Next year, yellow lights could get a second longer
toi 27.10.2019
The light is green as you approach the crossing. Half a dozen cars are in front of you. You slow down to turn and the light turns yellow. By the time you cross it, it is frowning red. A cop challans you.
Anyone who has been in this situation knows how unfair it is, but a Swedish engineer has fought against it for six years and seems to be winning now.
In 2013, Mats Jarlstrom’s wife was fined $260 when an automated camera caught her jumping a red light in Oregon, USA. She was only 0.12 second late.
Jarlstrom argued that the duration of the yellow light, which was fixed at 3.2 seconds in 1960, is inadequate for present-day traffic. It does not take into account scenarios in which a driver enters an intersection and slows down to turn. Increasing the duration of the yellow light by just over a second would make it much safer, he says.
Jarlstrom proposed a 4.5-second signal, and now the Institute of Transport Engineers, which is an international advisory body with members in 90 countries, has taken note of his recommendation. It is reviewing the existing rules and will submit a ‘Recommended Practices’ report to its board of directors early next year. If Jarlstrom’s recommendations are accepted, traffic signal cycles could change across the world.
For more: The Register
TIME FOR A CHANGE: The duration of the yellow light has remained fixed at 3.2 seconds for the past 60 years
The light is green as you approach the crossing. Half a dozen cars are in front of you. You slow down to turn and the light turns yellow. By the time you cross it, it is frowning red. A cop challans you.
Anyone who has been in this situation knows how unfair it is, but a Swedish engineer has fought against it for six years and seems to be winning now.
In 2013, Mats Jarlstrom’s wife was fined $260 when an automated camera caught her jumping a red light in Oregon, USA. She was only 0.12 second late.
Jarlstrom argued that the duration of the yellow light, which was fixed at 3.2 seconds in 1960, is inadequate for present-day traffic. It does not take into account scenarios in which a driver enters an intersection and slows down to turn. Increasing the duration of the yellow light by just over a second would make it much safer, he says.
Jarlstrom proposed a 4.5-second signal, and now the Institute of Transport Engineers, which is an international advisory body with members in 90 countries, has taken note of his recommendation. It is reviewing the existing rules and will submit a ‘Recommended Practices’ report to its board of directors early next year. If Jarlstrom’s recommendations are accepted, traffic signal cycles could change across the world.
For more: The Register
TIME FOR A CHANGE: The duration of the yellow light has remained fixed at 3.2 seconds for the past 60 years
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