Traffic signals
Flashing green light
What it means
In B.C. a flashing green light marks a pedestrian-controlled intersection: a pedestrian can press a button to change it to yellow and then red. Go only if the intersection is clear, and watch for pedestrians and for side-street traffic facing a stop sign.
Traffic lights, lane-control and pedestrian signals.
Summarised from ICBC’s Learn to Drive Smart. Read the original: Signs signals and road markings ↗
How to recognise it
The bottom light of the signal flashing green, with no arrow.
Where you will see it
At pedestrian-controlled intersections, where the road with the flashing green meets a side street controlled by stop signs.
What to do when you see it
- 1.Go only if the intersection is clear.
- 2.Watch for pedestrians: they can press a button that changes the light to yellow and then red. Someone waiting at the crosswalk has probably pressed it, so slow down and be prepared to stop.
- 3.Watch the side street: its traffic faces a stop sign and may move out when it thinks the way is clear.
On the knowledge test
This is the B.C. trap. A flashing green here means a pedestrian-controlled intersection, not an advance left turn as it may in other provinces. In B.C. the protected left is shown by a green arrow.
Do not confuse it with
- Flashing green arrow with steady greenThe flashing green arrow is the advance left turn; the round flashing green is a pedestrian-controlled light.
- Pedestrian-activated crosswalkThat sign marks a crosswalk with a flashing light pedestrians start with a button; it is a sign with a beacon, not a traffic light that turns red.
- Steady green lightA steady green is an ordinary green: go if the intersection is clear, yielding to oncoming traffic when you turn left.