Yellow lights and new drivers. The student is driving along nicely, easy, moving right along., Then the yellow light pops! Now what? brake, then gas, then brake……oh man. This went bad really quickly. Some ideas- Let us approach the light Not at the speed of a seasoned driver. All drivers should be easing off the accelerator when approaching the traffic light. It is more likely that a brake will be needed than an accelerator. New drivers need to be approaching even more cautiously! Their perception reaction time could easily be a quarter to half second slower than a seasoned driver. This makes a difference. As the driver is approaching the light, be pre-planning if you are going to stop on a yellow or continue on. This occurs as the driver is approaching the light. The closer the car gets, the closer the driver gets to the “continue” on point. We are trying to make the grey, indecisive area as small as possible. The process is much more difficult when moving fast. Let the new driver adjust and learn timing with many hours of supervised driving. Any thoughts of “making or beating” the light should be avoided.
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