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Traffic Light of the Future

Reminds me of that Simpsons episode where they change the lights to go Red to orange but never to green because they discovered that people drive fastest through orange lights.
 
hazza.jockel said:
Reminds me of that Simpsons episode where they change the lights to go Red to orange but never to green because they discovered that people drive fastest through orange lights.
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I remember some lights, in the States I think, that go Green, Green/Yellow, Red, Red/Yellow, Green.

Seemed to work too.
 
iGav said:
Indeed, this would fail usability tests long before it was ever unleashed on an unwitting public. Just proof that one of the most important jobs of a designer, is product development, to protect people from ideas like this, whose creators never bother to ask "is this a good idea?"

There's also the issue that LED lights do not generate significant amounts of heat, so in colder weather, it's not improbable that they may well blocked by snow, of course you can then add heating elements, but that increases complexity, production, running and maintenance costs.
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I almost got killed because of this. How?

Here in Chicago, the average driving skill and regard for traffic laws is very low.
The new LED lights easily clog with snow.
If a traffic light is not working, we are supposed to treat it as a "STOP" sign.

So, there i was, stopped at a light and the light turns green. I start to move off and then noticed that the 50mph cross traffic (in a 40mph zone) hasn't stopped or even slowed down!
I immediately stopped, barely missing the rush of idiots speeding right through a red light.
Probably 20 or 30 cars went past before someone stopped for the LED red light which was coveed with snow.

Still kind of scared,
Keri
 
Driving is a total pain. Been having lessons for almost a year now. I'm getting close to booking my test though.

As for the egg timer traffic light thingys... they look awfully complicated.
 
roadbloc said:
Driving is a total pain. Been having lessons for almost a year now. I'm getting close to booking my test though.
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Pop Quiz!

What do you do when you see this sign (which is a real UK road sign on a real bit of road)

Magic_Roundabout_Schild_db.jpg
 
Traffic lights could indeed use a change. It's good to see people thinking about this. The current systems works...but could be improved upon. I especially like the timer on the light. We would all bennefit from knowing how long you have until the light changes. This is the only way to properly know if you need to speed up, slow down, or stay at the same rate...which would improve both safety and efficency.

The problem with current traffic lights is that the length of time between color changes is different at each intersection and at various times throughout day. Some yellows are extremely short. Some are longer. I timed one yellow at 2 seconds while another one was closer to 10, for example. Some reds are very long while others are not, etc. If you knew how long the light is, you can choose to either go through or slow down or stop.

Think about crosswalks with timers. If there are 30 seconds on the timer, you know you can cross safely. If there are only two seconds left, you know that you wouldn't even get halfway across the street before the light turns green for the cars and you could get hit....in which case you would be wise to choose to wait for the next light. This would be the same idea for traffic lights and cars in/approcahing the intersection.
 
Antares said:
The problem with current traffic lights is that the length of time between color changes is different at each intersection and at various times throughout day. Some yellows are extremely short. Some are longer. I timed one yellow at 2 seconds while another one was closer to 10, for example. Some reds are very long while others are not, etc. If you knew how long the light is, you can choose to either go through or slow down or stop.

Think about crosswalks with timers. If there are 30 seconds on the timer, you know you can cross safely. If there are only two seconds left, you know that you wouldn't even get halfway across the street before the light turns green for the cars and you could get hit....in which case you would be wise to choose to wait for the next light. This would be the same idea for traffic lights and cars in/approcahing the intersection.
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I've noticed this too.

I think the reasoning has to do with the posted speed limit. A stoplight on a 30mph street has a shorter yellow light than a 40mph street.
This starts to be a problem with everyone doing 40-45mph in a 30mph zone.
Add a sign for the stoplight camera and instant pileup potential!

I've noticed that if you drive at the posted limit, the yellow light is usually adequately long in duration. But who does that? If you try driving the speed limit people start swerving around, cutting you off and giving you dirty looks.

So is the problem artificially low speed limits or widespread disregard for safety, courtesy and traffic laws? :confused:

Please don't hit the Tercel with the Apple Sticker, ;)
Keri
 
KeriJane said:
I've noticed this too.

I think the reasoning has to do with the posted speed limit. A stoplight on a 30mph street has a shorter yellow light than a 40mph street.
This starts to be a problem with everyone doing 40-45mph in a 30mph zone.
Add a sign for the stoplight camera and instant pileup potential!

I've noticed that if you drive at the posted limit, the yellow light is usually adequately long in duration. But who does that? If you try driving the speed limit people start swerving around, cutting you off and giving you dirty looks.

So is the problem artificially low speed limits or widespread disregard for safety, courtesy and traffic laws? :confused:

Please don't hit the Tercel with the Apple Sticker, ;)
Keri
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Just FYI timing of yellow light have nothing to do with the post speed limit. The formulas to figure out the timing on a yellow are based on number of lanes, and cars per minutes but speed has nothing to so with timing a yellow light.
 
KnightWRX said:
WTF ? You guys don't know how to clutch without having the car go backwards or something ?

I've driven stick for the last 14 years and unless the hill is very very steep and iced up, I don't need to use the handbrake at all.
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I love people like you:D Owning an auto repair business you people give me a nice Christmas:D...I love doing clutches..great markup on parts.
 
Rodimus Prime said:
Just FYI timing of yellow light have nothing to do with the post speed limit. The formulas to figure out the timing on a yellow are based on number of lanes, and cars per minutes but speed has nothing to so with timing a yellow light.
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As a truck driver I find this stupid. I come across a LOT of lights that have too short of a yellow for a truck to stop in time when doing the speed limit. Because of that I typically do 5-10 mph below the speed limit.
 
LumbermanSVO said:
As a truck driver I find this stupid. I come across a LOT of lights that have too short of a yellow for a truck to stop in time when doing the speed limit. Because of that I typically do 5-10 mph below the speed limit.
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You should go five to ten mph over the speed limit, that way the lights won't have a chance to turn yellow before u go through them.
 
LumbermanSVO said:
As a truck driver I find this stupid. I come across a LOT of lights that have too short of a yellow for a truck to stop in time when doing the speed limit. Because of that I typically do 5-10 mph below the speed limit.
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I thought the same thing until I learned more about. The common problem you run into is cities will not time their yellows correctly according to the formulas. This is something that is common problem on those too short of yellows. I bet those lights you have a problem with are to short.

But light I said yellow timing has nothing to do with speed of traffic.
 
r1ch4rd said:
That seems awfully unnecessary for a roundabout with 4 exits! Here it is from above...
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From the diagram I thought I had it all figured out. Then I looked at your overhead pic - yeah, I'm taking a cab! :)
 
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