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No other EU country has it: All about the controversial flashing amber traffic light in Spain that endangers both motorists and pedestrians

A recent study in Spain highlighted the danger of lights that are amber for cars and green for pedestrians at the same time

Spain is now the only country in the EU to still use flashing amber traffic lights and with good reason, since road authorities in several other nations have highlighted the real risk this system poses to both drivers and pedestrians.

In the UK, the intermittent signals were removed after it was proven that they increased the danger of people on foot being run over, and the Safer Roads Foundation (SRF) has recently highlighted the risk that the confusing signal poses:

So, what are the rules for amber traffic lights?

If the amber (or yellow or orange) light is static, drivers must treat it the same as a red light and stop their car, unless it is unsafe to do so. This would be the case if stepping on the brake wouldn’t stop the vehicle in time, or if doing so would pose a risk to passengers.
If the amber light is flashing intermittently, then motorists can drive through, always assuming the utmost caution and keeping an eye out for pedestrians and other traffic.
At pedestrian crossings, walkers should always wait for the green man before stepping onto the road when there is a static orange light for cars.
If the amber light is flashing, pedestrians have the right of way over vehicles.

In the last case, pedestrians still need to be extremely careful when crossing the road, as many drivers aren’t clear about how to proceed with amber lights.

“That a child, correctly following the ‘green man’ instruction to cross, could be killed by flashing amber is extremely concerning,” said SRF President Michael Woodford.

According to the DGT, in 2020, 35 pedestrians died and another 198 were hospitalised in Spain after being run over at traffic lights. The figures were even worse in 2019, with 47 fatalities and 317 hospitalisations.

To analyse the problem in detail, the SRF commissioned a study of two areas where amber lights are in operation at pedestrian crossings: the Jorge Luis Borges roundabout in Burgos and the Avenida de la Unión Europea in Benidorm. In both cases, the data showed the presence of an amber traffic light put pedestrians at a far greater risk, and the report made the recommendation to “suppress or modify some of the times of these traffic lights.”

In Benidorm in particular, the experts advised that the traffic lights should remain red whenever the pedestrian light was green.

Lots of options, but no solutions

The DGT has already made several recommendations to improve road safety, such as removing flashing amber lights at pedestrian crossings and replacing with red lights only for vehicles when the green man appears.

Right turns pose another complicated problem, and the Traffic authorities have suggested that on roads with just one lane, the amber light could remain once it lasts no more than 5 seconds. Another solution on the table is to remove the flashing green man altogether at crossings with less foot traffic, and replace it with push-button traffic lights.

There appears to be lots of options, but for the time being at least Spain seems set to remain the only nation with intermittent amber lights as the DGT is reluctant to make a final call on the matter.

In the meantime, awareness is the best defence and extreme caution should always be taken when navigating a pedestrian crossing.

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Image: Pixabay

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