Flashing Signals/
Pedestrian Crossings
August 18, 2009
What do Flashing Signals (Flashing Red Lights) mean? The Pima County Sheriff’s Department would like to take a moment to clarify some misnomers regarding pedestrian Flashing Signals. Whether you call them Flashing Signals, Crossing Signals, Flashing Red Lights, or Pedestrian Crossings, when motorists come upon a flashing red light, it means STOP.
Pedestrian crossing lights are commonly activated after a pedestrian presses an activating button so that she/he may cross the roadway safely. Initially, the Flashing Signal displays a steady red light which means stop. The signal eventually begins flashing red, which is where the confusion comes in. Unfortunately, unless motorists understand what the flashing signals mean, it does not always end safely for pedestrians or for motorists.
In virtually all jurisdictions in which Flashing Signals are used, it is an offense for motorists to disregard the instructions of traffic lights (or other traffic control devices). A flashing red light ANYWHERE literally means you must come to a full and complete stop and proceed only when the way is clear. A flashing red signal acts in the same way as a stop sign.
Running a red light is no joke. Many people are killed or badly injured each year because someone failed to yield the right of way, or simply did not understand how to react.