It's interesting that early user feedback indicated that if you wanted to max your Safety Score you actually had to drive unsafely in specific ways. For example, stopping correctly at red lights and stop signs would show up as braking, so gently running yellows/hollywood stops would produce a higher safety score.
A yellow light is not a stop sign, you are allowed to drive through it if you can make it. And it is safer to do so than to slam on the brakes, which might cause the car behind you to hit you.
States vary somewhat in their laws, but in my home state of California, the laws state only:
California Vehicle Code (CVC) Section 21452(a): "A driver facing a steady circular yellow or yellow arrow signal is, by that signal, warned that the related green movement is ending or that a red indication will be shown immediately thereafter."
CVC Section 21454: "When lane use control signals are placed over individual lanes, those signals shall indicate and apply to drivers of vehicles as follows:
(a) Green indication: A driver may travel in any lane over which a green signal is shown.
(b) Steady yellow indication: A driver is thereby warned that a lane control change is being made.
(c) Steady red indication: A driver shall not enter or travel in any lane over which a red signal is shown.
(d) Flashing yellow indication: A driver may use the lane only for the purpose of making a left turn to or from the highway."
A yellow light on a traffic control signal in the state of California only indicates an upcoming transition to a red light, which a driver must stop for. There is no requirement that a driver must stop for a yellow.
States vary significantly on this one. Oregon expects you to stop unless it is unsafe to do so. This difference is part of why we hate California drivers.
The fact that you say "in the USA" on regarding an issue that did not exist in the 18th century and is not one of the handful of things we have chosen to federally regulate since is a massive red flag that you're wrong.
And FWIW the driver's manual for my state offers no guidance and simply says it indicates the light will soon be red.
Since the other person who replied said their state on the other side of the country does this I suspect it's one of those things where there's a federally issued suggestion (probably from the NHTSA) that some states implement and some don't.
Part of the safety score is based on g forces. So if you do a smooth stop by braking ahead of the stop, you’ll have less g forces. If you slam on your brakes, well, you’ll have a lower score due to higher g forces.
