On Saturday I made a quick trip to a gas station to put air in one of my tires. There's a traffic light on the way to and from the station where a few months ago, I was planning to turn left but didn't have a green left arrow. However, cross traffic also had a red light, and people going straight had green, which I failed to notice. After waiting about 30 seconds, two people behind me drove around me to make their left turns. That's when I realized the coast had been clear all along for me to turn left.
So then on Saturday I went to the gas station for my tire fill and on the way back, I had a red light at the aforementioned intersection. Not wanting to hold anyone up again, I waited for any cross traffic to get out of the way, and then I turned left. Except, I didn't have a green arrow, and turning left on red is forbidden (where I live you can turn right on red after stopping and yielding to any oncoming traffic). When I noticed the car behind me pull up to the stopline and then stop, I realized my mistake. What was more, I could have gotten into a crash with someone who actually had a green light, and since I only have my provisional license right now it would have been bad for my driving record. The people behind me were probably thinking "What an idiot, turning left on red!" Luckily there isn't a red light camera at that intersection; only at a few intersections in the town proper have them and I don't even think they have turn sensors. But the point is, I was stupid the other day and really should have caused a crash.
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