Don't Stop at These Red Traffic Lights 

Should be noted that with wigwags, if they are flashing, no vehicle is permitted to pass them, even emergency vehicles on a blue light run. That’s why they are used instead of normal traffic lights at such locations.

Thanks Richard,passed my driving test today with 4 minors ,First attempt.Watched lot of your videos and it really went a long way to hep me

Thanks for all you do ….. I’m from Chicago and visited the UK requiring a car hire, …. After watching your videos, I took like a duck to water, driving was easy …. The only thing is I thought I ran a red light ….. but it was only a secondary light ! So spot on! Thanks

Shout out to the almost invisible stop lines on a lot of the illustrated junctions.

Passed first time with 6 minors a few weeks ago- thanks to my instructor but undoubtedly also Richard's videos. A treasure trove of information and experience.

Spot on, i passed my test in 1980 and now living on a fairly busy road with traffic lights & yellow box it never ceases to amaze me how many drivers young and old stop on the secondary traffic light, i can only wish the local council together with police would somehow educate these drivers as it normaly causes chaos for all road users

Even tho I'm not from the UK I still find your videos useful.

I’m in my 60s and I’ve been driving since 18 and both my wife and I watch your videos because we STILL learn things! In the flying world you’d make a brilliant QFI. As we say “great patter”.

I remember turning right at lights and stopping at a secondary red for the crossing traffic when I was learning, I scared the crap out of my instructor. Never made that mistake again!

Passed my test first time a week ago after only 21 lessons at the grand old age of 40! Half of the help was from my fabulous instructor and the other half was from your amazing videos and advice Richard - so thank you! I am still back tuning in and learning to be a safer and more confident driver, but I'm out everyday for several hours on my own driving around town and new places honing my skills, again thanks to you ❤

I’ve had my licence for almost 20 years and I enjoy your videos ❤ always good to make sure that I’m driving correctly

thanks again Richard, I finally passed my driving test today on my second attempt with 2 minors! your videos about driving nerves really helped me stay calm and me and the examiner had a nice chat throughout the drive. thanks a lot for the work you do! :D

In France, there is usually only primary traffic lights (located near the stop line) while in the US, there is only a secondary (farside) light. Besides, the TSRGD (Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions) and TSM (Traffic Signs Manual) actually mandate at least two traffic lights for the UK.

Actually cleared me up on that cycles box. I always thought cars had no business being in there, ever. Now I know it's allowable if needed to make the stop. Thanks, guvnor!

We frequently see cars stopping at the secondary lights in Marple where I live. Twice over the past few years, I've seen police drivers stopping. One police driver even beckoned me to cross in front of him while the pedestrian light was at red! Cars behind him didn't dare hoot at him because he was in a police van :o

Learners and new drivers are so lucky to have this type of info - well done!!!!

I passed today aswell 5 minors, great help.

Just passed my exam in France. Thanks for the great content and wish you the best 💫

Great video as always Richard. I passed a few months ago after learning mostly from your videos and always come back to keep learning.

Passed first time today with only two minors. 🎉 Thank you for all the videos, Richard!

Been driving for 10 years and stopped at a secondary red for the first time yesterday on a right turn. No idea why, I was just unfamiliar with the road and had a ‘moment’. Thankfully it was just a moment before I realised what I’d done and cleared the junction. Funnily enough this was in my feed today - even with experience it’s always good to analyse your mistakes and refresh your knowledge.

Regarding temporary traffic lights. We have a lot around here, most put up and left up when work has lomg finished. Some of them only turn green when you drive right up to the light so youd have a long wait if you stopped at the temporary sign.

I've never heard of people stopping at secondary lights until now, definitely something to look out for, thanks :)

Just passed my driving test about an hour ago with 2 minors on my second attempt. Thanks for the videos Richard, they’ve really helped me since I’ve started driving

Taught my girlfriend how to drive using your videos as a guide, and as additional learning for her when my explanations didn’t quite cut it, she passed first time with 5 minors:) Examiner even said she had a great instructor! I’ve never taken any courses to be an instructor and she’s my first student, 100% pass rate thanks to you, thx a lot Richard. You’re a staple for people on the autistic spectrum.

YES! MY FAVIURITE TIME OF THE WEEK!

It was surprising how many people would attempt to do this on their driving test. Great explanation

We have the same in North Watford. A major junction with secondary lights but no box junction markings. You can get held up on the green because either the traffic crossing your path hasn't cleared the junction before the lights change or you are six/seven vehicles down the line. You cross on green knowing you have limited time left so you don't dawdle just to find that as you reach the secondary light the idiot in front has panic braked because the secondary has now gone amber/red trapping maybe four or five cars in the middle of a busy and potentially dangerous junction. Cue much tooting of horns, shouting of obscenities and interesting hand gestures.

Couldn’t sleep for few nights after I went through a red traffic light 😅 as a new driver, thanks to tell it’s okay cause it was a secondary traffic light 😂 Great appreciate for the videos which always help 🙏🏼🙏🏼

Very useful video, hopefully the drivers I regularly have in front of me at the traffic lights turning right towards my village will see it. When the lights turn green they sit behind the line as cars are coming from the opposite direction, the light changes back to red and they are still sitting there. Due to the amount of traffic on this road the only way to turn right is to move forward and when the secondary light turns red complete the right turn. I’m amazed they don’t know this

There's a junction/roundabout when you come off the A2 for Dartford with lots of secondary lights and three lanes I think it is. I was taught to go by the white stop line as confirmation of a primary light. I've got the hang of it now but took me some getting used to.

This was useful. There's a roundabout near me where a set of lights appears to be secondary lights because they face the entrance directly. But they are actually in control of traffic already on the roundabout coming from the right. They turn green about 10 seconds before the lights at the entrance to the roundabout change. However because of their position straight ahead, they cause cars to move off before the main lights, which you have to crane your neck to see, change.

i want to give you a huge thanks for clarify this situation with new drivers like me. It let me safely drive and have confidence on that. Great thanks to you!!

I love watching these videos, even though I've recently passed - you learn something new, and there's such a nice vibe. Thanks for the videos!

Emergency services vehicles may pass a steady red light provided it is safe to do so. There is absolute prohibition on any vehicle passing red wig- wags which is why they are found at railway level crossing and a few other places..

Our primary lights are on the other side of the intersection, and your primary lights are our nearby lights in the States. Also, we have side mounts lights on primary lights poles.

Just checked with my friends in Slovenia and we agree this is totally weird, confusing and unnecessary. Even though I learnt to drive in Ireland where traffic lights are like this, I still find it weird.

Always excited for Monday since I subscribed to you! Also, could you at some point make a video about reversing long distances, especially around corners, to, for example, let an oncoming car by on a narrow road? That would be very kind, since I struggle with that quite a bit.

I recently saw someone stop at a secondary light, at a small village cross road, it does amaze me somewhat how you can make such an error but then again everyone makes mistakes

Your videos are so helpful Richard, I stopped at a secondary light before that wasn't for me, you explain things so well 🙂

I've been driving for 5 years but I still learn things I didn't know before ❤️

Thanks! Very useful video, I wish I watched it when learning to drive. My driving instructor did not clear all these topics for me, so I had to figure something out myself. One more thing which still confuses me sometimes (I just got my license in November) is when there is a road split, and there is a traffic light for another lane, but it is still on my right. I see red, panic a little, start breaking, then understand that it is not for me.

I went to Colchester the other day. Had a run-in myself with some goofy traffic lights near some roadworks. Glad this video dropped when it did eventhough it's not exactly what I'm looking to see. Always nice to keep learning and not get lazy at things xD

Please be aware when turning right Just because your lights go Red it doesn’t mean it’s safe to complete the right turn or that the opposing light has gone to Red? Especially if they have an additional green arrow.. you must make sure oncoming traffic have come to a stop.. I do enjoy your videos.. many thanks

At 6:50 I sometimes see people not move on a green light when turning right, but instead waiting for the green filter. But when the secondary light goes red that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s red for the traffic coming towards you. No lights tell you what lights are on for oncoming traffic). It just means you can continue to turn right (so long as it’s safe for you) because you passed the light when it was green

Thank you so much Richard! I asked this a while ago, and this certainly helps, more people should see this as it is a daily struggle to get around blocked junctions. (PS: Rover SD1 sounds like a good podcast to be listening to)

Past my motorcycle test first time. No lessons needed back then. Over 200,000 miles later & I still have all my bits. Passed car test second time after one lesson to deal with fail points. But we did have one advantage. We drove tractors as soon as we could work the controls because the men needed to be freed up for the lifting.

We have all too many junctions with poorly placed lights (often on lights controlled traffic roundabouts). Others have a light ahead that you expect to be a secondary (duplicate light). But it’s actually a separate stop light. I got hit by one of these near Dorking. I was turning right at a complex cross-roads junction. A car approaching extremely fast from my left caught my attention. Too late, I sailed straight through a red light. Thankfully no harm done. I was seen by a police officer and fined accordingly. Nutter flying down and only just stopping got away with it.

Some countries (France, Germany) do not allow these secondary lights, other countries mandate them. The reason for not allowing them is to prevent motorists from starting up too early. German vacationers in Denmark often get confused by these secondary lights and stop at them, e.g. when making a left turn and see a red light when going out of the intersection.

I like the way your signals in the UK work red light then Red-Amber, then green. In Australia, our signal sequence is simply green, then amber as a warning turning to red, then the cycle continues, and we wait for the green again, with no "red-amber" before it turns green.

I had someone do this right in front of me at a T-junction with a pedestrian crossing. He went through the primaries as they were changing then stopped at the secondary right next to the pedestrian crossing. It was so unexpected that I nearly hit him. Within a few seconds he was holding up three lines of traffic; the one behind me, the one joining from the right and the one coming the other way that was now blocked by the joining queue. A few of us honked to try to make the penny drop but aside from a few rude hand gestures in various directions there wasn't a jot of recognition that anything was amiss. Even the pedestrians at the crossing were waving him through, presumably too frightened to cross with their green signal in case he suddenly changed his mind, but to no avail. Eventually the lights changed again and we all moved on. I'll never know if he ever had a sudden retrospective epiphany during the remainder of his journey, or if he still tells stories about the strange day when everyone on the road was a wazzock except him.

Video should e made mandatory for all learners. However I have been licensed for more that 40. Years still excellent for me in Australia.

I have been caught out with a traffic light controlled pedestrian crossing very close to the entrance to a large roundabout. I thought the green lights were for controlling the roundabout mainly due to be distracted by a conversation with a passenger and thought I had right of way onto the roundabout. I realised my mistake too late but thankfully there was nothing on the roundabout I had to give way too. Shock me up quite a bit thinking about what could have happened. Certainly a lesson I learned that day.

I think the problem too is, in some countries see a red traffic light mean stop no keep going. due they only have one primary an unique traffic light, so of course people who drove in those country are all confused, I blame the instructors, someone's are so good like you in this video, but I know from 1st hands someone's very out of the standards to be instructors. I blame the DVLA of it. now if a UK driver do what usually does in the UK example in South America , trust me it will have a RTC , specially turning to the right in a traffic light.

It is simple to understand but for some people it might be confusing in specific situations while driving in busy traffic specially in unknown areas. I totally understand all those confusions because in Europe we don't have one proper traffic lights setting model and basically everything is all over the place. It would be so much easier to follow US standards placing one set traffic lights after junctions each direction it would be simple and visible and everyone could follow the same pattern and most likely less mistakes would happen in my opinion.

Thanks Richard for sharing so many useful video clips. They are really helpful to new drivers in the UK like me. I can now drive into the big roundabout and go to more places. I wish I can manage to turn right at the busy crossroads on my own one day. 🤣

Good video. I would like to see how you would do a pair which are not primary and secondary traffic lights. I know a crossroads where the traffic lights are not primary and secondary, but two separate: Mile End station, London. The traffic lights on the other side can become red when you turn left, sometimes even when you drive across if it's really busy. You have to stop as pedestrians will be crossing because it's their green light.

There's a busy light-controlled junction near my office in London (A10/Great Eastern St/Commercial St) where westbound cars approaching from Commercial St and going straight ahead into Great Eastern St often correctly go through both the primary and secondary lights, but then incorrectly carry on though a pedestrian crossing that's so close to the junction that many drivers assume it's just another additional set of lights for the junction (despite the louvres and the white line) and just drive straight through on red. It's incredibly dangerous for pedestrians.

In my country, in France, there is no secondary light as such. If needed because the primary light is too close to where you should stop, you have a duplicate, smaller light lowere on the pole, at chest/stomach level. It is very useful, and no duplicate across the crossing which can lead to misunderstandings

(re @6:16) We have a particularly prevalent situation in Hong Kong (which uses the British signs and signals as its template) where drivers push into congested junctions in densely populated areas, and cars are unable to clear past the secondary signal the pedestrian signals at that same point activate, and then pedestrians cross just as the road ahead clears just enough for vehicles to be theoretically able to continue on and finally clear the junction.

In some places the stop line can be set back some distance from a junction so that stopped vehicles do not block the area swept by long vehicles, such as buses, turning into the road. In one place I know the stop line is 20m back from the crossing road and has the main traffic light next to it. Close to the junction there's a secondary light (where there's also a pedestrian crossing) and also one on the far side of the junction. It's not at all uncommon if traffic turning right is backed up for there to be vehicles waiting between the main light and the pedestrian crossing but they should move on even if the light turns red. On occasion when that happens someone will stop at the first secondary light. If that happens and there's a bus wanting to enter it can't and everything gets jammed up.

This has nearly caught me out on a couple of occasions when I've not been familiar with the area. The main fault of this system is that having to take your eyes off the lights to check for a line on the road is a fundamentally stupid concept, especially when those lines are constantly being worn away by vehicles running over them. A far more logical solution would be to either change the colour of the surrounding traffic light(the area that's black) or perhaps even better, change the colour and/or shape of the white line that surrounds the set of lights.

An example of a primary light after a right turn in Colchester is if you're traveling on the A134 from Great Horkseley, turning right onto Via Urbis Romanae. There's a primary light for the bus lane to cross back to the main carriageway. I see people jumping it when it does change because they don't see it as their light.

Some countries have a ‘secondary’ traffic light below the main light on the same pole. This is roughly at drivers eye level. Maybe a solution. Might be costly if the current set up is not causing serious problems. Very good video by the way.

Oops! I've been doing something wrong. 😳 Fortunately, I haven't endangered anybody. I've just been repeatedly, obliviously embarrassing myself for years, but that will never happen again! I think it's also a good idea to stop at the first line, not only to see the light, but also in case somebody with a long trailer turns right from the road to the left. Being further back will make it easier for them, I think.

Thank you for your videos, they helped me with my driving test (which I have passed!). That said, someone who has driven in post-soviet countries (which mostly still use USSR driving rules), I absolutely hate the fact that in the UK, the traffic lights don't blink/flash when green is about to change to amber and then red. This is so confusing me to, and very dangerous, because I drive around 18-19 in London and lets say I am about to cross traffic light and suddenly it goes yellow and then red very quickly. Why?! Just blink it before amber so I know I have no time to cross. Seems so obvious, and this is how it is in my country Armenia.

Nice watch; looking at other comments you should keep your upload days as Monday to make everyone Monday’s better😊 Well done Richard 😮

Great video by Sir Richard 😊

I'm only here to see how long it takes me to recognise a place in Colchester. Three minutes in: the junction of Magdalen and Old Heath. So pleased I'm not learning to drive. Colchester is a nightmare these days.

In Australia, I've never heard of the term "primary" and "secondary" with reference to traffic signals. The set of signals aon the opposite side of the intersection is simply part of the same set in the direction you're facing.

There’s a T-junction by Hope Hospital in Salford, going onto Eccles Old Road from Stott Lane. On multiple occasions I’ve seen people turn right from Stott Lane onto Eccles Old Road and stop at the red lights that are there for the people waiting on the left of the T. There is nothing that appears special about this junction, but people keep doing it. It’s unreal.

Please share this kind of information more and more!!

Worse than primary and secondary lights is in the US where the only lights may be either on the far side of the intersection or overhead in the middle hanging on a wire swaying in the wind. I have seen people there (presumably foreigners who were new to driving there) stop UNDER an overhead light gantry right smack in the middle of an intersection.

Have you filter out all the horn blowers, but you are correct.

It's a bit worrying if someone is teaching new drivers (in the UK) to stop at the secondary lights. So much so that you felt the need to do a video for it!

Very monty python. I was waiting for something to blow up! No seriously I’ll be sharing this with my nephew who is starting to drive..

Way I like to think about it, primary lights control access through junctions. Secondary lights give you information whilst in the junction, such as if the light's gone red.. It's probably time to get out of there 😆.

I did once get caught out and stopped at someone else's secondary when turning right. I can't remember where it was (many years ago) but it was actually very confusing to someone unfamiliar as there was a marked, but actually uncontrolled, pedestrian crossing just beyond that secondary, and it took me by surprise as I assumed it was a control for the crossing.

Amazing this needs highlighting, i thought this was obvious

6:46 a right turn I used to take a lot had our side go red before and heard that it caused an accident cause the oncoming traffic still had green. (IK you said usually but just good to be careful)

I swear I could just about navigate Colchester at this stage, despite having never been there. This is great advice. What would you suggest when you do have any uncertainty about whether a set of lights is for you or not? The pedestrian one is a good example, because some pedestrian crossings _do_ have a stop line. Or is it as simple as if there's a stop line, regardless of whether it's a junction, pedestrian crossing or so on, then you must stop if the light is red?

apart from on a driving test for a learner, then you only really find someone stopping at the secondary lights when new to the area, and at a staggered cross roads whereby there is probably close to 100 feet from turning left until the secondary lights, but like you say you should watch out for a 2nd white line to determine if the lights are for yourself, so had one person inexperienced or new to the area stop infront of me luckily wasn't harsh braking due to them going so slowly anyway, and the fact of me trying to build a gap between my vehicle and theirs, and the lack of speed pulling away when the lights turned green meant they weren't spacially aware of their surroundings. but since that happened around 10 years ago, then the Council decided to put a blind on the traffic lights to stop people from getting confused by the red light, which when you drive around my town you will find a traffic light at most 1200 feet from the previous light, and as little as on a round-about so 50 feet, so could easily be mistaken as a 2nd traffic light, but yes I watch out for a stop line as well. as for box junctions yes there is a time and a place for them, and for a section of road that only allows around 10 cars to enter the road between lights isn't one of them. like Bath on the A36 from Bathampton into Bath City centre on a Saturday afternoon. I sat there the one set of lights as couldn't clear the box junction, then my lights went red, the 2nd set of lights changed to green, all the vehicles went through then the 2nd set turned red, then all the stuff coming out of Bath city centre filled up that section of road, so the only way was to block the junction without being sat there until bed time. I know it is an old fashioned city, and city planners can't do much, but there should be a better form of congestion control rather than traffic lights and boxed junctions, or timings that allow so many cars from each direction to move, been appaulling for 4 decades that I know about.

"If the pedestrians do start crossing, of course, don't run them over" - that's a bummer :-|

I've found sometimes on busy roads, oncoming lights stay green as mine turn red. Make sure the traffic ahead is stopping!

Where I live in the North there's loads of "wig wags" due to the metro system. They usually also have an audible siren when the red lights start flashing

At 3:28: If a pedestrian is approaching the pedestrian crossing and notices the secondary traffic light is on red then they may start crossing the road without having noticed that the pedestrian light is on red too. Or under the new rules, may assume that they have the right to cross even if the pedestrian light is on red.

Sound like great advice,except in BRISTOL the road markings including white lines,crossing,give way,ect are eroded and can barely be seen,even the speed markings are not visible.Where does that leave drivers if the roads are not fit for purpose!

Many times I've come across people who stop at the secondary lights. Also drivers who think that being polite and stopping for pedestrians at a crossing when the right of way is with the traffic and not the crossing!

So many cyclists just don't know the rule of the cycle box. They assume that NO vehicles are allowed in it at all! Usually they arrive to the box after the fact.

If local councils maintained the roads and it's markings like they should it would make things easier.

If the secondary lights coincide with a pedestrian crossing then I think this can sometimes confuse people into thinking it's a separate set of lights, particularly if you are unfamiliar with the junction.

Excellent, informative video. Many thanks.

i never could have imagined that people stop there

Thank you very much I passed my test with only 1 minor 👍🏿👍🏿

In France we have small repeat lights lower down the post.

I remember being horrified as a little child when my parents drove right past another direction's secondary lights on red. Then my parents explained it to me

TBH, I would've stopped at the secondary light at that junction in Colchester due to it being a pedestrian crossing and road planners do like to put these right near junctions and roundabout exits, so would've assumed that was the case here, too.

Golden information thanks for your helpful video ❤❤

Didn’t know about stopping at second stop line in the cyclist box. Have ended up doing it but made me nervous that it was wrong.

All of these videos just make me wonder why we design such convoluted confusing roads. I drove through London last week and despite being an experienced driver found myself getting confused by the illogical, convoluted road system on more than one occasion.