They've been in Tualatin for a couple years. They are great.

I first saw them years ago in Grand Rapids Michigan and wondered why they weren't more common and in Oregon.

They're great as long as people know what they mean, and don't mean.

This seems pretty intuitive. The first time I ever saw one of these (several years ago at Harmony and Lake in Milwaukie) I realized instantly that it meant a left turn was permissible if the way was clear. I don't know why it took traffic officials so long to recognize the logic of this signal for intersections that only need a protected left turn for a few hours a day.

Maybe Oregon could include a Wonderlic test as part of the drivers exam.

Pretty soon we will not have the choice of reading about anything but instead will have to sit through inane and simple-minded videos delivering information at a pace a five year old can absorb.

...but instead will have to sit through inane and simple-minded videos delivering information at a pace a five year old can absorb.

Of course many drivers appear to have the attention span and intelligence of five-year olds....

Hmmm, the traffic planners' contribution to Zero Population Growth? Perhaps it will work in Oregon. In California or New Jersey I am certain it would lead to more t-boning. The one thing I remember from driving class (except for the gruesome Ohio State Highway Patrol guts and gore films) is that right-of-way is something which is given to you and not something you take. Many folks behind the wheel reverse this thought. A flashing yellow? Oy!!!

These were actually included as approved traffic control devices for Oregon years ago. I have no idea why they haven't been rolled out much quicker, as they really improve intersections with lots of left turn traffic.

A friend recently suffered a horrendous accident that has put her in a bad way for months after being t-boned while making a left, not far from where I witnessed a terrible collision involving a left-turn and an inattentive driver (or two).

I recall reading that, because he had access to the driving fatality statistics, J. Edgar Hoover would not permit his drivers to make any lefts across oncoming traffic.

And yet I really like lights like this -- I hate sitting, waiting to make a left, when there's no reason not to proceed.

I wish Oregon would just go ahead and mandate "Lights On" laws before these spread. Lights On means not the stupid parking lights but your real headlights -- on at all times when the vehicle is moving. Studies say that these are some of the most effective measures for reducing accidents, particularly the ones where the through driver doesn't see the one making the left.

Now if PDOT and ODOT would only let us make right hand turns where they have placed signals denying the turn.

SW Terwilliger and SW Barbur has these "no right turn" signals that are ridiculous. They hold up traffic at this major intersection for four to six signal cycles. Then at the 95% of times when traffic is lighter you still can't turn. There are many intersections like this throughout Portland.

Besides the drivers who don't know you can turn right, you have government impedance. Let's move traffic-less pollution. Oh, I forgot-Sam wants to impede traffic for the betterment of mass transit.

George is right -- I've never understood why anyone drives with their headlights off (esp. in the cloudy NW), or why the law doesn't mandate their continual use. Who would oppose this, and why? You may think headlights don't much matter on a sunny day, but even then they enable you to be seen at least a fraction of a second sooner by oncoming traffic. Over years of driving this adds up to a tremendous margin of safety.

Over years of driving this adds up to a tremendous margin of safety.

Over years of driving this adds up to a tremendous amount of wasted fuel and increased pollution - for questionable results.

Trying to legislate smarts to stupid people may make some folks feel good but won't work - and definitely won't make Al happy.

In British Columbia they have flashing green arrows as well as flashing yellow ones.
I have never really figured them all out.
Anyway best to error on the side of caution ALL the time.

When I took driver ed many years ago, I was taught that flashing yellow meant you had the right of way and "proceed with caution".

The flashing yellow arrow in Oregon is thus not intuitive and quite dangerous. Most other places I've been in the states, the same thing is accomplished with a green arrow coupled with a circular green, and sometimes a sign that says "left turn yield on circular green." Quite simple. There are some of these in Portland, too, so it's doubly confusing to have both.

Oregon has some of the most bizarre, confusing and dangerous traffic engineering of all states.

A driver facing a flashing circular yellow must proceed with caution, and does not necessarily have the right of way. ORS 811.260(9): "Flashing yellow signal. When a driver approaches a flashing yellow light used as a signal in a traffic control device or with a traffic sign, the driver may proceed through the intersection or past the signal only with caution."