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British traffic signal lights
On TV news footage from London today I noticed something unusual about
the traffic lights. A couple times I saw the lights change from red and yellow (both illuminated) to green. I have never seen such a thing here in the States. What does simultaneous red and yellow mean in Britain? -- Paul Hirose > To reply by email remove INVALID |
#2
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"Paul Hirose" > wrote in message ink.net... > On TV news footage from London today I noticed something unusual about the > traffic lights. A couple times I saw the lights change from red and yellow > (both illuminated) to green. I have never seen such a thing here in the > States. What does simultaneous red and yellow mean in Britain? > > It's the opposite of a yellow light in the US, I believe. In other words, it's saying that green is coming soon. Keep in mind that most cars over there are supposedly manual transmissions, and parking brakes must be set at traffic lights. -Dave |
#3
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In article ws.net>,
Ted B. > wrote: > >"Paul Hirose" > wrote in message link.net... >> On TV news footage from London today I noticed something unusual about the >> traffic lights. A couple times I saw the lights change from red and yellow >> (both illuminated) to green. I have never seen such a thing here in the >> States. What does simultaneous red and yellow mean in Britain? > >It's the opposite of a yellow light in the US, I believe. In other words, >it's saying that green is coming soon. Keep in mind that most cars over >there are supposedly manual transmissions, and parking brakes must be set at >traffic lights. -Dave I have driven standard transmission cars in the US for the past 22 years (automatic for only 3) and I cannot recall a single incident when I needed a "get ready" feature. I have also driven in much of Western Europe without any need for such an aid. I seriously doubt this was the motivation. Also, there is no need to engage the parking brake at a light. If the road is level, just put the car in neutral (as most of us do). If you are on a slope, stand on a brake (as automatic drivers always do). If you have trouble getting into gear at a traffic light, you have serious problems when you need to moved into second gear! -- Surendar Jeyadev The 1 in the email address is fake |
#4
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"Paul Hirose" > wrote in message ink.net... > On TV news footage from London today I noticed something unusual about the > traffic lights. A couple times I saw the lights change from red and yellow > (both illuminated) to green. I have never seen such a thing here in the > States. What does simultaneous red and yellow mean in Britain? When I was very young (cica 1959) the traffic lights in my home town worked like that. The yellow light came on on both the green and red sides of the light at the same time. Back then it did not casue any problems. However, given the way people drive today, I think giving them to much warning of an impending green would increase the frequency of accidents. Between the people trying to beat the red, and the people trying to burn out as soon as the light turns green, I am guessing there would be more collisions. As it is, most of the lights I encounter have a pause between the light turning red on one side and the light turning green in the cross direction. I assume this to allow for people trying to beat the red to clear the intersection. Things would work better if people would show a little patience and just be ready to go after the light turns green, and not try to beat the red. Ed Ed |
#5
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In article <PATDe.192893$nG6.404@attbi_s22>,
C. E. White > wrote: >Things would work better if people would show a little patience and just be >ready to go after the light turns green, and not try to beat the red. An attentive driver waiting at a red light at a familiar intersection will notice when the previous phase is going, and may be in a position to notice whether that phase's light has turned yellow. In that case, s/he can (a) check for likely red light runners, and (b) prepare to go immediately on green if there are no red light runners or others who are slow in clearing the intersection. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Timothy J. Lee Unsolicited bulk or commercial email is not welcome. No warranty of any kind is provided with this message. |
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Timothy J. Lee wrote: > In article <PATDe.192893$nG6.404@attbi_s22>, > C. E. White > wrote: > >Things would work better if people would show a little patience and just be > >ready to go after the light turns green, and not try to beat the red. > > An attentive driver waiting at a red light at a familiar intersection > will notice when the previous phase is going, and may be in a position > to notice whether that phase's light has turned yellow. In that case, > s/he can (a) check for likely red light runners, and (b) prepare to go > immediately on green if there are no red light runners or others who are > slow in clearing the intersection. > I bet if the red-yellow were implemented here, we'd see less red light running, reason being that people will get more ****ed off and honk more often at RLRs because they're already ready to go when the RLR flies in front of their nose... 'course a few of them might get creamed in the process, but such is life... nate (they deserve it) |
#7
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N8N wrote:
> Timothy J. Lee wrote: > > In article <PATDe.192893$nG6.404@attbi_s22>, > > C. E. White > wrote: > > >Things would work better if people would show a little patience and just be > > >ready to go after the light turns green, and not try to beat the red. > > > > An attentive driver waiting at a red light at a familiar intersection > > will notice when the previous phase is going, and may be in a position > > to notice whether that phase's light has turned yellow. In that case, > > s/he can (a) check for likely red light runners, and (b) prepare to go > > immediately on green if there are no red light runners or others who are > > slow in clearing the intersection. > > > > I bet if the red-yellow were implemented here, we'd see less red light > running, reason being that people will get more ****ed off and honk > more often at RLRs because they're already ready to go when the RLR > flies in front of their nose... > > 'course a few of them might get creamed in the process, but such is > life... There is actually several seconds pause when all lights are red to allow the junction to clear in the UK. The red+amber is indeed intended to allow you to slip the car into gear again and release the handbrake before setting off on green. Graham |
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On Fri, 22 Jul 2005, Pooh Bear wrote:
> There is actually several seconds pause when all lights are red to allow > the junction to clear in the UK. In North America, clearance time (during which all traffic has a red light) is an optional and variable traffic light mode. Colorado has had clearance time built into all intersections for at least two and a half decades. I learned to drive there and did so for many years. When I moved to Oregon, it was a real shock to discover that there's no such clearance time there. Ditto many intersections in Michigan, and many in Ontario. Relatively long yellows and a few seconds' clearance time are known and robustly shown to cut red-light running and related injury, death and property damage dramatically, usually down to negligible levels. That we mess around with any other "countermeasure" is telling and sad. |
#9
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> I bet if the red-yellow were implemented here, we'd see less red light
> running, reason being that people will get more ****ed off and honk > more often at RLRs because they're already ready to go when the RLR > flies in front of their nose... > > 'course a few of them might get creamed in the process, but such is > life... > > nate > > (they deserve it) > Actually, it would have the effect of lowering the frequency of people sleeping on green. -Dave |
#10
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Hi, Yes, red-yellow means green-imminent. Generally: if you're on pole, raise revs to over 5k and get ready to dump the clutch! Cheers, John. On Thu, 21 Jul 2005, Paul Hirose wrote: > Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2005 18:55:37 GMT > From: Paul Hirose > > Newsgroups: rec.autos.driving > Subject: British traffic signal lights > > On TV news footage from London today I noticed something unusual about the > traffic lights. A couple times I saw the lights change from red and yellow > (both illuminated) to green. I have never seen such a thing here in the > States. What does simultaneous red and yellow mean in Britain? > > -- ************************************************** **************** Helsinki Institute of Physics Technology Program CERN, Geneva, Switzerland. tel. +41 (0)22 767-7543 ************************************************** **************** |
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