OT traffic lights

[Tim W]

Andrew Gabriel wibbled on Tuesday 20 October 2009 14:18

Sounds like a classic case of lights-adjusting bloke being *told* to do something he knew wouldn't work... And then being "helpful" :_)

[Tim W]

Steve Walker wibbled on Tuesday 20 October 2009 14:26

They'd probably have to use flashing amber as flashing red means "absolutely do not proceed" (cf level crossings)

[Tim W]

Dave Liquorice wibbled on Tuesday 20 October 2009 16:23

I think so. Last time I drove in Boulougne (sp?) there was a woman in a little French car on the right who looked determined that she was about to leap out in front of me (on the main road).

The fact she decided not to was probably due to me being in

a) A big car

b) On the right side of the car driving, therefore not French

c) Looking even more determined than she

It's a stupid rule. It should have been junked years ago - if nothing else, it confuses everyone else in Europe who might happen to drive through France.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Adrian C saying something like:

"Supposed failure of the braking system .... The man across the road, apparently born in a shirt!"

[Steve Walker]

They've partially got rid of it. Most roundabouts have signs telling you that you haven't got priority on the approach, most major roads are marked as having priority over the sideroads. So it's now even worse, as you have to be sure that both you and the driver about to pull out are sure of who's got priority!

SteveW

[Steve Walker]

True, but I was trying to avoid the flashing amber, as my idea was to turn it into the temporary equivalent of a stop sign, hence staying with red rather than being similar to other countries' flashing ambers, which could be confused as cautions.

SteveW

[Jules]

I was trying to work out if it had been sped up to make it more dramatic (the car seems to remain remarkably unsquished for such a big impact), bu the pedestrian on the far left seems to be walking at a reasonably normal pace, so maybe not...

[nightjar]

AAIUI If the lights turn to green as you approach, they also turn red against the cross traffic. If someone decides to jump the light that has just changed red against them, the risk of collission is higher than if you had been brought to a stop and need to accelerate away from the line..

Colin Bignell

[Arfa Daily]

I think I would have to suggest that, given all the variables that might impede a bus's journey - old ladies with walking sticks and shopping bags trying to clamber on, mothers with kids and push chairs, local authority / gas board / water board etc digging up the road, weather conditions, people with no change and so on - if a ten second delay at a set of lights could screw up the timetable for the day, then the person that determined the scheduling, got it wrong ...

Arfa

[Clive George]

They have it, but nearly every junction has the "no, it doesn't apply here" sign applied to it, which means in practice they don't have it.

I've never had a problem. I wouldn't trust a junction in a town anyway, and they're the ones likely to still be p.a.d. Outside town, it's generally pretty sane.

[ARWadsworth]

When I used to drive around Eastern Europe the traffic lights used to all flas amber at night and you had to look for the priority sign (yellow diamond) or no priority sign (yellow diamond with a black line through it) as you approached the junction.

Adam

[ARWadsworth]

The timer on the bottom left of the CCTV suggests that it is not sped up.

Adam

[cynic]

Can you quote some specification details for these transponders?

[Jules]

Indeed, although it had crossed my mind that someone could had added it to the sped-up video frames after the fact. Effort for not much gain, though!

[Owain]

search for Texas Instruments TIRIS RFID should lead you towards more techie stuff.

Owain

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Jules saying something like:

Nah, the guy just had good observation, and bloody good reactions. That he was already loping along saved him from a bit of grief.

[nospam]

...specifically aimed at you.

No, that's not true. It's to study the effect on your paranoia levels. Sometimes we dig up whole sections of motorway just so we can watch you fulminate on usenet.

We have a padded cell with your name on it in the basement of the DVLA.

[Mark]

Or just switch the traffic lights off? Save a few pennies in electrickery too ;-)

There's one junction that actually changes to red against me sometimes, even when there is no other traffic around :-(

[dennis]

The same as steady red then. Steady red also means do not proceed.

[dennis]

"nightjar.me.uk>"

Around Brum there isn't much delay between the red and green the other way. We don't get many jumping red lights but it is getting worse with the bad habits from visitors spreading. On the junctions where people frequently jump the red they extend the gap and fit cameras. Its the idiot drivers that make the long overlap necessary and they are growing in numbers. More cameras and stiffer fines is the easiest solution.