[Arrath]

I've always thought the differences between the solid light and arrow was too minor for the average driver. I mean, look at the skills of the average driver.

In Washington state unprotected lefts weren't legal maneuvers for quite a while. They were introduced gradually starting at intersections where it would be a traffic benefit, for signaling the state adopted a blinking yellow arrow that then goes solid to signify the 'almost over' meaning of a typical yellow light.

[ARandomerDude]

One thing common in Texas is red light + green arrow to indicate a protected left/right turn. I suspect it's a lot easier to parse quickly for most people than green circle vs green arrow.

[WillPostForFood]

Is it? I see people sitting stopped at green arrows all the time because the red stop light takes priority in their mind. Presenting clearly contradictory signals at the same time can't be the best option.

[Arrath]

Yeah honestly I'm not sure how would I take that. Maybe expect it to be a malfunctioning light? When presented with both 'stop' and 'go' you can bet I'm not going unless I explicitly verify that nothing is coming.

[kelnos]

Really? The grandparent says it's common in Texas, but in my experience it's pretty common in all of the US (at least in urban and suburban areas), and shouldn't be surprising or odd to anyone who's learned to drive in the US or has been driving here more than a few months.

But I agree with you that you should verify that no one is coming in that case; that's sound advice for most all situations, really.

[Arrath]

It may be a kneejerk reaction combined with me being very rurally located for work for these past 4 years, I think there are 3 traffic lights within a 45 minute drive and none of them will show red and green at the same time except in separate lanes when straight is red and left has a green.

[potiuper]

The protected left should be the middle yellow with an associated cutout for the left arrow inside the light, with the normal through yellow turning on both the green and yellow left turn arrow, but likely way too many years of convention to make the change.

[Riseed]

Are you referring to the traffic signals that have five options? That is, going clockwise starting at bottom left: green arrow, yellow arrow, standard red light, standard yellow light, standard green light

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8MXdKQHddMk/maxresdefault.jpg