to expect everyone to do the opposite of what common sense would dictate. Most of the time, that works.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Welcome to South Florida. Have you experienced someone shooting all the way across the interstate & cutting right in front of you to get on the expressway or take an exit? How about the people that drive in the right lane to pass those waiting to turn left, then cut in front of them, when the light turns green? If not, give it time. It'll happen.

PS: DH said not to worry about the horn blowing. They're just being friendly.

Turn signal. An ingenious device to let Florida drivers to speed up and cut you off before you change lanes.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Turn signal. An ingenious device to let Florida drivers to speed up and cut you off before you change lanes.

Yep! Driving here is always an adventure.

 

[Redart59]

The oddest light we encountered last time we were in Florida about a month ago was a flashing red arrow in the left lane.
we don’t have those here and were very confused on what to do.
we stopped at it and the driver behind us wasn’t to thrilled with us.
I looked it up after we arrived at our destination and apparently you stop at it like a stop sign but can turn left if safe.

 

[princesscinderella]

You are in my neck of the woods I know that intersection well and it’s on a horrible timer. Have fun in mostly sunny south Florida we got a nice soaking today.

 

[MillauFr]

Remember that a lot of the stoplights in Florida are set up with weight sensors. If you are first in line and waiting forever, check where you are; the light may not know you are there. Most intersections that have sensors have them in place just behind the thick white stop line; if you are over it, the light won't change for you.

The traffic detection loops are not pressure sensitive. A small amount of electrical current is sent through a wire that is a circular loop. It creates a magnetic field that is interrupted when a metal object is above it.

Induction loop - Wikipedia

 

[kdonnel]

The oddest light we encountered last time we were in Florida about a month ago was a flashing red arrow in the left lane.
we don’t have those here and were very confused on what to do.
we stopped at it and the driver behind us wasn’t to thrilled with us.
I looked it up after we arrived at our destination and apparently you stop at it like a stop sign but can turn left if safe.

They flash yellow in Georgia. When they started adding them to intersections it seemed so wrong to make a left on red.

 

[Skippy918]

Welcome to South Florida. Have you experienced someone shooting all the way across the interstate & cutting right in front of you to get on the expressway or take an exit? How about the people that drive in the right lane to pass those waiting to turn left, then cut in front of them, when the light turns green? If not, give it time. It'll happen.

PS: DH said not to worry about the horn blowing. They're just being friendly.

Are the horn honkers from NYC? So many people in NY honk their horns especially as soon as the light turns green.

 

[Skippy918]

They flash yellow in Georgia. When they started adding them to intersections it seemed so wrong to make a left on red.

We have yellow flashing arrows too.

There is a traffic signal here that has red arrows for turning right (you can only go right here) and people were so confused if they could turn right on red. It led to them adding a no turn on red sign which lights up at certain times of the day.

 

[kdonnel]

We have yellow flashing arrows too.

There is a traffic signal here that has red arrows for turning right (you can only go right here) and people were so confused if they could turn right on red. It led to them adding a no turn on red sign which lights up at certain times of the day.

I guess I misunderstood.

So two right turn lanes, but you were in the left of the two lanes?

We have those as well. You remain stopped if solid red but must yield to pedestrians and traffic if flashing red. When flashing red it is treated as though a stop sign.

 

[Redart59]

They flash yellow in Georgia. When they started adding them to intersections it seemed so wrong to make a left on red.

We have flashing yellow here too. For us it is an indicator that it will be turning red soon so speed up.
We know for next time that we can turn left if it looks safe to do so.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Are the horn honkers from NYC? So many people in NY honk their horns especially as soon as the light turns green.

I'm sure some of them are. NYC is the only place I've experienced a lot of people blowing horns also, until I moved here. They can't all be New Yorkers though. The area I live in is quite a melting pot of residents made up of people from all over the world, plus a lot of tourists.

It appears horn blowing is contagious. It can be amusing at times. We especially love the horn wars. Someone will blow their horn. Others are obviously sick of it & blow back to make a point. Soon you have the original car blowing their horn & two or three blowing back at them. Everyone is just sitting there blowing their horns at each other & refusing to move for the original horn blower. It took some getting used to, but we finally decided to sit back & enjoy the show. I suppose that's easier to do, when you're not participating in it.

 

[RedAngie]

We encountered the flashing yellows too, perhaps in Georgia when we got off the highway for gas. Neither DH nor I knew what it meant and were thankful that we weren’t in that lane.

 

[Babs Johnson]

We're driving to Florida this weekend and are NOT looking forward to the awful traffic lights. Plus it's prime spring break season.

On a week's vacation in Florida you can easily waste an accumulative hour or more waiting at unnecessarily long red lights. That's allowing for the 10 minutes you might benefit from at long green lights.

At certain signals, such as entrances to neighborhoods, the green for those side roads lasts ridiculously long, even when there are only a few cars waiting, even late at night. It's frustrating.