Li Kejie (Legal Daily): I praise the court's final verdict. The final verdict by the Jiaxing Intermediate Court offers a clear answer to the drivers: They are not allowed to run yellow lights or red lights. The verdict is a good example for courts in the rest of the country. To some extent, Jiaxing's verdict on China's first "running yellow light" case can serve as a good example in the judicial system and also in traffic safety education.

The court made a proper explanation of the traffic rules in China: When the yellow light is on, cars that have passed the stop line can keep going, drivers are partly restricted from passing, and the purpose of the restriction is to ensure traffic safety.

Legal

Li Shicheng (Yibin Evening News): The decision by the traffic department in Wuhan to fine yellow light runners as severely as red light runners is groundless. I think this decision has violated relevant traffic regulations and may cause hidden danger.

According to China's laws and regulations, we all know green lights mean "go" and red lights mean "stop," while yellow lights are a kind of warning. When the traffic light turns yellow, it delivers a message: Those who have already passed the stop line can continue to move. Thus, Wuhan's traffic regulations are going against the basic traffic law.

Since the yellow light is set up, this light must have its own function. If those who run a yellow light are punished as if they had run a red light, what is the necessity of setting up a yellow light? A yellow light is a transitional period between green lights and red lights, warning drivers of the change from green to red, and thus drivers should prepare for it, so as to avoid car crashes caused by a sudden stop. Thus, yellow lights play a very important role in controlling traffic flow. What Wuhan traffic authorities have done neglected the function of yellow lights. Therefore, to deem running yellow lights illegal is improper.

Ma Diming (Southern Metropolis Daily): Yellow lights are in no sense equal to red lights. The yellow light is to warn, not forbid. If people who run yellow lights are treated as if they had run red lights, yellow lights are meaningless. In this sense, the simplest practice is to remove yellow lights from traffic lights.

I think yellow lights have an irreplaceable function. They are a warning and give drivers some time to react to the light change and gradually slow down. Drivers should be allowed to pass at a yellow light, so as to avoid car crashes caused by sudden braking at the red light. However, if drivers can manage to stop, it's better for them to stop at the yellow light. If they can't, since there are still several seconds to go before the red light turns on, they will not affect the traffic from the other side. Anyway, at the yellow light, drivers need to judge wisely by themselves whether to go or stop, but one thing is certain: Yellow lights do not force them to stop.

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