Traffic signals

[girlygirl333]

I was wondering if anyone else has a lot of difficulties with any traffic signals that are not your straight-forward stop-slow-go. I find that if I'm driving down a road that has multiple lanes and of course multiple traffic signals, my brain gets jumbled as to which I should be watching. I've noticed that I have kind of subconsciously trained myself to wait back a second for other cars to start when the light turns green, because in the past I've seen green, started to go and realized it wasn't mine...luckily I didn't get very far before I realized it!

This all kind of hit me the other day, I was turning left to a freeway entrance..it was kind of a curve back to the left. As I'm turning there is the traffic signal for the other direction in front of me..red as can be. I had this mini-panic attack. I thought for a second that I was doing something wrong and realized that I wasn't. I realized this happens to me a LOT. It's as if my brain "freezes". I can't figure out what is going on and I usually just try to get through without being noticed. Then I'm weirded out the rest of the day because I don't understand what happened. Though, I think I am beginning to have a much better understanding thanks to this site ;^)

Does this happen to you guys?

[Lithium_joe]

Not for dyspraxia.

I'm colour-blind so the red and amber signal and identical and the green signal is...um...white.

I just learnt them by position not colour.

Now roundabouts different story took me a long time to learn to see the gaps and not the cars coming at me very fast...

[Shadwell]

I tend not to notice so much when driving, there again most of the time it is in areas I know, so I have learned who has priority before my light goes green, then watch for the green light.

don't worry though, it isn't just you that has this problem, a lot of "normal" women drivers do as well, especially when they are thinking on other things rather than driving. the number of women drivers that actually drive through a solid red light out ways the number of young boy racers.

like by the shopping village the one day, and heard another car skidding and sounding his horn, so taken the extra couple of seconds before pulling off for my green light, well it wasn't like I could go anywhere, apart from blocking the round-about a fair amount, but the car that had caused the skid decided to go towards the designer village (through my green light), until I sounded my horn, so I was basically warning anything kind of under-taking me that it isn't safe to go.

but she overshot the stop line, and that was because I started sounding my horn at the point she would have to do an emergancy stop. and didn't bother giving her a dirty look, as her boyfriend or whatever was giving her a right mouthful! but her mind wasn't on the road, it was more busy looking at the bloke in the car, and chatting to him.

even though I will agree the angle you hit the lights at by there are really hard to see what the lights are on when in the drivers seat. but also means that you need extra attention on the road. like she would have wiped out the backend of my fathers car, as she was looking left at the boyfriend, not right which is the direction of the lights, and where the backend of my fathers car would have been if I didn't wait the extra few seconds.

[The Lurker]

Female drivers are better / safer than male drivers - FACT

[sheppeyescapee]

Female drivers are better / safer than male drivers - FACT

I must agree, I have felt safest when my wife or MiL have been driving. Neither of them has ever had an accident.

[angeline]

I struggle making the change from pedestrian to vehicle driver and vise versa , how can red mean stop for a driver and go for a pedestrian ?or is this just me???? Female drivers are more considerate and are viewed as less of a risk by insurance companys so being female is a bonus , harder work ,but a bonus!

[Lithium_joe]

I thought red always meant stop, pedestrian or motorist