Forum Topic

Traffic lights staying on red

The London Mayor is introducing a new scheme - traffic lights which will stay on red to give pedestrians priority.  Surely this will increase pollution, traffic queues and road rage?  Does anyone have knowledge of these schemes.

Lena Armstrong ● 1977d12 Comments

They only stay on red as long as there's no traffic coming.

Peter Evans ● 1977d

Peter, that's good for a laugh. When in London and CHR is there no traffic coming ?

Chris Vessey ● 1977d

From what i can see they have targeted places where traffic is low at times but footfall is not. Next Turning left on a red come in play Jay walking Headlights on 24 hours a day No cleaning the car in public with underwear Must have a first aid box onboard Carry an extra pair of glasses Wearing a shirt is mandatory while driving No music while driving

Julian Pavey ● 1976d

...the sort of situation, among many others, perfectly well handled by a traditional zebra crossing. Other than at junctions, light controls are only really needed where there are lots of pedestrians and lots of traffic, in which case a zebra crossing would create cause unacceptable traffic delays.

Peter Evans ● 1976d

If there's no traffic people will just cross the road anyway so not sure what the point of this is.

Lucas Cox ● 1976d

Slightly off topic, but does anyone know why some lights are fitted with those horizontal black sort of blinkers. Maybe it’s as I’m not very tall but I find it hard to see which colour is showing which is quite dangerous.

Vivienne Cox ● 1976d

Vivienne, cannot see green lights through that grill, don't know the purpose of these.

Chris Vessey ● 1976d

I think the crossing in Hounslow is outside a school. At the moment all crossings are green for cars unless a pedestrian pushes a button and waits. The cars have priority. They have that priority even if there are no cars. When we cross the road with kids we always wait for the green man, even if there are no cars and particularly if we are on a corner and there’s a chance a car will come round at speed. This gives pedestrians priority and I think is designed to make crossing roads more pedestrian friendly. It also seems designed to enrage The OC who already think zebra crossings should be replaced - it is almost as if Sadiq has been on this forum and is sticking up two fingers.

Ed Saper ● 1976d

The blinkers are used on lights generally close to another set. It 'hides' the colour from those who it doesn't apply to. It also prevents would-be 'fast-off-the-mark' types from anticipating when their lights will change.

Gordon McDonald ● 1976d

So If I can’t see the colour I can just ignore them? Seems mad to me. I just want to be safe and drive safely for others.

Vivienne Cox ● 1976d

"So If I can’t see the colour I can just ignore them?"Yes.  If you can't see a colour, it's because there's another set of lights nearer to you where you CAN see the colour.  If the further lights didn't have the louvres, sometimes you'd be able to see a red and a green at the same time which would be confusing and dangerous.

Richard Jennings ● 1976d

> - it is almost as if Sadiq has been on this forum and is sticking up two fingers.Might explain the logic.

Russell Pearson ● 1976d