🚀 go-pugleaf

On Tue, 28 Sep 1999 17:49:46 GMT, Curtis CCR <curtisccr@netscape.net>
wrote:

>> You mean the ones on timers?  Yeah, that's some new technology!
>
>Actually they may be much more sophisticated than just "timers".

Yeah! Here in Southern California there are sensors in the street that
allow the traffic signals to sense where ther cars are. And, since
there's always a car or two waiting at each intersection, the result
is that you get red lights at EVERY intersection - whether you exceed
the speed limit or not! 

And there are morons who write finger-wagging letters to the editor of
the local newspaper wondering why so many people run red lights...

While the potential exists for "smart" traffic lights to be a genuine
benefit to drivers, the current implementation (at least in my area)
falls FAR short of that potential. The old timer-based lights are
actually BETTER than the current brain-damaged design. Here's but one
example:

Around here almost every major intersection has dedicated left turn
lanes controlled by left turn only arrows - no left turn is allowed on
the regular green. This is no doubt intended to reduce collisions from
people turning left in front of oncoming traffic. Unfortunately, the
current decision algorithm has a "window of opportunity" that ENDS
15-20 seconds before the light changes. This means that if you arrive
in the left turn lane 10 seconds before the light changes, the left
arrow will NOT come on for you and you will have to sit there for an
extra complete cycle (2-3 minutes). This condition is so common that
it's actually faster to drive a longer distance just to avoid making
left turns at these intersections.

Yet local governments think it's more important to install red light
cameras and/or add punitive algorithms to turn lights red for speeders
than to fix these basic problems.