Recently I was in Germany. Unfortunately, a stupid fever cut my trip short, but I still managed to spend some time on the road with my fellow motorists. There, I was reminded of something small but important that can change our lives. It has to do with traffic signals. I think that traffic signals in many parts of Europe, including Germany, work better than they do in the US. Some explanation is needed.
I’m referring to the near-universal standard 3-light traffic light (almost everywhere) with red on top, yellow/amber in the middle, and green on the bottom. These colors and their meanings are universally understood as red = stop, yellow = caution, and green = go. If this is your first time reading this, let’s start by congratulating you on your birth. I’m sure you’ll love life on Earth. Make sure you try some scampi.
More specifically, I want to talk about traffic light sequences because the simple way they are commonly found in the United States is not done in other parts of the world. There are some subtle but important differences, two of which I want to talk about. First, let’s recap how American traffic lights work. The basic sequence is:
As most people probably know, it goes from green/go ahead, to eventually yellow/caution, to red/stop, meaning there’s a small warning before the green turns red.
(Note: I previously wrote this backwards because I was an idiot. But the overall point of the article remains the same, so read on and accept my stupid apologies. Well, maybe it changes some things, but not all of them. – JT)
Here is the video evidence:
This generally works fine, but some European lights add a useful feature – for example lights in Germany (where I first noticed and started thinking about this), the UK and other European countries work like this:
…And if you want video evidence, check it out here:
…And lo and behold, another video from Copenhagen, but you’ll have to watch a lot to see the whole thing:
(Editor’s note: GIF created – Pete)
Heck, there’s even a handy rhyming mnemonic to help you remember it!
Now, the important thing here is that when a traffic light changes from red/stop to yellow/caution, both the red and yellow lights are on. At first, you might not understand what’s so important about it, because how is it really different from a yellow light in the US? It just indicates that the red period is ending and the green/go period is about to begin.
So a stop to go transition is indicated by a red and yellow light, and a go to stop transition is indicated by a single yellow light. This gives you more information as you approach the light. In America, when you approach a green light, you get a yellow warning before the red, but I like that they also give you a red and yellow warning because it gives you more information.
There is another, even better sequence that appears to be used in Austria, Russia, and many other countries, where the green light flashes before it turns yellow, providing further information about when the mode is about to change. This seems very useful, because if you’re speeding towards a green light, you get an extra warning to slow down, or if you’re approaching a green light and feeling brave, speed up.
Here’s a look at it in action: The amber/yellow light looks a bit reddish in the video, but it’s actually amber.
Why don’t we do this in the US? A light sequence to warn of an upcoming specific mode change seems like a good thing, right? Well, whatever the reason, Part 4, Section 16 of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), 2009 Edition, states:
“Except for warning beacons attached to advance warning signs on the approaches to a signalized location (see Section 2C.36), signal indications intended to provide a ‘advance yellow warning’ interval, such as flashing green signal indications, vehicle countdown indications, or other similar indications, shall not be used at a signalized location.”
This and all other mentions of state transition warning indicators seem to be banned, though it’s not entirely clear why: the idea seems to be that giving a concrete indication that a change is coming might trigger reactive behavior from the driver, but in any case, I would argue that such behavior is already happening and that at the very least an additional signal would communicate more information to the driver and help them make a better decision.
Is it just me, or do other Americans find the European order to make more sense? European readers, can you tell us something about life with these traffic lights? Let’s discuss, I’m really interested!