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Level crossing hazard
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There are level crossing hazards created by inconsistencies in the various signals motorists come to see, taking level crossings, pedestrian crossings and traffic lights as a whole. This can be more clearly seen if diagrams of the three signal sequences are shown with the same format on the same page. Overview Ideally, the three kinds of signals should be if not the same then more similar. Problems History Except for a few years in the beginning, before say 1930, traffic lights have always shown three colors, green, yellow and red. Pedestrian crossings originally showed only green and red, before it was decided around the 1960s to add a third aspect equivalent to the yellow aspect of ordinary traffic lights. This was easier to do by adding a flashing red (or in some countries, flashing green) aspect than by adding retrospectively a yellow lamp case. The fact that flashing red was already in use elsewhere with a somewhat different meaning way beside the point. Railway level crossings with their crossbuck and showing flashing red have been around since the 1920s and are substantially unchanged. Solutions Globalisation The above diagrams follow New South Wales, Australia practice, which is nonetheless fairly close to United States practice. Manuals issued to learner drivers don't always show road traffic lights and level crossing signals on the same page, where the hazardous inconsistencies may be noticed. Indiana The Indiana Driver Manual contains ambiguities * p40 - traffic signals * p42 - pedestrian lights - phase 1 is white (a permitted variation from green), no flashing phase 2? phase 3 is red. * p37 - level crossing - phase 1 is white? or unlit? phase 2/3 not shown as flashing Newfoundland and Labrador The Road Handbook is unclear about the different signals: * p23 - traffic signals * p24 - pedestrian lights - has yellow hand but no flashing red hand. * level crossing - no specific diagram of level crossing signals. (Note that Newfoundland and Labrador no longer has any railways). New South Wales The Road User's Handbook unhelpfully shows the three kinds of traffic signals on three separate pages: * p89 - traffic signals * p91 - pedestrian signals * p125 - level crossings Tasmania The Tasmanian Road Rules handbook is incomplete. * p14 - traffic signals - R/Y/G no "starburst" for flashing yellow signal. * p00 - pedestrian lights - not mentioned. * p30 - level crossing lights - only shows phase 3 - no "starburst" for flashing. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, level crossings show a yellow light in phase-2 complete your crossing. United States List of Road Users Handbooks. Utah The Utah Road Users Handbook shows: * p20 - Traffic Lights has Flashing Red for "Stop and Proceed with Care" * p00 - Pedestrian Crossings - not mentioned * p26 - Level Crossings - shown Vermont The Vermont Drivers Manual is less than clear regarding the different signals. * Traffic lights - ordered R/G/Y - flashing red means stop then proceed with care! * Pedestrian lights - no diagram or explanation of the lights * Level crossings - no diagram showing all three phases. Western Australia The Western Australian Road Users Handbook has a few deficiencies. * p61 - Traffic lights - ordered R/Y/G * p53 - Level crossing - shows phase 3 with no "starburst" - word "flashing" shown elsewhere. * p00 - Pedestrian lights - do not seem to be shown at all. 
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