Red Light, Green Light Top 10

Stoplight was definitely a favorite game of mine growing up. So let's take a minute to look at the law governing stoplights in Ohio and do it in Top 10 fashion:

10. A green light indicates you have the right away when you are approaching an intersection. A red light indicates you do not have the right away to an intersection. A yellow light indicates you are about to lose the right away to that intersection.

9. A green light does not give you carte blanche to tear through the intersection. You are still under a duty to exercise ordinary care as you pass through the intersection. This means observing the traffic around you, paying attention to road conditions, observing all other traffic laws, etc.

8. Because the yellow light provides a warning, the loss of right of way occurs immediately when the light turns to red. There is no grace period.

7. Stopping at a green light may constitute negligence and the driver of a car stopped at a green light can be held liable for any resulting damages.

6. Pedestrians generally have the right of way if the green light is showing for the street parallel to the crosswalk in which the pedestrian is walking.

5. The first electric traffic light in the world was installed at the intersection of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio in 1914.

4. To make a proper right on red, a driver must come to a complete stop before the stop line and then cautiously enter into the intersection. Keep in mind people making a right on red do NOT have the right of way to the intersection and do so at their own risk.

3. In Ohio, it is legal to make a left on red onto a one-way street provided there is no posted signage against doing so.

2. It is the body of the car that is taken into account when determining whether a car has entered an intersection, not just the location of the driver.

1. If your car has entered an intersection before the light turns to red, you have the right of way until you leave the intersection. Even if the light changes while you are in the intersection, a car that enters an intersection with right of way will always leave with it as well.

In other words, if the light turns red after your car has crossed the stop line, you have the right to the intersection until your car leaves the crossroads.

Stoplights are governed by ORC 4511.13.