STOP LIGHTS ARE DANGEROUS

Stop Lights Are Dangerous

Stop Lights Are Dangerous

Introduction

Road safety is a complicated science that rises to an art form as ordinary drivers perceive what engineers communicate to them in the road design, what government policies and education campaigns communicate in laws and in shaping public discourse, and what the culture of the driving public adds to their perception. This area of scientific and communication research ultimately has a profound impact on the well-being of citizens and the communities where they live and travel (Day, 2010, 404-5).Discussion and analysis

It is a fact that getting traffic lights are easy but paying for them are difficult part anywhere in the country. A single bank of traffic lights costs between $80,000 and $100,000, which is an average amount that is spending where as it does not include the cost of running and maintaining them. Traffic lights are not only expensive to install, they are a significant source of accidents to motorists and, pedestrians and they are outdated (Robert, 2003).The Current Survey

The widespread loss of human lives and the impacts of life-changing serious injuries are now considered a public health epidemic, sometimes known as “the disease of mobility.” Over 40,000 roadway fatalities occur each year in the United States, and these motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death for persons age 34 and younger. This entry examines the factors involved in motor vehicle crashes and solutions for reducing losses that both improve the roadway systems and attempt to change the culture of the motoring public.

Traffic lights: A Waste of Time

By comparison, when approaching a traffic signal the driver has to make 8 decisions:

Driver interprets signal color

Driver guesses how long in color

Driver slows or continues on yellow

Driver guesses what driver in front will do

Driver makes decisions at high speed

Driver guesses other drivers' arrivals/speeds

Why Avoiding Stop Lights

Traffic analysts have taken note of the increasing emergence of alternative forms of traffic control, such as traffic circles, zebra stripes and the tried-and-true “right before left” rule, in place of the traditional traffic light model. 

There are many countries that are at the head of a growing movement to eliminate superfluous traffic stops across Germany. Germany has depended on traffic lights for too long, said Duisburg professor and traffic researcher Michael Schreckenberg, who contends that the tricolor system is too expensive, inconvenient and potentially dangerous to keep around. It is observed that between 30 and 50 percent of the traffic lights could be replaced (Ted, 2007).

In many cases, the placement of traffic lights is not properly considered, and that many lights function in isolation so the “green wave” is often more myth than reality. This point of view is gaining traction in the leadership of many communities. Cologne, for example, has replaced 200 traffic lights with roundabouts and zebra stripes in the past several years, a move which could save the city almost €4 million in energy and maintenance costs, according to the city's own estimates. Further 90 traffic light eliminations are still expected.

In several large Ruhr region cities, among them Duisburg and ...