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Not safe at all! These things need to be simple, simplier that this. Red – orange – green… How simple is that? These light are very dangerous even though I like the design. And it could be hard to read it in rain / snow / from bigger distance…

What about color blind people ?
I'd like to see them hesitating at full speed between STOP and GO….

This is a proper solution : http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/11/30/a-better-un...

Things have sometimes a specific design for a good reason.
This is just a dead end concept….

I like the innovation, but probably just a simple timer added to the existing stoplights is all that's needed, the same time often used for pedestrian crosswalks, but that could ideally be viewed from a distance, to allow caution when approaching a stale green light or ease of mind when approaching a fresh green light (with 10+ seconds on it).

the simplicity of the existing lights is still better. simple improvement would be the red light blinking just before switching to green. just to give motorist a heads up. no need to replace existing ones too.

Not much to say to what Petr, Paul and Doug already said.
Unsafe design, at best.
Damjan Stanković's design (indicated by Paul) deals with it in a more elegant way.

@A3trion, The german system is better then blinking.
Red = stop
red+orange = start your engines
Green = go
orange (without red) = prepare to stop.

@Topic, as paul said, certain colourblind do not see the difference between red and green. This system will not work for them and theirfore it should not be implented.

looks like a wineglass

Why didn’t designers think of colorblind people…

I’d fire them…

Using orange twice seems dangerous. How can someone who approaches the orange light know whether the lights are about to turn green of red? Other than that it looks pretty cool.

ambiguous yellow, huh?

Color blind doesn't mean black and white you morons. I am color blind and the combination of certain colors will make for some colors to dominate the other, making the weaker one "disappear" into the stronger color. That would not be the case in this design. We are still able the tell green from red!

Great from a design point of view, but usability wise it is flawed. There is no way to distinguish between the orange to red and orange to green states and most importantly as with all timed traffic lights there will inevitably be users who keep pushing the limits by taking off earlier because the traffic light tells them its about to become green. Possibly creating dangerous situations this way.

We actually have a better solution over here for people on bike. Next to the actual lights, there's a vertical bar of LEDs which starts all lighten up and is ticking away LEDs to show people how long to wait. The LEDs will need to be bigger for usage on traffic lights hanging over the street, but I guess that's still the best alternative.

I get a kind of Windows déjà vu…

I like this, I really do. I see, however, two major problems with that need solving if this is going to have a serious chance:

First, there is no way to see whether the orange light is about to go red or to go green. Find a way to express this. German lights, for example, use a green -> orange -> red -> red+orange -> green cycle.

Second, lights are top-to-bottom red-orange-green or sometimes just red-green, and they are that way for the simple reason that otherwise red/green colour blind people wouldn't know what the lights mean. For the same reasons you'll see no "horizontal" traffic lights in Europe. There's a case of a Dutch air force employee ending up in a car crossing an air strip while a fighter jet was landing because he was colour blind and that particular light had the green light on top. Disaster was narrowly averted, and afterward policies changed, but it is an important lesson. In general traffic there will be colour blind people, so you need to find a way to show them what's going on too.

I do like the general idea though.

Not safe at all! These things need to be simple, simplier that this. Red – orange – green… How simple is that? These light are very dangerous even though I like the design. And it could be hard to read it in rain / snow / from bigger distance…

What about color blind people ?
I'd like to see them hesitating at full speed between STOP and GO….

This is a proper solution : http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/11/30/a-better-un...

Things have sometimes a specific design for a good reason.
This is just a dead end concept….

I like the innovation, but probably just a simple timer added to the existing stoplights is all that's needed, the same time often used for pedestrian crosswalks, but that could ideally be viewed from a distance, to allow caution when approaching a stale green light or ease of mind when approaching a fresh green light (with 10+ seconds on it).

People will be launching into the intersections earlier and staying in them later. CRASH!

the simplicity of the existing lights is still better. simple improvement would be the red light blinking just before switching to green. just to give motorist a heads up. no need to replace existing ones too.

Not much to say to what Petr, Paul and Doug already said.
Unsafe design, at best.
Damjan Stanković's design (indicated by Paul) deals with it in a more elegant way.

@A3trion, The german system is better then blinking.
Red = stop
red+orange = start your engines
Green = go
orange (without red) = prepare to stop.

@Topic, as paul said, certain colourblind do not see the difference between red and green. This system will not work for them and theirfore it should not be implented.

looks like a wineglass

Why didn’t designers think of colorblind people…

I’d fire them…

Using orange twice seems dangerous. How can someone who approaches the orange light know whether the lights are about to turn green of red? Other than that it looks pretty cool.

Color blind doesn't mean black and white you morons. I am color blind and the combination of certain colors will make for some colors to dominate the other, making the weaker one “disappear” into the stronger color. That would not be the case in this design. We are still able the tell green from red!

Great from a design point of view, but usability wise it is flawed. There is no way to distinguish between the orange to red and orange to green states and most importantly as with all timed traffic lights there will inevitably be users who keep pushing the limits by taking off earlier because the traffic light tells them its about to become green. Possibly creating dangerous situations this way.

We actually have a better solution over here for people on bike. Next to the actual lights, there's a vertical bar of LEDs which starts all lighten up and is ticking away LEDs to show people how long to wait. The LEDs will need to be bigger for usage on traffic lights hanging over the street, but I guess that's still the best alternative.

this it terrible….. you call yourself a designer? What professor advised you on this? wow.

Another problem with LED based lighting – snow build up. Traditional bulbs generate heat and melt snow (in most cases). LEDs produce very little heat – so not as much melting will happen.

Problem 1:
This is LESS effective than current lights for colorblind people.

Problem 2:
According to the diagram, The Red -> Green transition is the same as the Green -> Yellow transition. This will cause MORE accidents.

Problem 3:
Lights need to be attention GRABBING, but not attention HOLDING. Once we acknowledge the signal, we need to return our awareness to our surroundings, rather than keeping our eyes glued to a ticking clock like anxious schoolchildren.

No reason to be a jackass, Kamazinho. Colorblindness takes many different forms. My father can’t see the difference between red and green and can tell when to go by whether the light is on at top, middle, or bottom.

How would you like to be crossing the intersection when my father is coming up to one of these red lights?

Yanko already had the perfect traffic lights (made it into november 09s top designs… http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/11/30/a-better-un...

Being red-green color blind is far more common than you'd think (I've seen it as high as 7% of all males). My first thought was of a friend who explained to me that he knows the top light is the red-stop light and the bottom one is the green-go light. He can differentiate between the two.

I get a kind of Windows d�j� vu…

In Israel they have the normal Red/Yellow/Green lights, but they operate subtley differently:

Green -> Yellow -> Red (this part is normal)

when it's about to go green, it goes Red+Yellow for awhile, then goes green.

No new light pole needed, just a new controller. The only problem is, people get used to it, so if you're not already off your brake pedal by the time it's red+yellow, people will honk at you to go before the light is even green.

I like this idea!

I'm colorblind, and I use the location of the light (top, middle, bottom) to figure out what the signal is. This concept would be deadly.

I personally do not think that we need any more than 3 colour signals,(in the combinations that are already in existence ) different shapes might help the colour blind of our society. simple is better, especially as most people try to race the lights anyway, the new designs may help. Only 3 please. Everybody seems to in a rush these days unnecessarily.

I like this, I really do. I see, however, two major problems with that need solving if this is going to have a serious chance:

First, there is no way to see whether the orange light is about to go red or to go green. Find a way to express this. German lights, for example, use a green -> orange -> red -> red+orange -> green cycle.

Second, lights are top-to-bottom red-orange-green or sometimes just red-green, and they are that way for the simple reason that otherwise red/green colour blind people wouldn't know what the lights mean. For the same reasons you'll see no “horizontal” traffic lights in Europe. There's a case of a Dutch air force employee ending up in a car crossing an air strip while a fighter jet was landing because he was colour blind and that particular light had the green light on top. Disaster was narrowly averted, and afterward policies changed, but it is an important lesson. In general traffic there will be colour blind people, so you need to find a way to show them what's going on too.

I do like the general idea though.

If I come upon a yellow light, how will I know whether to prepare to stop or prepare to go?

Not only is the second orange dangerous for the reasons noted in above above, it would also (I'm assuming) take the place of the all red phase within the signal cycle, which is a safety feature intended to allow the intersection to clear before the green indication comes on. Implementing this indication would greatly increase traffic accidents in my semi-professional opinion. Drivers are simply not going to stop running red lights, no matter how you change things.
Incedently back in the ancient times of traffic signals, the phasing proceeded the same as this proposal (Green-Yellow(Orange)-Red-Yellow(Orange)-Green…etc.). This was deemed unsafe and thus changed to what we're familiar with today.
More important than the blatant design flaws is the fact that no signal controller I know about would be able to run this complex of a indication. One of the most important features of the current traffic indications are their simplicity; this is the opposite of a simple design.

Actually, come to think of it, all my before points are moot.
This wouldn't work simply because signals aren't pre-timed. The more vehicle demand there is the more green there would be. The hourglass would have to stop or "refill" for each vehicle extention (i.e. whenever any vehicle crosses the detection loops or enters the video detection zone.)
Simply put, even if there were no other design flaws, this indication would only be able to be used with pretimed signals, which are themselves extremely rarely used in this day and age, nearly every modern intersection is either semi-actuated or fully actuated.
Clearly the designers looked only at form and completely ignored function. Fail.

People will be launching into the intersections earlier and staying in them later. CRASH!

You can't tell if it's counting down to red or if it's about to go green, guess it means gun it no matter what

Nice but usesless. If your are in a car driving, it will distract you from the actual focus of attention, THE ROAD!! You got to design things to make other things SAFER, not CUTER!!!

BTW, Kamazinho, the colour i'ts not the point… it's the way it's shows it, more like "living trough a videogame" than in contact with the actual true of life… one thing is was the color tells you, and the other it's that you always have to look for a drunk driver in the road!!!

I like the idea/design from an artist's point of view, with only one critique, though. I don't understand why there would be a numerical count down between the change from red to green-that could definitely lead to dangerous confusion. We currently only have a Yellow light between green to red to warn people to slow down, why not keep it that way? As for a3trion's suggestion regarding blinking lights, we have, here in California, a similar set-up for the pedestrians that also works for drivers that pay attention to patterns. When it is time for them to cross at a crosswalk, illuminated numbers count down then a red "stop" hand blinks a few times before going to a solid glowing hand. When the blinking hand stops the green light also changes to yellow, warning moving traffic to stop. The blinking hand is functional for more than pedestrians, though. It is also an indicator to waiting traffic to be ready to go. Unfortunately, not all pedestrian signs change automatically. Some have to still be triggered by someone pressing a button….

"Color blind doesn't mean black and white you morons… We are still able the tell green from red! "

Right, tell that to my grandfather. There are several different types of colorblindness and different severities within them. Some do okay with red/green, some do not. He's among the latter.

this it terrible….. you call yourself a designer? What professor advised you on this? wow.

Another problem with LED based lighting – snow build up. Traditional bulbs generate heat and melt snow (in most cases). LEDs produce very little heat – so not as much melting will happen.

Problem 1:
This is LESS effective than current lights for colorblind people.

Problem 2:
According to the diagram, The Red -> Green transition is the same as the Green -> Yellow transition. This will cause MORE accidents.

Problem 3:
Lights need to be attention GRABBING, but not attention HOLDING. Once we acknowledge the signal, we need to return our awareness to our surroundings, rather than keeping our eyes glued to a ticking clock like anxious schoolchildren.

No reason to be a jackass, Kamazinho. Colorblindness takes many different forms. My father can’t see the difference between red and green and can tell when to go by whether the light is on at top, middle, or bottom.

How would you like to be crossing the intersection when my father is coming up to one of these red lights?

Yanko already had the perfect traffic lights (made it into november 09s top designs… http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/11/30/a-better-un...

Being red-green color blind is far more common than you'd think (I've seen it as high as 7% of all males). My first thought was of a friend who explained to me that he knows the top light is the red-stop light and the bottom one is the green-go light. He can differentiate between the two.

So what do you do if you look up and see a yellow countdown if you didn't see what came before it? Get ready to go or stop?

@Kamazinho:
Uh… There’s more than one type of color blindness ranging from trouble discerning certain colors(red/green, blue/yellow) to total black and white (though this is a rare condition), therefore other color blind people may find it more difficult to identify than yourself.

In Israel they have the normal Red/Yellow/Green lights, but they operate subtley differently:

Green -> Yellow -> Red (this part is normal)

when it's about to go green, it goes Red+Yellow for awhile, then goes green.

No new light pole needed, just a new controller. The only problem is, people get used to it, so if you're not already off your brake pedal by the time it's red+yellow, people will honk at you to go before the light is even green.

What if someone approaches an intersection with no people waiting at it, and all they see is the yellow light, say after a right turn or something? I see this causing accidents. Do we really need a 'get ready' segment? people need to get ready to speed across the intersection? Terrible.

I like this idea!

What about people who are color blind?

One small but important detail. LED lights have to be heated in winter, because they really don't heat themselves and don't melt snow or ice like ordinary lights do.

I'm colorblind, and I use the location of the light (top, middle, bottom) to figure out what the signal is. This concept would be deadly.

I personally do not think that we need any more than 3 colour signals,(in the combinations that are already in existence ) different shapes might help the colour blind of our society. simple is better, especially as most people try to race the lights anyway, the new designs may help. Only 3 please. Everybody seems to in a rush these days unnecessarily.

Hi Doug,
I agree with you

@Kamazinho:
"There are many types of color blindness. The most common are red-green hereditary photoreceptor disorders, but it is also possible to acquire color blindness through damage to the retina, optic nerve, or higher brain areas. " … The different kinds of inherited color blindness result from partial or complete loss of function of one or more of the different cone systems. When one cone system is compromised, dichromacy results. The most frequent forms of human color blindness result from problems with either the middle or long wavelength sensitive cone systems, and involve difficulties in discriminating reds, yellows, and greens from one another. They are collectively referred to as "red-green color blindness", though the term is an over-simplification and is somewhat misleading. Other forms of color blindness are much more rare.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_blindness)

beautiful traffic lights

Aesthetically very nice, but from a usability point of view, existing traffic lights are definitely superior: simplicity, colour-blindness etc.

If I come upon a yellow light, how will I know whether to prepare to stop or prepare to go?

Not only is the second orange dangerous for the reasons noted in above above, it would also (I'm assuming) take the place of the all red phase within the signal cycle, which is a safety feature intended to allow the intersection to clear before the green indication comes on. Implementing this indication would greatly increase traffic accidents in my semi-professional opinion. Drivers are simply not going to stop running red lights, no matter how you change things.
Incedently back in the ancient times of traffic signals, the phasing proceeded the same as this proposal (Green-Yellow(Orange)-Red-Yellow(Orange)-Green…etc.). This was deemed unsafe and thus changed to what we're familiar with today.
More important than the blatant design flaws is the fact that no signal controller I know about would be able to run this complex of a indication. One of the most important features of the current traffic indications are their simplicity; this is the opposite of a simple design.

It's really sad that designers are trying to "design" things with no research and not understanding past solutions!
I cannot see any other reason why it the author ommited all best features of current traffic lights just to make a pretty unusable graphics. This is not what modern design should be…

I’m colorblind. And yes, @Kamazinho, I’m able to tell green from red. But in some conditions it would be hard for me if the difference between the lights is only the color and not the location or shape of the lights. And there are people who have a worse form of colorblindness than the two of us, Kamazinho.

This here is a much better design for traffic savety:
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/06/18/traffic-light-...

The timer may be implemented in the way Paul proposed or using the german system (I’m german).

Actually, come to think of it, all my before points are moot.
This wouldn't work simply because signals aren't pre-timed. The more vehicle demand there is the more green there would be. The hourglass would have to stop or “refill” for each vehicle extention (i.e. whenever any vehicle crosses the detection loops or enters the video detection zone.)
Simply put, even if there were no other design flaws, this indication would only be able to be used with pretimed signals, which are themselves extremely rarely used in this day and age, nearly every modern intersection is either semi-actuated or fully actuated.
Clearly the designers looked only at form and completely ignored function. Fail.

You can't tell if it's counting down to red or if it's about to go green, guess it means gun it no matter what

Nice but usesless. If your are in a car driving, it will distract you from the actual focus of attention, THE ROAD!! You got to design things to make other things SAFER, not CUTER!!!

BTW, Kamazinho, the colour i'ts not the point… it's the way it's shows it, more like “living trough a videogame” than in contact with the actual true of life… one thing is was the color tells you, and the other it's that you always have to look for a drunk driver in the road!!!

It sounds like you have the most common form of colour blindness, anomalous trichromacy, which means you can see all colours, they are just slightly misaligned.

But that isn’t the only form of colour blindness, people with dichromacy and monochromacy actually wouldn’t be able to distinguish these colours. For about 3% of the population red, orange and green would all appear as similar shades of yellow, thus making this design unusable.

I like the idea/design from an artist's point of view, with only one critique, though. I don't understand why there would be a numerical count down between the change from red to green-that could definitely lead to dangerous confusion. We currently only have a Yellow light between green to red to warn people to slow down, why not keep it that way? As for a3trion's suggestion regarding blinking lights, we have, here in California, a similar set-up for the pedestrians that also works for drivers that pay attention to patterns. When it is time for them to cross at a crosswalk, illuminated numbers count down then a red “stop” hand blinks a few times before going to a solid glowing hand. When the blinking hand stops the green light also changes to yellow, warning moving traffic to stop. The blinking hand is functional for more than pedestrians, though. It is also an indicator to waiting traffic to be ready to go. Unfortunately, not all pedestrian signs change automatically. Some have to still be triggered by someone pressing a button….

“Color blind doesn't mean black and white you morons… We are still able the tell green from red! ”

Right, tell that to my grandfather. There are several different types of colorblindness and different severities within them. Some do okay with red/green, some do not. He's among the latter.

before 'fixing' the current system, explain to me why it's 'broken'. What we have now seems clear and fine. Put more energy into solving problems that actually need it.

So what do you do if you look up and see a yellow countdown if you didn't see what came before it? Get ready to go or stop?

What if someone approaches an intersection with no people waiting at it, and all they see is the yellow light, say after a right turn or something? I see this causing accidents. Do we really need a 'get ready' segment? people need to get ready to speed across the intersection? Terrible.

kamazhino.. You done know too much for being colorblind. I cannot distinguish reds from greens

What about people who are color blind?

One small but important detail. LED lights have to be heated in winter, because they really don't heat themselves and don't melt snow or ice like ordinary lights do.

@Kamazinho:
“There are many types of color blindness. The most common are red-green hereditary photoreceptor disorders, but it is also possible to acquire color blindness through damage to the retina, optic nerve, or higher brain areas. ” … The different kinds of inherited color blindness result from partial or complete loss of function of one or more of the different cone systems. When one cone system is compromised, dichromacy results. The most frequent forms of human color blindness result from problems with either the middle or long wavelength sensitive cone systems, and involve difficulties in discriminating reds, yellows, and greens from one another. They are collectively referred to as “red-green color blindness”, though the term is an over-simplification and is somewhat misleading. Other forms of color blindness are much more rare.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_blindness)“ target=”_blank”> ” target=”_blank”>(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_blindness)

beautiful traffic lights

Aesthetically very nice, but from a usability point of view, existing traffic lights are definitely superior: simplicity, colour-blindness etc.

It's really sad that designers are trying to “design” things with no research and not understanding past solutions!
I cannot see any other reason why it the author ommited all best features of current traffic lights just to make a pretty unusable graphics. This is not what modern design should be…

I’m colorblind. And yes, @Kamazinho, I’m able to tell green from red. But in some conditions it would be hard for me if the difference between the lights is only the color and not the location or shape of the lights. And there are people who have a worse form of colorblindness than the two of us, Kamazinho.

This here is a much better design for traffic savety:
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/06/18/traffic-light-...

The timer may be implemented in the way Paul proposed or using the german system (I’m german).

People don't need a "ready to go" light. It will just encourage them to jump the gun and start going before it's green. This will cause them to get into accidents with people who are racing to get through the light before it turns red (or even afterward as some people end up doing)

two words.
color. blind.

Four Points:
1) Change the countdown on the READY light to RED COUNTDOWN.
2) Use this in addition to the classic three-light signals.
3) When signal is in demand mode (few cars on the road, activated by vehicles) don't show downward stream indicating the flow of time.
4) Use this only at very busy intersections (sports arenas, large airports) where there are guaranteed to be cars queued up and stopped at the intersections.

One more comment:

>This here is a much better design for traffic savety:
&gt ;http://www.autoblog.com/2010/06/18/traffic-light-as-redesigned-for-the-color-blind/” rel=”nofollow”> ” target=”_blank”>;http://www.autoblog.com/2010/06/18/traffic-light-as-redesigned-for-the-color-blind/

The shapes should be different than in this design study:

Shapes should be:
Square (Red) – Stop
Triangle (Yellow) – Attention
Round (Green) – Go

This would be a large security improvement at light, where you can’t see the order of the lights.

wait, i don't get it. when it's counting down in yellow, you don't know if it's going to be red or green next?? how is that safe at all?

before 'fixing' the current system, explain to me why it's 'broken'. What we have now seems clear and fine. Put more energy into solving problems that actually need it.

kamazhino.. You done know too much for being colorblind. I cannot distinguish reds from greens

Great idea – the only consideration I would make is regards the yellow segment of the light cycle. At the countdown to green, have the number in green and when the yellow is cycling to red have that number in red so folks coming to the light will know where it's going

People don't need a “ready to go” light. It will just encourage them to jump the gun and start going before it's green. This will cause them to get into accidents with people who are racing to get through the light before it turns red (or even afterward as some people end up doing)

two words.
color. blind.

Four Points:
1) Change the countdown on the READY light to RED COUNTDOWN.
2) Use this in addition to the classic three-light signals.
3) When signal is in demand mode (few cars on the road, activated by vehicles) don't show downward stream indicating the flow of time.
4) Use this only at very busy intersections (sports arenas, large airports) where there are guaranteed to be cars queued up and stopped at the intersections.

wait, i don't get it. when it's counting down in yellow, you don't know if it's going to be red or green next?? how is that safe at all?

They can tell which one is lit up.

Great idea – the only consideration I would make is regards the yellow segment of the light cycle. At the countdown to green, have the number in green and when the yellow is cycling to red have that number in red so folks coming to the light will know where it's going

Don't like 'em.

Because people could rush when "it is almost green". Now we just get "green" instead of "very ready for green" and could be dangerous, since people sometimes still pass trhough "just red" light.

Existing traffic lights works perfectly… reckless and irresponssible drivers are the ones causing accidents.

Cute, but very problematic. At least 7% of all males are red-green color blind. You've taken away any spatial cues (left/right, top/bottom) they might use to differentiate between "Stop" and "Go".

They can tell which one is lit up.

I don't believe this is really even on the table. I think they're just winding people up. If this was legit, do you think they would let a glaring typo through like, "What Make It Great For Everyone?" It's the opening header! Come on, this is a joke!

Don't like 'em.

Because people could rush when “it is almost green”. Now we just get “green” instead of “very ready for green” and could be dangerous, since people sometimes still pass trhough “just red” light.

Existing traffic lights works perfectly… reckless and irresponssible drivers are the ones causing accidents.

Cute, but very problematic. At least 7% of all males are red-green color blind. You've taken away any spatial cues (left/right, top/bottom) they might use to differentiate between “Stop” and “Go”.

We have colored numbers counting down. The uppermost one is red and the lowest one is green. This way you know which number represents what even though you're colorblind. I don't think reading 2 digits numbers are confusing for anyone who is legally allowed to have a drivers permit.

Just great!!!! very good design!…

I don't believe this is really even on the table. I think they're just winding people up. If this was legit, do you think they would let a glaring typo through like, “What Make It Great For Everyone?” It's the opening header! Come on, this is a joke!

We have colored numbers counting down. The uppermost one is red and the lowest one is green. This way you know which number represents what even though you're colorblind. I don't think reading 2 digits numbers are confusing for anyone who is legally allowed to have a drivers permit.

Just great!!!! very good design!…

I think there should be only counter (no animation)

I think there should be only counter (no animation)

Current signals work for the color blind but this new idea may not work for those who can’t see the difference between red and green.

1: Color blind people
2: This encourages people to speed up to 'beat the lights'

Other than that, awesome looking idea, just sucks that people would ruin it for you.

Current signals work for the color blind but this new idea may not work for those who can’t see the difference between red and green.

1: Color blind people
2: This encourages people to speed up to 'beat the lights'

Other than that, awesome looking idea, just sucks that people would ruin it for you.

This exists in Denmark: http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/223/1566/200... http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/223/1566/200...

Really love the design, but I see a lot of people speeding through during the yellow light while screaming "THERE'S STILL ONE PIXEL LEFT!"

Assuming for a moment that this is not a hoax… which is possible, and aside from the more obvious issue of colour blindness whereby the visual cue of not being able to tell now if it’s red or green; When the light is amber, you have no way of telling if it’s amber going red or amber going green which will cause people to act even more erratically than they do now. In fact, why do you need amber at all? When the red runs out, it goes green, when green runs out it goes red – as it is people run the amber light all the time, so what’s the point in even having it? If people know that it goes red when the timer runs out, they’ll run to beat it whether it’s green or amber leaving little if any point for differentiation? Just delay the opposing traffic signal by a second or two so that it doesn’t go green until a second or two after this light turns red

This still leaves the colour blindness issue. So how do you overcome the issue between red/green colour blindness? If you’re going to change the whole paradigm of the way traffic lights work, why are you stuck on the red/amber/green paradigm? We’re only conditioned to think that red is a stop colour because stop signs and stop lights are red; equally, we’re only conditioned to think of green as a go colour because the green light means go… it’s not like we would otherwise psychologically link the action with the colour. In Halifax, Nova Scotia each of the lights is shaped to give additional verbal cues – this could play into your design.

I like the concept you’re presenting, but it’s slightly flawed in its presentation. With a little more thought though, I think you could have something valuable.

Only the red timer makes sense and is safe. Some people already speed up to get through the yellow light to beat the red, but with a green timer you get the same thing sooner and longer in order to beat the yellow. A yellow timer makes the problem worse because people will be willing to run the yellow light longer and closer to the red.

Only the red timer is any good because it might relieve impatience by letting drivers know how much time they need to wait. It might also reduce the chance of some drivers being unaware of the light changing, since they know how much time will pass until the light turns green. That way, the change isn't a surprise and the impending change is less easily forgotten about.

While I like the idea this would be terrible for people with Color Blindness.

This exists in Denmark: http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/223/1566/200... http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/223/1566/200...

Really love the design, but I see a lot of people speeding through during the yellow light while screaming “THERE'S STILL ONE PIXEL LEFT!”

Assuming for a moment that this is not a hoax… which is possible, and aside from the more obvious issue of colour blindness whereby the visual cue of not being able to tell now if it’s red or green; When the light is amber, you have no way of telling if it’s amber going red or amber going green which will cause people to act even more erratically than they do now. In fact, why do you need amber at all? When the red runs out, it goes green, when green runs out it goes red – as it is people run the amber light all the time, so what’s the point in even having it? If people know that it goes red when the timer runs out, they’ll run to beat it whether it’s green or amber leaving little if any point for differentiation? Just delay the opposing traffic signal by a second or two so that it doesn’t go green until a second or two after this light turns red

This still leaves the colour blindness issue. So how do you overcome the issue between red/green colour blindness? If you’re going to change the whole paradigm of the way traffic lights work, why are you stuck on the red/amber/green paradigm? We’re only conditioned to think that red is a stop colour because stop signs and stop lights are red; equally, we’re only conditioned to think of green as a go colour because the green light means go… it’s not like we would otherwise psychologically link the action with the colour. In Halifax, Nova Scotia each of the lights is shaped to give additional verbal cues – this could play into your design.

I like the concept you’re presenting, but it’s slightly flawed in its presentation. With a little more thought though, I think you could have something valuable.

Only the red timer makes sense and is safe. Some people already speed up to get through the yellow light to beat the red, but with a green timer you get the same thing sooner and longer in order to beat the yellow. A yellow timer makes the problem worse because people will be willing to run the yellow light longer and closer to the red.

Only the red timer is any good because it might relieve impatience by letting drivers know how much time they need to wait. It might also reduce the chance of some drivers being unaware of the light changing, since they know how much time will pass until the light turns green. That way, the change isn't a surprise and the impending change is less easily forgotten about.

While I like the idea this would be terrible for people with Color Blindness.

Where I live motorists only tend to stop if they see a red or amber light. Which means when the power is out, very often they don’t properly do the “all-way stop thing”. Several years ago I witnessed a very horrific accident caused by this, and just yesterday we had a major intersection lose power from the wind and while most cars were doing it properly, two cars just barreled right through while I was waiting my turn to go.

over-designed.
the current design is much much more functional than this, as there is additional positional (top middle bottom) or shape (circle, square diamond, stop/wait/go, hand/walking person) information in the current designs.

sorry, it looks cute, but it is a very poor idea.

over-designed.
the current design is much much more functional than this, as there is additional positional (top middle bottom) or shape (circle, square diamond, stop/wait/go, hand/walking person) information in the current designs.

sorry, it looks cute, but it is a very poor idea.

Just…no. If a driver is looking for more than a glance at the traffic light, they are not observing the other drivers, obstacles, and pedestrians around them. It already takes conscious and unconscious coordination to drive through an intersection. Adding DEGREES of red, green, etc. just seems to be asking drivers to make another decision when just seeing the light should already be triggering a response. That additional split-second of deciding another DETAIL about their response is all it would take to create hesitation, bad decisions, and accidents. Walk/don't walk signs are a great place for this kind of technology, but traffic lights (in my opinion) are better kept simple. Red, you better be stopping or stopped. Yellow, if you're past the 'point of no return' they teach in driving school, then clear the intersection; if you can safely stop, then prepare to stop. Green, if the intersection is clear, then go; if not, then wait and go. Red light runners typically ignore the role of the yellow light. And getting people 'ready' to go immediately on green might encourage entering the intersection without the necessary two second pause to make sure the intersection is actually clear. Red light runners aren't going to stop running red lights…and green light jumpers, raring to go because the yellow light told them to put their foot on the gas, would likely become even more of a hazard than they already are. Yeah, I analyze stuff.

Just…no. If a driver is looking for more than a glance at the traffic light, they are not observing the other drivers, obstacles, and pedestrians around them. It already takes conscious and unconscious coordination to drive through an intersection. Adding DEGREES of red, green, etc. just seems to be asking drivers to make another decision when just seeing the light should already be triggering a response. That additional split-second of deciding another DETAIL about their response is all it would take to create hesitation, bad decisions, and accidents. Walk/don't walk signs are a great place for this kind of technology, but traffic lights (in my opinion) are better kept simple. Red, you better be stopping or stopped. Yellow, if you're past the 'point of no return' they teach in driving school, then clear the intersection; if you can safely stop, then prepare to stop. Green, if the intersection is clear, then go; if not, then wait and go. Red light runners typically ignore the role of the yellow light. And getting people 'ready' to go immediately on green might encourage entering the intersection without the necessary two second pause to make sure the intersection is actually clear. Red light runners aren't going to stop running red lights…and green light jumpers, raring to go because the yellow light told them to put their foot on the gas, would likely become even more of a hazard than they already are. Yeah, I analyze stuff.

This is a bad project, because you shit on the heads of the colour-blind people!!! Think a bit, man…

This is a bad project, because you shit on the heads of the colour-blind people!!! Think a bit, man…

Cute. This is what we might get if we let art majors design our infrastructure. In addition to all the safety concerns stated above, how would it work in coordinated operation when the controller doesn't know how long until that phase goes to clearance? What about emergency vehicle pre-emption? Transit priority? Try to learn about the system a little before you start messing with it.

Cute. This is what we might get if we let art majors design our infrastructure. In addition to all the safety concerns stated above, how would it work in coordinated operation when the controller doesn't know how long until that phase goes to clearance? What about emergency vehicle pre-emption? Transit priority? Try to learn about the system a little before you start messing with it.

no..no..no.. never try to fix something that ain't broken. cool designs should not enter important life-or-death situations, where good, proven solutions already exist. Drivers do not want to stare at the traffic light and admire the nice graphics, you want to understand the situation within a few tenths of a second as an instinct. And clearly, this design forgot the colour blind peaople totally as mentioned before.

no..no..no.. never try to fix something that ain't broken. cool designs should not enter important life-or-death situations, where good, proven solutions already exist. Drivers do not want to stare at the traffic light and admire the nice graphics, you want to understand the situation within a few tenths of a second as an instinct. And clearly, this design forgot the colour blind peaople totally as mentioned before.

Companies of various sizes employ electrical engineers, who they rely on heavily for their engineering needs. Although extremely educated, many electrical design engineers lack familiarity with numerous aspects of the custom LED lighting industry. The reason is obviously that the industry is in its infancy, and continues to evolve at a high-speed pace.

How cool is this! Whether or not the Sand Glass design could be adopted as a traffic light replacement remains to be seen… Or is it adopted anywhere? I haven't heard of it. However, giving drivers a better clue when the lights are about to change is certainly a welcome gesture. Hails to the designer!

Companies of various sizes employ electrical engineers, who they rely on heavily for their engineering needs. Although extremely educated, many electrical design engineers lack familiarity with numerous aspects of the custom LED lighting industry. The reason is obviously that the industry is in its infancy, and continues to evolve at a high-speed pace.

How cool is this! Whether or not the Sand Glass design could be adopted as a traffic light replacement remains to be seen… Or is it adopted anywhere? I haven't heard of it. However, giving drivers a better clue when the lights are about to change is certainly a welcome gesture. Hails to the designer!

Great post!

Great post!

Great idea! However, wouldn't it to some extent be dangerous when implemented because might be tempted to start a few seconds before time…

@tuffew; <quote> And clearly, this design forgot the colour blind peaople totally as mentioned before.</unquote> But that's the case with the one we have right now, isn't it?!

Great idea! However, wouldn't it to some extent be dangerous when implemented because might be tempted to start a few seconds before time…

@tuffew; And clearly, this design forgot the colour blind peaople totally as mentioned before. But that's the case with the one we have right now, isn't it?!

It does make sense that this might be dangerous, but that seems just the kind of mindset that doesn't realize the dangers of the current solutions we use in everyday life. I don't think that should be the course of action when implementing good solutions. Great idea in any case!

It does make sense that this might be dangerous, but that seems just the kind of mindset that doesn't realize the dangers of the current solutions we use in everyday life. I don't think that should be the course of action when implementing good solutions. Great idea in any case!

a very original idea! no matter what everyone wines about around here… hails to the designer!!

a very original idea! no matter what everyone wines about around here… hails to the designer!!

This is what we might get if we let art majors design our infrastructure. In addition to all the safety concerns stated above, how would it work in coordinated operation when the controller doesn't know how long until that phase goes to clearance? What about emergency vehicle pre-emption? Transit priority? Try to learn about the system a little before you start messing with it.

It looks awesome! There's similar systems in the Netherlands with little LED lamps in a circle giving an indication of waiting time… but they're so wildly inaccurate that they might as well not have put them there in the first place.

Great ideas usually are followed by severe discussion. But they're still great ideas!

This is what we might get if we let art majors design our infrastructure. In addition to all the safety concerns stated above, how would it work in coordinated operation when the controller doesn't know how long until that phase goes to clearance? What about emergency vehicle pre-emption? Transit priority? Try to learn about the system a little before you start messing with it.

It looks awesome! There's similar systems in the Netherlands with little LED lamps in a circle giving an indication of waiting time… but they're so wildly inaccurate that they might as well not have put them there in the first place.

Great ideas usually are followed by severe discussion. But they're still great ideas!

That has to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen.

That additional split-second of deciding another DETAIL about their response is all it would take to create hesitation, bad decisions, and accidents. Walk/don't walk signs are a great place for this kind of technology, but traffic lights (in my opinion) are better kept simple. Red, you better be stopping or stopped.

I am color blind and the combination of certain colors will make for some colors to dominate the other, making the weaker one “disappear” into the stronger color. That would not be the case in this design. We are still able the tell green from red!

Being red-green color blind is far more common than you'd think (I've seen it as high as 7% of all males). My first thought was of a friend who explained to me that he knows the top light is the red-stop light and the bottom one is the green-go light. He can differentiate between the two.

The relation between top and stop and bottom and go. Most of that 7% have weakness to a colour, not blindness. Blindness to a colour is quite rare. Most colourweaks can make a clear distinction between red, yellow and green. When all other variables are equal, colour normal/weak peolpe are simply more aware of their surroundings than truely colour defficient people.

They seriously need to put some design thoughts in for people who are colorblind!

Great ideas usually are followed by severe discussion. But they’re still great ideas!
Reply

While I like the idea this would be terrible for people with Color Blindness.

Great idea! However, wouldn’t it to some extent be dangerous when implemented because might be tempted to start a few seconds before time…

Love the idea! Nice discussion too. But what about colorblind people indeed??

It looks awesome! There’s similar systems in the Netherlands with little LED lamps in a circle giving an indication of waiting time… but they’re so wildly inaccurate that they might as well not have put them there in the first place..

Great ideas usually are followed by severe discussion. But they’re still great ideas!

True, but this idea is worth implementing. Is there any news on what will happen with this idea?

Excellent design. I think traffic lights can be improved very well. With Led and new designs it makes it much more comprehensive for colourblind people.

I don’t like the idea of having two types of yellow lights… like get ready to stop, get ready to go, etc… I can see a few idiots getting confused.

What about Color Blind People??

hey guys, nice idea, but theres one mistake
i fixed it
http://g27.img-up.net/?up=trafficligvth0.jpeg

YES. i agree with you. the only detail that was missing should have been what you fixed. i honestly think that this is a pretty great idea. it’s really original.

Actually I’ve been in places where the Yellow light comes on with the red on still lit. this indicates that the light will turn green soon.

More to the point … the green light is on the yellow comes on with the green then the green goes out followed by Red

OK, but it is Little People’s work in Tipperary Hill…

What about colorblind people?

It is a very beautiful design.
However, I think one common concern is people going because they know the light is about to change. If you have no pre-warning you just wait until it changes then go. I does work well.

This blog has a great appearance.I have admired it several times.The blogger has presented his thoughts in a different way.

I like the idea, but the red light is not safe. Would suggest using the top of the light to host the red and to keep the red on. Maybe simulate a pour that is not additive.

With the green light, you can have it all green. And instead of “hurry up,” make the top green & the bottom yellow.

When the yellow light comes on, make it all yellow. Then make the top yellow and bottom part red when drivers should be stopping. Then revert both top and bottom to red.

Whatever the red does, it should do so with no ambiguity whatsoever. Total red at the bottom and a red radar-like readout at the top could simulate traffic flowing toward cars stopped or slowing down for the red light.

There is no question that at least have the red light should be red at all times.

I think this would make the design safer and more appealing.

The idea of the hourglass certainly gets one’s attention, but I think it would build too much suspense and prime drivers to gun the accelerator pedal in anticipation.

The hourglass will not work, too different from the current standard. Too many people to retrain! Also it is a bad idea to have yellow hourglass countdown before both red and green lights. This alone would cause many accidents as impatient drivers guess incorrectly.

The hourglass will not work, too different from the current standard. Too many people to retrain! Also it is a bad idea to have yellow hourglass countdown before both red and green lights.