You are approaching an intersection when the traffic light changes from green to solid yellow. You should:
- Consider it the same as a caution sign and continue through the intersection.
- Stop immediately.
- Stop before entering the intersection, unless you are too close to stop safely. ✓
- Speed up to get through the intersection before the red light appears.
Answer: C. Stop before entering the intersection, unless you are too close to stop safely.
Stop before entering the intersection, unless you are too close to stop safely.
Why this is the answer
The Florida handbook describes a steady yellow light as a warning that the signal is changing to red. It tells you to stop if you can safely do so, and it says it is extremely dangerous to be in an intersection when the light turns red. The green-light section adds that you should approach at a speed that lets you slow down if the light changes. That is why the right response is to stop before entering when you have room to stop safely, not to treat yellow as a go signal.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. Consider it the same as a caution sign and continue through the intersection. — Treating yellow like a caution sign and continuing ignores the handbook's warning that the light is changing to red and its instruction to stop if you can safely do so.
- B. Stop immediately. — Stopping immediately is not what the handbook says; it says to stop if you can safely do so, so the safe-stop condition still matters.
- D. Speed up to get through the intersection before the red light appears. — Speeding up to beat the red light is the opposite of the handbook's guidance to stop if you can safely do so and to approach at a speed that lets you slow down if the signal changes.
Remember it
Yellow means stop if you can, not speed up and not slam the brakes.