Could we do without traffic lights?

[d9f1c7]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18072259
OK no doubt there are junctions where we could but there are also junctions that would never move without them. Your thoughts please....

[ummmm]

It's been posted although your heading might attract more answers.

http://www.theanswerb.../Question1134477.html

[bednobs]

i think it would be impossible. drivers today are so lobotomised, they need lights to tell them what to do. the lights were out at my motorway junction the other day - the amount of people who suddenly didnt know how to use a roundabout was incredible

[johnk]

We have a set nearby that always has queues but when they broke down there were none. I think a lot of lights need to be timed properly and a lot are unneccesary but I don't think we can just get rid of them all.

[tonyav]

mmmmmm, It would certainly make driving very interesting.

[d9f1c7]

The problem is dithering, some need a 1000 yard gap to join the traffic and others need a fag paper, so the former wait at a junction for 10 minutes creating a queue. The lights mean that even the most nervous actually get to go eventually. I cannot see how modern traffic could work without them.

[heathfield]

We have a five-way junction with 36 traffic lights that is on a main commuter route into the city. When they break down, during the rush hour all the traffic moves through the junction more quickly than when they are working! But there are roads with blind junctions where traffic lights are essential in preventing accidents. And imagine the chaos at road works with no traffic lights and a single lane restriction!

[Haggisdj]

I was in Sharm el Sheikh last year and they had cross roads so no need for traffic lights. Granted there was not as much traffic as you would see in Britian and it did get a bit hairy at times...

[jno]

so how do roundabouts work? Not terribly well. The cars on the less busy roads always face a long wait for gaps. (The American four-way-stop system is much better.) Lights should improve that by giving drivers on the less-used roads less of a wait. Or should they be punished for not being on the main road like everyone else?

[chas2008]

give me more work !!! (bodyshop)

[emmie]

what about pedestrians, how do you cross without traffic lights.

[chas2008]

cyclists manage ok

[FredPuli43]

We wouldn't need them at lots of junctions; Hyde Park Corner is one that was easier, or equally easy, to negotiate before the lights were installled; but the question is more difficult than it appears. Lots of lights in London and other cities are centrally controlled. The aim is to have traffic moving well over a large area. The consequence is that individual drivers may find that they are stopped at lights for no immediately apparent reason when, in fact, more trouble is being avoided than they realise.

[jno]

I routinely used to be stopped at 2am when there was no other traffic for miles around. That was just the lights being operated by fascist dictators. They probably ought to switch them off after midnight except on major roads.

[ummmm]

Thick of all the electricity they'd save, jno -) They could turn the street lights back on!

[jno]

well exactly. In some countries at biggish intersections or pedestrian crossings they just leave the amber light flashing as a warning but most don't even need that. Just slow down and give way to the right is enough.

[joko]

i think we should have MORE of them ... and replace roundabouts - especially the massive 4 lane ones or the bizarrely shaped ones - they can be pretty tricky to manouvre especially if you have never seen it before or are a new driver.

with trafiic lights there is less roiom for driver error than with roundabouts - which rely somewhat on drivers decisons and judgement... far better to take away that element of uncertainty

[emmie]

WHAT ABOUT THE PEDESTRIANS, SORRY TO SHOUT, IT'S BAD ENOUGH CROSSING THE ROADS WITH THE LOONY CYCLISTS.

[vulcan]

near where I live there is a six road roundabout, with traffic lights. It works extremely well as the lights can be programmed to change the waiting time at different times of the day, to suit traffic conditions.

[whiskeryron]

http://youtu.be/5WU8hilbN9Y

WR.

[sigma]

Just watched the link, free flowing and no accidents