Posted on 01/09/2010 7:55:59 AM PST by ricks_place
LED Lights Don't Melt Snow on Traffic Lights, Hiding Signals From Drivers
A huge swath of the country is getting snow and it's raised an unusual and potentially dangerous problem for motorists.
Communities across the country are converting to LED traffic lights, but these lights don't emit heat, so snow doesn't melt like it would with a regular incandescent bulb. In some cases, Drivers then can't see the signals.
During a snow storm last year, Lisa Richter of Oswego, Ill., had a green light and was turning left. But police say a driver in the oncoming lane blew through his red light and plowed into her, killing her instantly.
This wasn't a regular accident. Police said this traffic light, blocked by snow, contributed to the crash. The light was an LED signal, which doesn't emit heat, so snow doesn't melt like it would with a regular incandescent bulb.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Green is death!
We don’t have that problem in Texas. It’s not that we don’t have situations with our lights and signals. It’s because the drivers here don’t obey them so we don’t trust our safety to what the other driver is supposed to do.
St. Peter probably heard, “But I had the right of way.” at least a half a billion times.
Ah, the European system.
My husband: "you have the right of way!"
Me, keeping a wary eye on the cross street, "Um-hum. But if the other guy wants it I am not arguing with him."
I asked my city engineer brother-in-law about this. Said they haven’t had much problem with this. Says the deep hoods over the lights shield them from the snow for the most part. My personal observations back this up.
DManA - Duluth Mn.
More green jobs. How many people will have to be hired in the winter to clean these. Much cheaper to put the old lights back!!
The LED lights use way less power, about 10% of the old bulb lights. I think most communities switched for the cost savings. But, watch what happens, a few cities will get sued due to accidents like this one and the government will require heaters be installed in all the lights, which will end up costing more and using more power than the original bulb light.
See? Green technology is proving more job opportunities than we conservatives gave it credit for!
*(Replacing the LEDs with incandescent, heat-producing bulbs is NOT green therefore not allowed. All electric LED heaters must be installed either by SEIU members or ACORN employees.)
“St. Peter probably heard, “But I had the right of way.” at least a half a billion times.”
A green light gives permission, not an order.
When I was in Jr Hi School, 1956 or so, they handed out a booklet on defensive driving. IIRC, it was called “Misguided Missle.”
There was a page that had this limerick:
Here lies the body of Daren Gray,
He died while taking his right of way.
He was right, dead right, as he sped along,
But alas, he's just as dead now as if he'd been all wrong.
For some reason that little ditty has stuck we me for these 50 plus years.
It amazes me how people just blow through a traffic light that's not working, is completely dark! State law says it's a four-way stop, but anyone who dares try to stop runs the risk of being shoved into the intersection!
Any new application of technology is going to have some "gotchas" in the learning curve. The fix for this one is easy--install a temperature-actuated heater. The energy savings even WITH a heater will be significant over incandescents, not to mention the huge savings of not having to replace incandescent bulbs(the big factor there is the price of the manhours to make the replacement, not the cost of the bulbs).
VERY unlikely. All the heater has to do is get the temp. up to the melting point of ice. Heater plus LED should still use less energy than incandescent (not needed year around). But the real dollar saving isn't energy----it is not having to replace the bulbs as often (like 1% as often). LED's in traffic lights are STILL a good idea.
Arizona - 56F - Low Humidity - Cloudy - Nice Day
I hate you, Jeff!
Joke.
Perhaps we should attach a RAT politician to each light and order them to speak when the temp is below 32 degrees. That should provide more than enough heat.
A few thousand deaths aren’t too much for the envirowhackos.
Why not just go back to the old bulbs? Or has common sense packed it’s bags and completely flown out the window?
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