Traffic Lights !

[Guest Ash Cloud]

Bane of my life i swear to god these monsters were designed solely for the purpose of creating congestion road rage and bronchial diseases , i remember when the lights were out at the bottom of lothian road on a week day in rush hour i was driving to get to Melville Street or was it place left early as i was expecting the usual snarls ups and bottle necks got to the said lights which were inoperative and sailed through with not another vechicle in sight . Like i said just an excuse for trams congestion charges and whatever these ###### and we should get rid anyone else ?

[Sheiky Baby]

I feel your pain my friend but unfortunately due to the amount of idiots on the road if there was not traffic lights the amount of accidents on the road would be ridicoulus!

[tommythejambo]

Bane of my life i swear to god these monsters were designed solely for the purpose of creating congestion road rage and bronchial diseases , i remember when the lights were out at the bottom of lothian road on a week day in rush hour i was driving to get to Melville Street or was it place left early as i was expecting the usual snarls ups and bottle necks got to the said lights which were inoperative and sailed through with not another vechicle in sight . Like i said just an excuse for trams congestion charges and whatever these ###### and we should get rid anyone else ?

 

Na, it was to stop crashes.

[swavkav]

you should be count your blessings that you don't have to deal with Canary Warf lights like these,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hate driving in East London.

[Guest Ash Cloud]

you should be count your blessings that you don't have to deal with Canary Warf lights like these,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hate driving in East London.

 

 

 

Christ man the suicide rate must be 10 times the national average doon there !

[Big D]

I drove 5 miles from nth to sth Glasgow last night. It became obvious that if you stick to the speed limit you get stopped at every light. Where you sit for 3 to 4 minutes watching no pedestrians, and 1 car crossing the main road in that time. Agree with the OP. Traffic lights are designed to increase global warming. Civilised countries put their traffic lights to flashing amber after midnight. You take care to check other roads then proceed as normal. There is no increase in traffic accidents.

[Radioactive Mince]

Check for wee box thing; check for traffic - no wee box thing; no traffic - onwards and upwards.

 

Box things and traffic - Need to stop eh.

 

****ing Tory b***arding ****-faced Big Brother, PC risk-averse, Orwellian dicks (or something)

 

Mince

[Ben Dover]

I drove 5 miles from nth to sth Glasgow last night. It became obvious that if you stick to the speed limit you get stopped at every light. Where you sit for 3 to 4 minutes watching no pedestrians, and 1 car crossing the main road in that time. Agree with the OP. Traffic lights are designed to increase global warming. Civilised countries put their traffic lights to flashing amber after midnight. You take care to check other roads then proceed as normal. There is no increase in traffic accidents.

 

 

Is it just me or do Glasgow traffic lights seem to have a greater delay setting than those in the Edinburgh area, such that nobody moves for a long period between changes?

Rounabouts + lights..............NOW that is a gash combination.

[Big D]

Is it just me or do Glasgow traffic lights seem to have a greater delay setting than those in the Edinburgh area, such that nobody moves for a long period between changes?

Rounabouts + lights..............NOW that is a gash combination.

 

Nope, the Unionist backed traffic management in Glasgow is abyssmal. I have tried to explain this to them but they just dribble and shout FTQP. Set the lights to allow you through 4 sets at the correct speed. Cars are therefore on the road for less time as journeys are quicker. Fewer cars on the road = fewer accidents and lower exhaust emissions. It's not rocket surgery.

[Bert Le Clos]

I drove 5 miles from nth to sth Glasgow last night. It became obvious that if you stick to the speed limit you get stopped at every light. Where you sit for 3 to 4 minutes watching no pedestrians, and 1 car crossing the main road in that time. Agree with the OP. Traffic lights are designed to increase global warming. Civilised countries put their traffic lights to flashing amber after midnight. You take care to check other roads then proceed as normal. There is no increase in traffic accidents.

 

Considering you can get a fine and penalty points on your licenece for driving with your fog lights on when it's not foggy, I think there should be some sort of penalty for pedestrians who push the button the walk before the green man.

 

There is nothing more frustrating than seeing a pedestrian run over the road from a couple of hundred metres away then having to sit as the lights change to red.

[robbo86]

Bane of my life i swear to god these monsters were designed solely for the purpose of creating congestion road rage and bronchial diseases , i remember when the lights were out at the bottom of lothian road on a week day in rush hour i was driving to get to Melville Street or was it place left early as i was expecting the usual snarls ups and bottle necks got to the said lights which were inoperative and sailed through with not another vechicle in sight . Like i said just an excuse for trams congestion charges and whatever these ###### and we should get rid anyone else ?

I might be wrong but they also save lifes, just an observation

[N User]

I don't have a problem with traffic lights as such - they are needed on the roads. They give order which stops accidents and deaths.

 

My problem is there implementation and changes made to them.

 

-Notice how all the new traffic lights don't flash amber and stay on for a ridiculous amount of time?

Even the old dears crossing the road don't need that amount of time.

 

- Ever been queuing in traffic at the meadows? Have you noticed that the pedestrian crossing will go 10 seconds after being pressed - even if pressed immediately!

That just doesn't make sense. 10 seconds lets 4 cars through if you are lucky.

 

What about roundabouts and traffic islands being replaced with lights on roads that had no use for them?

 

 

In my opinion somebody (or some persons) have been purposely creating congestion for a number of years with silly tactics like these.

[Big D]

I don't have a problem with traffic lights as such - they are needed on the roads. They give order which stops accidents and deaths.

 

My problem is there implementation and changes made to them.

 

-Notice how all the new traffic lights don't flash amber and stay on for a ridiculous amount of time?

Even the old dears crossing the road don't need that amount of time.

 

- Ever been queuing in traffic at the meadows? Have you noticed that the pedestrian crossing will go 10 seconds after being pressed - even if pressed immediately!

That just doesn't make sense. 10 seconds lets 4 cars through if you are lucky.

 

What about roundabouts and traffic islands being replaced with lights on roads that had no use for them?

 

 

In my opinion somebody (or some persons) have been purposely creating congestion for a number of years with silly tactics like these.

 

You are correct. It explains congestion charging, tram lines etc. How can it be accidental that it is impossible to get through 2 sets of lights without speeding? That's why I use my bike so much these days. Traffic lights don't apply to bikes.

[Ribble]

You are correct. It explains congestion charging, tram lines etc. How can it be accidental that it is impossible to get through 2 sets of lights without speeding? That's why I use my bike so much these days. Traffic lights don't apply to bikes.

 

Yes they fecking well do! I too am a cyclist and it really gets my goat when other cyclists ignore red lights! If all cyclists obeyed the rules of the road them we might actually get somewhere with drivers showing us some consideration!

[Big D]

Nah, drivers will try and kill you regardless of whether you follow the highway code. I'm doing them a favour by getting out their way and 200 yds up the road before the lights change.

[frankblack]

Not got a problem particularly with lights, but the pedestrian ones need to be synchronised so that if they are near another set at a junction, they don't go to red when the junction ones are at green.

 

There is nothing worse than sitting at a pedestrian light while the ones 20 yards in front at the junction are green for you. One example - the pedestrian ones by the Leith Theatre at North Junction Street really annoy you as you have to wait another 5 minutes before the junction opens again.

 

There is only one thing worse than pedestrian lights - zebra crossings. The complete idiots that walk straight onto them and expect the traffic to magically stop should be put down. On a couple of occasions I've nearly done the job for them. It should be one set of pedestrian lights that all go red at once. The 4-way zebra crossing at Quality Street in Davidsons Mains is a disgrace. It is based around a mini-roundabout, where traffic comes from 4 directions and drivers have a very small window to cross. Its a bit much expecting you to try and time your gap and watch out for lemmings that leap onto the zebra crossing while you are moving.

[Flux]

http://didyouknow.org/trafficlights/

[JamboJen]

Not got a problem particularly with lights, but the pedestrian ones need to be synchronised so that if they are near another set at a junction, they don't go to red when the junction ones are at green.

 

There is nothing worse than sitting at a pedestrian light while the ones 20 yards in front at the junction are green for you. One example - the pedestrian ones by the Leith Theatre at North Junction Street really annoy you as you have to wait another 5 minutes before the junction opens again.

 

There is only one thing worse than pedestrian lights - zebra crossings. The complete idiots that walk straight onto them and expect the traffic to magically stop should be put down. On a couple of occasions I've nearly done the job for them. It should be one set of pedestrian lights that all go red at once. The 4-way zebra crossing at Quality Street in Davidsons Mains is a disgrace. It is based around a mini-roundabout, where traffic comes from 4 directions and drivers have a very small window to cross. Its a bit much expecting you to try and time your gap and watch out for lemmings that leap onto the zebra crossing while you are moving.

I failed my driving test on those ****ers

[Jambo Hoggie]

What about those lights at Cameron Toll roundabout WTF. They really get on my t!ts. That roundabout worked to perfection before those light were installed and traffic still flows freely when they're out of order so whose bright idea was that to install they f****n lights on a free flowing roundabout?

[upthehill]

Martin Cassini: No need to raise VAT. There is a source of cuts to dent the deficit and benefit us all

 

Martin Cassini is founder of the traffic think tank FiT Roads. He has published an article in the current edition of the Institute of Economic Affairs journal Economic Affairs ? Traffic Lights: Weapons of Mass Distraction, Danger & Delay, in this article he argues that traffic system reform offers unparalleled scope for beneficial spending cuts. The journal article can be read on the IEA website.

 

Image006 Not all cuts spell pain. The traffic control industry is ripe for reform that could bring massive savings as well as a transformation in road safety, congestion and quality of life. The industry is assumed to promote our well-being, but it operates to our detriment. With journey times at an all-time high, and 30,000 killed or hurt on our roads every year, the system is plainly unfit.

 

Most traffic control is a vain attempt to cure the symptoms of our problems on the road. Why do we have traffic lights? To break the priority streams of traffic so others can cross. Remove the cause of dangerous conflict ? priority ? and you remove the "need" for lights, and the need for speed, enabling everyone to do what is natural, safe and efficient: approach carefully and filter more or less in turn.

 

At major junctions at peak times, traffic control can be useful. Otherwise, the best guide to action is our natural ability to negotiate movement based on context. In negating that ability, the current system squanders infinite filtering opportunities and infinite expressions of fellow feeling.

 

When traffic lights fail and we follow our inner lights, ?Get out of my way!? becomes ?After you.? With courtesy free to flourish, congestion dissolves, even during signal failures across London (as in November 2007 and February 2008).

 

Could it be that simple? Well, deregulation is not enough on its own. To help people unlearn the bad habits of a lifetime, changes in culture, road design and the law are needed ? but any investment would soon be swamped by the savings.

 

The Department for Transport puts the annual cost of accidents at ?17.9bn. A natural form of traffic calming, FiT (filter in turn) would eliminate accidents where control plays a disruptive role.

 

The CBI put the cost of lost productivity from congestion at ?20bn. A lights-off trial in Portishead has gone permanent after self-regulation proved over twice as efficient. Across the UK, annual efficiencies of 60%, or ?12bn can be extrapolated.

 

Using a value of ?6 per person per hour, time savings at this one location exceed ?450,000 a year. Nationwide there are over 31,000 signal junctions costing ?150K each to install and ?5K a year to maintain, plus 25,000 pedestrian signals at ?50K / ?1K, i.e. ?5bn capital and ?150m running costs. Signal scrappage can provide further journey time savings of 56,000 x ?450,000 = ?25bn.

 

If deregulation can halve congestion at minimal cost, why waste millions on congestion charging? The odious London charge was imposed before deregulation was even tried. Now, thanks to endless signals causing endless interruptions, congestion is back to pre-charge levels.

 

In 2008/09, the Highways Agency spent ?6.5bn (yet it does nothing to stop middle lane merchants restricting road capacity). Transport for London, with 100 managers on ?100,000+, spent ?5.4bn excluding ?exceptional items?. The cost of our 150 local traffic authorities also runs into billions.

 

Instructional signage is a sign of expensive failure to design roads in a way that stimulates appropriate conduct. On FiT Roads, instructions could be removed and directions improved, enhancing the public realm and boosting employment.

 

Signal removal is also a no-cost way of cutting CO2. The electricity alone required to power our galaxy of 24-hour traffic lights produces 57,000 tonnes of CO2 a year. Other savings include the embedded energy in manufacture and installation, the needless delay, and the fourfold increase in fuel use and emissions caused by signal control. With equality stimulating co-operation instead of priority generating hostility, there will also be less need to police roads.

 

A Commons Audit Committee put the health costs of air pollution at ?20.2bn. Even if the claim is only partly right, FiT solutions, by allowing traffic to disperse freely, could make a difference.

 

Traffic system reform can bring sustainable social, economic and environmental gains. Need we look further for spending cuts that would disadvantage only the traffic ?experts? whose interventions are too often counterproductive?

 

Other articles by Martin Cassini on this subject can be found at www.mcassini.com and www.fitroads.com. Cassini?s 8-point plan to make Roads FiT for People is based on a trust in human nature rather than an obsession with controlling it.

[Currahee!]

Not got a problem particularly with lights, but the pedestrian ones need to be synchronised so that if they are near another set at a junction, they don't go to red when the junction ones are at green.

 

There is nothing worse than sitting at a pedestrian light while the ones 20 yards in front at the junction are green for you. One example - the pedestrian ones by the Leith Theatre at North Junction Street really annoy you as you have to wait another 5 minutes before the junction opens again.

 

There is only one thing worse than pedestrian lights - zebra crossings. The complete idiots that walk straight onto them and expect the traffic to magically stop should be put down. On a couple of occasions I've nearly done the job for them. It should be one set of pedestrian lights that all go red at once. The 4-way zebra crossing at Quality Street in Davidsons Mains is a disgrace. It is based around a mini-roundabout, where traffic comes from 4 directions and drivers have a very small window to cross. Its a bit much expecting you to try and time your gap and watch out for lemmings that leap onto the zebra crossing while you are moving.

 

You should always anticipate pedestrians walking onto a zebra crossing. Be aware. If you knock someone over on a zebra crossing you are in serious trouble. The best of lawyers will struggle to keep you from spending time at her majesty's pleasure.

 

What really annoys me is temporary traffic lights. Why do people basically ignore these? If its red you stop. The amount of people who jump these is unbelievable. It usually makes the lights fail to red, making everybody elses journey a misery. I wish the police would nail the selfish people doing this, instead of putting speed cameras up where they're not needed.

[frankblack]

You should always anticipate pedestrians walking onto a zebra crossing. Be aware. If you knock someone over on a zebra crossing you are in serious trouble. The best of lawyers will struggle to keep you from spending time at her majesty's pleasure.

 

What really annoys me is temporary traffic lights. Why do people basically ignore these? If its red you stop. The amount of people who jump these is unbelievable. It usually makes the lights fail to red, making everybody elses journey a misery. I wish the police would nail the selfish people doing this, instead of putting speed cameras up where they're not needed.

 

Yeah, I know the law, but having a zebra -> mini roundabout -> zebra to negotiate is extremely risky at rush hour when traffic is coming onto the mini-roundabout at least two other ways.

 

The problem here is that the window to make your move on the mini-roundabout is very small - mis-time it and you hit another car. This means you have to get past the first zebra, use a bit of speed to clear the mini-roundabout, and then check if someone is stepping onto the second zebra - all within a few seconds. If you stop suddenly at the second, you run the risk of being hit by another car yourself!

 

There used to be pedestrian lights at that junction yet some ****wit thought this was a safer alternative! The main issue with zebra crossings is that pedestrians have to make their intention to step on clear to the drivers, and not just jump on from a crowd. The issue with this junction at quality street is that there are too many hazards too close together, making the likelihood of accidents high at peak time.

 

As for your second point about the temporary traffic lights. I don't see many people go clear through on red, but a lot of people will follow cars through on red, knowing they have the security that cars on the other side can't start moving until they are all through.

[Tazio]

You are correct. It explains congestion charging, tram lines etc. How can it be accidental that it is impossible to get through 2 sets of lights without speeding? That's why I use my bike so much these days. Traffic lights don't apply to bikes.

 

Bollocks. I almost mowed someone down on Queen Street last week that had that opinion, I went into a full skid and missed his back wheel by about a foot.

 

And I was on my bike.

[Currahee!]

Yeah, I know the law, but having a zebra -> mini roundabout -> zebra to negotiate is extremely risky at rush hour when traffic is coming onto the mini-roundabout at least two other ways.

 

The problem here is that the window to make your move on the mini-roundabout is very small - mis-time it and you hit another car. This means you have to get past the first zebra, use a bit of speed to clear the mini-roundabout, and then check if someone is stepping onto the second zebra - all within a few seconds. If you stop suddenly at the second, you run the risk of being hit by another car yourself!

 

There used to be pedestrian lights at that junction yet some ****wit thought this was a safer alternative! The main issue with zebra crossings is that pedestrians have to make their intention to step on clear to the drivers, and not just jump on from a crowd. The issue with this junction at quality street is that there are too many hazards too close together, making the likelihood of accidents high at peak time.

 

As for your second point about the temporary traffic lights. I don't see many people go clear through on red, but a lot of people will follow cars through on red, knowing they have the security that cars on the other side can't start moving until they are all through.

 

That scenario in Davidsons Mains sounds a nightmare. Maybe some idiot in an office pushed it through without going on site to see how everything works.

 

My job sometimes involves using temporary traffic lights. So I see 1st hand the amount of drivers who jump the lights and its plenty. The police would have a field day just sitting there nicking everybody who did.

 

We were doing a job on the A68 and we had to do the traffic lights manually during rush hour. So we stand at the box watching the lights on the computer and change them when the volume of traffic dictates. Drivers consistently jumping them so I got my camera out and just took photos of the ground so drivers would see the flash. It soon stopped.

[frankblack]

That scenario in Davidsons Mains sounds a nightmare. Maybe some idiot in an office pushed it through without going on site to see how everything works.

 

My job sometimes involves using temporary traffic lights. So I see 1st hand the amount of drivers who jump the lights and its plenty. The police would have a field day just sitting there nicking everybody who did.

 

We were doing a job on the A68 and we had to do the traffic lights manually during rush hour. So we stand at the box watching the lights on the computer and change them when the volume of traffic dictates. Drivers consistently jumping them so I got my camera out and just took photos of the ground so drivers would see the flash. It soon stopped.

 

Yeah - would be easily solved by reverting it back to two parallel pedestrian crossings from tesco -> royal high.

 

They also have a lollipop lady who is completely unnecessary and causes even more congestion by crossing the road to pick people up from both sides then returning to where she came from - sometimes the traffic tails all the way back onto queensferry road because of her antics!

 

Changing the subject slightly:

I was at the Gyle doing my shopping this Sunday afternoon. On completion of it I headed back and was almost at the Gogar Roundabout, when the lights went green for me. TWO cars then proceeded to fly through at red from my right - they could have killed someone they were that late as it was fully green for more than a second on my side.

 

This isn't the first time this has happened to me on a Sunday at that roundabout. Perhaps cameras at the lights are needed to get these arseholes off the road.

[JamboInSouthsea]

Martin Cassini: No need to raise VAT. There is a source of cuts to dent the deficit and benefit us all

 

Martin Cassini is founder of the traffic think tank FiT Roads. He has published an article in the current edition of the Institute of Economic Affairs journal Economic Affairs ? Traffic Lights: Weapons of Mass Distraction, Danger & Delay, in this article he argues that traffic system reform offers unparalleled scope for beneficial spending cuts. The journal article can be read on the IEA website.

 

Image006 Not all cuts spell pain. The traffic control industry is ripe for reform that could bring massive savings as well as a transformation in road safety, congestion and quality of life. The industry is assumed to promote our well-being, but it operates to our detriment. With journey times at an all-time high, and 30,000 killed or hurt on our roads every year, the system is plainly unfit.

 

Most traffic control is a vain attempt to cure the symptoms of our problems on the road. Why do we have traffic lights? To break the priority streams of traffic so others can cross. Remove the cause of dangerous conflict ? priority ? and you remove the "need" for lights, and the need for speed, enabling everyone to do what is natural, safe and efficient: approach carefully and filter more or less in turn.

 

At major junctions at peak times, traffic control can be useful. Otherwise, the best guide to action is our natural ability to negotiate movement based on context. In negating that ability, the current system squanders infinite filtering opportunities and infinite expressions of fellow feeling.

 

When traffic lights fail and we follow our inner lights, ?Get out of my way!? becomes ?After you.? With courtesy free to flourish, congestion dissolves, even during signal failures across London (as in November 2007 and February 2008).

 

Could it be that simple? Well, deregulation is not enough on its own. To help people unlearn the bad habits of a lifetime, changes in culture, road design and the law are needed ? but any investment would soon be swamped by the savings.

 

The Department for Transport puts the annual cost of accidents at ?17.9bn. A natural form of traffic calming, FiT (filter in turn) would eliminate accidents where control plays a disruptive role.

 

The CBI put the cost of lost productivity from congestion at ?20bn. A lights-off trial in Portishead has gone permanent after self-regulation proved over twice as efficient. Across the UK, annual efficiencies of 60%, or ?12bn can be extrapolated.

 

Using a value of ?6 per person per hour, time savings at this one location exceed ?450,000 a year. Nationwide there are over 31,000 signal junctions costing ?150K each to install and ?5K a year to maintain, plus 25,000 pedestrian signals at ?50K / ?1K, i.e. ?5bn capital and ?150m running costs. Signal scrappage can provide further journey time savings of 56,000 x ?450,000 = ?25bn.

 

If deregulation can halve congestion at minimal cost, why waste millions on congestion charging? The odious London charge was imposed before deregulation was even tried. Now, thanks to endless signals causing endless interruptions, congestion is back to pre-charge levels.

 

In 2008/09, the Highways Agency spent ?6.5bn (yet it does nothing to stop middle lane merchants restricting road capacity). Transport for London, with 100 managers on ?100,000+, spent ?5.4bn excluding ?exceptional items?. The cost of our 150 local traffic authorities also runs into billions.

 

Instructional signage is a sign of expensive failure to design roads in a way that stimulates appropriate conduct. On FiT Roads, instructions could be removed and directions improved, enhancing the public realm and boosting employment.

 

Signal removal is also a no-cost way of cutting CO2. The electricity alone required to power our galaxy of 24-hour traffic lights produces 57,000 tonnes of CO2 a year. Other savings include the embedded energy in manufacture and installation, the needless delay, and the fourfold increase in fuel use and emissions caused by signal control. With equality stimulating co-operation instead of priority generating hostility, there will also be less need to police roads.

 

A Commons Audit Committee put the health costs of air pollution at ?20.2bn. Even if the claim is only partly right, FiT solutions, by allowing traffic to disperse freely, could make a difference.

 

Traffic system reform can bring sustainable social, economic and environmental gains. Need we look further for spending cuts that would disadvantage only the traffic ?experts? whose interventions are too often counterproductive?

 

Other articles by Martin Cassini on this subject can be found at www.mcassini.com and www.fitroads.com. Cassini?s 8-point plan to make Roads FiT for People is based on a trust in human nature rather than an obsession with controlling it.

 

Wise words indeed...anytime i've been driving around and the traffic lights have gone down then the traffic has flowed much more easily and continuously with people taking it in turns and giving way to each other. Also because you don't get muppets jumping the lights as it were it's also much safer. Annoying if you want to cross the road but more zebra crossings would help with that. Given the chance, most people will be courteous to each other and as mentioned less traffic lights reduces needless pollution.

 

Same can be said for all the endless health and safety signs you get everywhere...accidents have been reduced where the council has removed them.

 

We need and want less control from the government, not more.