alt Hacker News>signal lights tell me whether or not I can pass
No they don't, they tell you and other vehicles to stop. You would fail your driving test if you depend only on the traffic lights and don't bother to verify it is safe to pass yourself.
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dmoy • today at 3:00 PM
I mean, it depends on where you take your driving test. In a lot of places in the US (especially in some rural areas), you may still pass. In some cases you might not even drive near a stoplight during the test.
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The main function of a traffic signal is the green phase, not the red phase. A traffic signal increases throughput by allowing drivers to ignore crossing traffic.
(If safety/the red phase was the purpose, the intersection would use a roundabout instead.)