Not everyone wants to green-light bills hoping to change Florida crosswalk signals from yellow to red
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Two state lawmakers are pushing to have the yellow flashing lights at crosswalks changed to red. Multiple bills are now making their way through the legislature, but not everyone likes the idea.
If passed, either bill would essentially require crosswalks with flashing yellow lights to all be removed by 2025. One of the bill sponsors wants local governments to replace them by installing new state-of-the-art signals with red lights, but not everyone’s on board.
A push to change yellow to red is still waiting to get the green light.
"A flashing yellow -- which we've all been brought up to mean caution, safety -- does not mean stop and it never has," Republican State Senator Keith Perry said.
Wednesday, HB 1113 was sent to the House floor. If passed, it would require the Florida Department of Transportation to ask the federal government permission to replace yellow flashing lights at crosswalks with red ones, which the federal government currently does not allow.
If the feds don't grant permission, all crosswalks with flashing yellow lights would still have to be removed under the new law. SB 1412 would do the same.
Both bills would require all crosswalks with flashing yellow lights to be removed by 2025, but wouldn't require them to be replaced. Instead, bill sponsor Senator Perry is encouraging local governments to invest in new high-intensity activated crosswalk beacons also known as HAWKs. HAWKS may look similar to standard three-color traffic lights, but instead, have two red lights and one yellow light.
"We got to have consistency," Perry said. "You don't want to have one intersection that changes to red and its means you can stop. If you probably go a few blocks later it's going to be flashing yellow and someone's going to walk in front of you when it's flashing yellow. So you have one intersection that says one thing and another one that does the other."
Both bills are drawing criticism from some who argue local governments who can't afford HAWK signals would be better off with crosswalks with flashing yellow lights than none at all, but Senator Perry isn't convinced.
"They have the money. Believe me, they have the money. It's just where are they going to spend it and how important is pedestrian safety so that's going to be a decision that they are going to have to make," Perry said.
HB 1113 was approved by the Commerce Committee and sent to the house floor Wednesday. SB 1412 will need to be approved by a committee before it can be sent to the floor.
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