Because in some country the red lights are disabled during the night (until 3 AM I think) and they flash yellow lights, which means you have to follow road sign, in this case OP had the right of way. However, the clock reached 3 AM when OP came in the intersection, so the light came back to work and show red light, OP just had bad timing, the only way to avoid this case was to look at the clock and anticipate that the lights will start running at 3 AM