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High efficiency traffic lights don't melt snow cover, creating traffic hazard
Associated Press ^ | Friday December 11, 2009 | Associated Press

Posted on 12/11/2009 9:18:01 AM PST by jpl

Edited on 12/11/2009 9:35:36 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP)

(Excerpt) Read more at fox6now.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: Wisconsin
KEYWORDS: consequences; energy; envirofascism; globalwarminghoax; greenenergy; led; unintended
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To: jpl

No problem! They’ll just install heaters so the total energy use = 125% of the old way.


21 posted on 12/11/2009 9:38:11 AM PST by NonValueAdded ("'Diversity' is one of those words designed to absolve you of the need to think." Mark Steyn)
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To: CodeToad

Exactly the situation near me this morning. About 50% of the traffic blew through the off signal as though it was bright green.


22 posted on 12/11/2009 9:38:32 AM PST by steve86 (Acerbic by nature, not nurture)
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To: jpl
Yuk, yuk, yuk.

Reminds me of that time in the 70s that Chicago bought a whole bunch of new, improved road salt that would melt snow down to 0 degrees F.

Only problem was that it gets to zero a lot in Chicago, then what was melted before would refreeze into a real slick sheet of ice and couldn't be melted.

23 posted on 12/11/2009 9:38:32 AM PST by HIDEK6
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To: NonValueAdded

ROFL!

(except that the number with most likely be north of 125%)


24 posted on 12/11/2009 9:38:41 AM PST by Red in Blue PA (Obama, Hitler, Stalin: Who are 3 people nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.)
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To: jpl

When I was in Vietnam years ago, we kept a lit 60W light bulb in the bottom of our barracks lockers so that our clothing and other stuff didn’t get moldy. It isn’t just for cold weather that we NEED incandescent lights.


25 posted on 12/11/2009 9:39:27 AM PST by BuffaloJack (Hoax and Change)
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To: CodeToad

“Anyone blowing through a controlled intersection is an idiot.”

True, that. Unfortunately, our roads are filled with idiots who barely have any clue about the rules of the road. They have no idea that flashing red equals “stop”, or that no signal equals “stop.”


26 posted on 12/11/2009 9:42:37 AM PST by -YYZ- (Strong like bull, smart like ox.)
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To: jpl
Interesting that they mention snow and ice on the traffic lights were a contributing factor to the accidents, but not whether the snow and ice on the road surface was a factor also.
27 posted on 12/11/2009 9:43:23 AM PST by Between the Lines (For their sins of 50 million abortions God gave them over to be an ObamaNation {Romans 1:24-32})
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To: pnh102

For what it’s worth, I love my LED flashlights. Very bright, and they use so little power, you can use “dead” batteries in them (batteries that can no longer run other devices).

Of course, icing up doesn’t apply to them.


28 posted on 12/11/2009 9:46:06 AM PST by OldGuard1
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To: jpl
This guy is going to make a mint off this problem:

US Patent 7211771 - De-icing system for traffic signals

29 posted on 12/11/2009 9:47:42 AM PST by Wyatt's Torch (I can explain it to you. I can't understand it for you.)
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To: -YYZ-
True, that. Unfortunately, our roads are filled with idiots who barely have any clue about the rules of the road. They have no idea that flashing red equals “stop”, or that no signal equals “stop.”

You git that right. I've almost been killed by people plowing into the back of me and people blowing through the intersection when the lights were out. Morons...

30 posted on 12/11/2009 9:49:15 AM PST by Wyatt's Torch (I can explain it to you. I can't understand it for you.)
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To: -YYZ-

BTW, is your screen name a reference to the Rush song?


31 posted on 12/11/2009 9:49:59 AM PST by Wyatt's Torch (I can explain it to you. I can't understand it for you.)
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To: BuffaloJack

And you can bake cupcakes with a 60w light. You also can keep newborn little animals warm with one a couple feet overhead.


32 posted on 12/11/2009 9:50:39 AM PST by Secret Agent Man (I'd like to tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.)
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To: -YYZ-

Here in Colorado we went from a “No Fault” to an “At Fault” insurance program. hehe. People started seeing their insurance skyrocket as they had accidents and it was their fault. “Gosh, officer, I thought I could turn right from the far left lane.”


33 posted on 12/11/2009 9:51:02 AM PST by CodeToad (If it weren't for physics and law enforcement I'd be unstoppable!)
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To: pnh102
This stinks... LED lights, to me anyway, are much easier to see at night.

I can also see them easier when the sun is shining on them, as well. Much easier to see than the old bulbs.

34 posted on 12/11/2009 9:51:02 AM PST by IYAS9YAS (The townhalls were going great until the oPods showed up.)
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To: jpl

Wait a minute! We have those new energy-efficient mercury-filled-curly-cued-lightbulbs- just the thing to do the trick to heat up the LED`s!


35 posted on 12/11/2009 9:52:38 AM PST by bunkerhill7 (God bless)
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To: jpl

They could have left the red incandescent bulbs in place and still had cost savings on electricity.


36 posted on 12/11/2009 9:53:56 AM PST by FreedomOfExpression
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To: jpl

Once the jackasses have blinders on, it’s hard to get them off.


37 posted on 12/11/2009 9:55:21 AM PST by votemout
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To: jpl
Not to pee on the smacking-the-lib-fest we got going here, but what ever happened to the old standby of treating the intersection as a four-way stop when the lights are out/can't be seen?

I realize not all traffic from all directions will be affected as the blowing snow/ice generally will only cover part of the light, but can't these lights be centrally controled and turned to flashing red if it appears something is wrong for at least one direction of traffic? Also, as was mentioned in a previous post, what about a simple thermal switch and heating coil to kick on when temps drop below a certain level?

38 posted on 12/11/2009 9:55:47 AM PST by IYAS9YAS (The townhalls were going great until the oPods showed up.)
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To: jpl

According to Al Gore, this shouldn’t have been a problem because “global warming” should have precluded the chance of it ever snowing again. All the polar bears should have been dead by now and all the icebergs should have melted.


39 posted on 12/11/2009 9:58:23 AM PST by SamAdams76 (I am 16 days away from outliving Lefty Frizzell)
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To: CodeToad
Why is this an issue? The traffic regs say if the light is out, including if it cannot be understood, then you treat the light as a red light and stop. Anyone blowing through a controlled intersection is an idiot.

I agree. However, most lemmings out there only do what the light tells them. If they can see the light, they may not be aware that the others facing them, or cross-traffic, cannot.

Why not set an emergency procedure that in inclement weather of this nature, all lights flash red and all intersections are to be treated as four-way stops.

40 posted on 12/11/2009 9:58:49 AM PST by IYAS9YAS (The townhalls were going great until the oPods showed up.)
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