We were setting at an intersection yesterday in Alabama. Besides the regular red light there was a single red light hanging, and it had a white strobe that looked like it was part of the flashing red light and it shined more at the bottom. One of the passengers said that this is a camera to see who runs the red light.
In our area, western Chicago suburb of Naperville, emergency vehicles can signal lights to turn red and flash a brilliant white strobe light. Our strobe lights are usually not part of the actual traffic light, but are mounted on the same crossarm that supports the traffic signal itself. I don't kknow if there are any standards for such lights, but they are becoming somewhat more common.
Most of the flashing lights I've seen at intersections were "attention getters" at intersections where the red light might not be as noticeable to drivers.
I've seen them on dark country roads so that the red light is noticed by the driver who is cruising over the hillsides and I've seen them at very busy intersections where there are lots of distractions such as left hand turning lanes, lighted strip mall signs, etc.
I've never seen a camera built into a red light...in my area they are covered with a blue dome.
Metspitzer wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
No,speed cameras are set back from the intersection,so they include the traffic light itself in the pic of your car being past the white stop bar. Usually on a pole at curbside,they are a breadbox sized box,and may have an extra box for the flash.
some traffic lights have an extra light so that police can tell that the light is actually red in a particular direction without seeing the red themselves.(because they are off to the side...). The ones in my area change from white to blue when the traffic light is red for that lane and direction.
I've also seen red lights that have a strobe built in,so that it draws drivers attention better. eyes are naturally drawn to flashing or movement.
Sorry state of affairs where you have to have something to call attention to a d traffic controllight. Doesn't surprise me though seeing the quality of the average driver one encounters.
The light I saw looked exactly like this one except is was in a single enclosure in addition to the regular red lights:
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I was in the back seat in an unknown town in Alabama on 431 highway. It was a pretty large intersection. At one time during the trip we ran into a fire truck, but I can't be sure it was at the same time, but it most likely was.
Read the section entitled "Why choose a Barlo Strobe Enhanced Traffic Signal?"
It's basically says what I have been saying all along, including references to the same things I mentioned in an earlier response: visual noise (my example: strip mall lighting) and high speed approaches (my example: long, straight country roads)
I'll save you throuble...here it is:
The Barlo Safety Beam traffic signal system has been designed to enhance the normal illuminated red or amber section of the signal. This is sometimes necessary because of intense background lighting (visual noise), obstructed approaches, intersections that have activities that distract the drivers attention, obscure rail-road crossings, wrong-way warnings and high speed approaches that tends to deceive the drivers perception of distance.
About the only place I've seen them is on US280 from Birmingham to perhaps Alex City. I guess they don't make much of an impression on me anymore because I can't remember if there are more.
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