Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Hourglass traffic light concept is street racing's best friend

Designer Thanva Tivawong has come up with a solution for all you impatient drivers out there. What if you knew exactly when a stoplight was going to change from green to yellow, or more importantly, from red to green? In theory, traffic would be expedited and drivers would be less likely to try to beat yellow lights in the rush to make good time. That's exactly the logic behind the hourglass stoplight concept you see above. As time soldiers on, the pixels in the light drain from top to bottom. When time's up, the light changes color and the process starts all over again.

There are a couple of problems with this notion. First, colorblind drivers are left completely in the cold. More importantly, we're also concerned about the idea of basically turning every intersection into a drag strip, complete with fully-functional Christmas trees. It'd be great for the street racing scene, sure, but we don't want to give the granny in the lane next to us an excuse to lay down her best ETA when the light goes green.

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/11/20/h...s-best-friend/

bnizzle87

this is an interesting concept. i thought the intersections with the number countdown for pedestrians crossing the street made for a good enough indication for when a light was set to go from green to yellow to red.

RX_330

That's how I've always predicted green -> yellow lights as well. That and typically (in Michigan at least) when the flashing red hand goes from blinking to solid, you have about 2 seconds for the traffic light to turn yellow.

mex lex

iTrader: (4)

Same here, but in my city, as I'm sure in all other cities too, every intersection is different. Some will turn yellow as soon as the pedestrian signal turns to a flashing hand, others will flash for another minute until the light turns yellow, etc. It all depends on the size of the intersection and how busy it is. If they were all consistent, it would be even easier for drivers to predict the lights.

mmarshall

Today, though, in many larger urban areas, there are so many traffic lights that just the relatively short distances between them discourages speeding and drag-racing. Even if it were legal (which it isn't), there's little point in driving NHRA-style if you have to hit the brakes again almost as soon as you start to accelerate. That is simply a result of our population growth and increasing congestion on the roads.

dunnojack

won't help.

when people see that yellow light with "1" left on the ticker, they will still gun it to beat the red.

it probably gives them more cajones knowing how many seconds are left on the yellow, so they can turbo boost through the intersection.

RXSF

I also use pedestrian timers to know when the light changes, however, there are those few outliers out there that remain green when the seconds are up!

jadu

iTrader: (42)

amazing what they do with LED's

daelo74

When I was in Shanghai this past summer, I saw the stoplights with timers on them on the red, yellow, and green and I wonder how come in the US of A, we don't have this.

Jewcano

iTrader: (4)

Probably because many people in the US can't count, let alone drive.

superchan7

China has had LED timers for ages. Not that it makes traffic there terribly orderly...

Jetfire

iTrader: (3)

from green to yellow, just use the pedestrian light.

for red to green, just use the perpendicular traffic light.

Rash

iTrader: (1)

What we have is the best, the old fashioned way but before the green turns yellow, the green keeps blinking for around 3-5 seconds.

mmarshall

True. The accident/injury/death rate on Chinese roads is many times that of the U.S.

Red-light-timers or not, taking jabs at American motorists won't make the deplorable accident-statistics in China any better than they already are.

Lexmex

I used to practice at the stop lights in Mexico City for when I'd go to the track.