A disputed intersection crash may turn on which movements received a green, yellow, red, arrow, pedestrian, or flashing indication at a particular time. A witness memory is one source. The signal design, programmed timing, operating mode, controller history, maintenance record, and synchronized video are different sources that must be aligned.

A signal color recalled by a driver is different from the programmed phase, the indication displayed at the collision time, and proof that the controller operated as intended.

Identify the intersection and signal owner

  • Exact intersection, approach, lane, travel direction, turn movement, crosswalk, and collision time with an uncertainty range
  • State, city, county, contractor, railroad, campus, or private-road entity that owned, operated, or maintained the device
  • Signal inventory number, cabinet and controller type, communications system, detection equipment, cameras, and time source
  • Normal plan, time-of-day plan, coordination, actuated operation, flash, preemption, priority, manual control, and work-zone mode
  • Public-record contact, traffic engineer, maintenance vendor, dispatch center, and electronic-system custodian

Separate legal indications from timing evidence

G.S. 20-158 describes driver and pedestrian conduct for traffic-control signals, including steady and flashing indications. Apply the provision to the exact movement and signal face rather than treating the general word “green” as permission for every maneuver.

The Federal Highway Administration’s current MUTCD supplies national traffic-control-device standards, including signal indications and operation. The edition, State adoption, intersection design, and event date matter. A standard describes required or recommended operation; it does not by itself prove the signal state at one moment.

Request the timing and change record

  • Approved signal plan, phasing diagram, timing sheets, sequence, clearance intervals, offsets, coordination plans, and pedestrian timing
  • Controller database or native export, event or alarm logs, clock source, communications history, detector calls, preemption, flash, and manual changes
  • As-built plans, revisions, work orders, trouble calls, inspections, maintenance, cabinet access, power interruption, construction, and complaints
  • Traffic-management video, nearby public and private video, dispatch communications, 911 calls, and witness time references
  • File format, export method, timezone, clock drift, software version, custodian, missing intervals, and later corrections

Use timing philosophy as context, not event proof

The NCDOT Signal System Timing Philosophy Manual discusses the agency’s timing process and objectives. It can help a reader understand plan development and coordination, but the actual intersection files and event-time evidence remain necessary.

Reconstruct the displayed indication

Start with a common clock. Map each vehicle and pedestrian movement to the correct phase and signal face. Compare programmed intervals with detector input, preemption, coordination, flash or outage evidence, video frames, vehicle data, 911 time, and witness accounts. State assumptions and tolerances. A timing plan alone cannot establish when a vehicle crossed the stop line.

The related intersection-collision responsibility guide covers movements, right-of-way, speed, sight lines, physical evidence, and competing accounts. This page owns the narrower signal-record question.

Rosensteel Fleishman Car Accident & Injury Lawyers provides information about North Carolina intersection-accident claims involving disputed signal timing. The record should distinguish planned operation, actual operation, and road-user conduct.

Sources