Need to make traffic signals more safe

North County Times ^ | 061010 | Jim Vander Spek

[EscondidoSurfer]

Traffic lights are often the reason for serious accidents. Here is a suggestion on how to correct this.

[EscondidoSurfer]

Have you noticed that a disproportionate number of serious accidents occur at intersections that have traffic signals and occur during the day?

[E. Pluribus Unum]

It used to be that there was a one-second delay between the time the yellow turned to red and the cross-traffic light turned to green.

Federal regulations did away with that.

[netmilsmom]

Not really.
We have these lovely little things called “Michigan turnarounds”. One goes through the intersection then does a U-Turn to come back and turn right.

My hubby has been hit twice at these stupid things because someone doesn’t see him coming for some reason.

[Tunehead54]

Your letter?

[cripplecreek]

Now if we could just make our titles more grammatically correcter, we’d be all set.

[norraad]

Yes, way to flaccid brained green weenies with your "energy saving' (low) light emitting diodes!

Btw-when it's cold they don't have enough heat to melt the snow away from their already limited 'dimbulbs.

[Alberta's Child]

A “disproportionate” number of accidents may occur at signalized intersections for the simple reason that these intersections almost always handle more traffic than unsignalized intersections.

[brytlea]

Well, part of the problem is that people don’t really pay attention to the lights anyway. They pay more attention to the traffic. A case in point. We were hit at an intersection last year in which the lights were flashing red because they were not working. Instead of treating it as a four way stop (as she should have by law, but which many people do not because they are morons and idiots and selfish), a woman ran the light and hit us as we were making a left hand turn. I am convinced that she didn’t even realize the light was flashing red. She likely saw the car in front of her go, so she assumed the light had turned green and just never stopped, never looked at the light.
She told the cop she never saw us, but she was going way too fast to have ever even stopped at the red flashing light. The interesting thing is that in FL, even tho we stopped at the red flashing light, made sure it was our turn to go, and then went, and she blasted out of nowhere and never stopped, (and we had witnesses who attested to that fact) it was considered a no fault, and we were assigned 60% of the fault because we were making a turn!)
At any rate, my point is, I am sure she was not looking at the light, but instead was focused on the car in front of her.
The problem is, most people drive paying very little attention to the lights.

[Jaxter]

[Alberta's Child]

That is complete baloney.

You are referring to the "all red" phase that is used at traffic signals in many locations -- usually where speeds are high on one or both of the intersecting streets.

There is nothing in "Federal regulations" that has "done away" with this.

[benewton]

While we’re probably short on “controlled” intersections here in NH, we do have some of the strobes.

They make sense, think eastbound to work in the AM, so log me
in in favor.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

Everyone is running lights now anyway! Bound to be more accidents....I just love those a-holes that blow through an intersection leaning on their horn!...That takes balls!

[metmom]

Have you noticed that a disproportionate number of serious accidents occur at intersections that have traffic signals and occur during the day?

You mean, like when and where there's a lot of traffic on the road?

This is just brilliant. Who would have thought?

I think the best solution would be to get rid of intersections and ban driving during the day.

[lacrew]

Most accidents at signalized intersections deal with turning movements.

For example, somebody turns left on green, without yielding to oncoming traffic. The same happens with people turning right on red, and not yielding.

Most of the full speed accidents are either people trying to beat the light, or drunks.

[Buckeye McFrog]

switching them over to LED’s that do not get hot so that snow could cover the lenses did not help any

[Yo-Yo]

My theory is that those traveling on busy streets simply do not notice the red lights at certain intersections. They fly through red lights because they are not paying attention but also because the red lights do not stand out sufficiently in bright daylight.

Sure, adding a flashing strobe light will help...

[brytlea]

Just ban driving. Let’s all ride horses. They’re smart, they won’t run into each other! ;)

[Alberta's Child]

Interesting information there.

As an FYI . . . the switch from standard bulbs to LED lights for traffic lights isn't just intended to save energy -- it also has some positive safety benefits, too.

When a traffic signal has a single bulb for each signal head, there is no signal displayed when the bulb eventually burns out. By replacing each single bulb with dozens of tiny illuminated diodes, the signal still gives a clear indication even as some of those diodes start burning out.

[paul51]

they will never ban driving. They will just take away the oil

[Crolis]

One of the options he suggests to remedy the problem is the inclusion of a strobe light with the red. This is actually used in Virginia in a few places I’ve traveled.

Basically, when a traffic light turns red, there is a thin horizontal strobe mounted in front of the red light lens which turns on and flashes intermittently. The result is you can see the light is red from a long distance away.

I believe it is is used sometimes at a light which is on a stretch of road which can be fogged in (lower elevation). The strobe helps cut through the fog and let drivers know the light is red.

It definitely catches your attention when on, even several miles away if you are within line of sight.