Transportation officials have wisely pulled the plug on a blinking yellow traffic light that may have caused confusion among drivers at a local intersection.

As Telegram staff writer Brie Handgraaf reported this week, seven traffic accidents – including one fatality – have occurred since October at the intersection of Thomas A. Betts Parkway and Benvenue Road.

It would be irresponsible to suggest the traffic signal contributed to all of those wrecks, but officials acknowledge that unfamiliarity with a blinking yellow arrow might have been an issue.

Most drivers know they’re supposed to slow down when a traffic light changes from green to yellow. As a general guideline, if your vehicle already is in the intersection when the light turns yellow, you may proceed with caution through the intersection.

In the case of yellow arrow lights, however, some drivers apparently think the lights mean you may turn left while drivers in other lanes have a red light – as in the case of green left turn lights.

That’s not what the lights are intended to convey.

When drivers confront a blinking yellow arrow, they should slow down, be alert and ready to yield to oncoming traffic or pedestrians, then proceed with caution. They must yield the right of way to drivers or pedestrians in the opposite lane who are traveling straight through the intersection.

Blinking yellow arrow lights are in place at other intersections in Rocky Mount, but so far, those intersections haven’t experienced the number of accidents that the one at Benvenue Road has.

Even so, the N.C. Department of Transportation would be wise to step up education efforts on blinking yellow arrow lights.

Too many drivers apparently have the wrong idea on how to navigate those intersections.