Should i brake for a yellow light or trust the speed of traffic?

[Zachary_H]

I’ve been driving for years, but I still get a little tense when I see a yellow traffic signal ahead. Is it better to commit and go through, or should I always try to stop? I never know if the car behind me is paying enough attention if I brake hard.

[Amelia96]

Most of the time when yellow shows up I ease off and brake smoothly if stopping feels safe. I avoid hard brakes because I worry about the car behind me not reacting in time.

[DonaldAG]

I have gone through yellows a few times because stopping would be abrupt and I did not want to tempt a rear end in heavy traffic. It felt like a choice I kept making under pressure.

[RichardJ]

Sometimes I drift off thinking about errands or a song in the radio when a yellow shows up. Then I snap back to the road and the light. Do you think the real issue is how you judge other drivers behind you?

[Gary62]

It seems like a balance between distance and how fast the other cars react. If you are far enough stopping is safer than risking a collision otherwise you go through.