Autoblog

LA traffic lights get in sync to ease congestion [w/video]

Zach Bowman — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety, Videos

Los Angeles is moving forward with a plan to ease traffic congestion by synchronizing all of the city's 4,398 stoplights. While smaller municipalities have followed similar plans in the past, LA is the first major city to take a stab at getting all of its lights to play nice together. If it works, the new system could increase average traffic speeds by 16 percent and reduce travel times by 12 percent. We imaging reducing the amount of time cars spend idling at a stop light should help reduce fuel consumption by a decent margin as well.

LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has said the move will reduce the city's carbon emissions by one metric ton while saving drivers one day of waiting in traffic at the same time. The system can also be utilized by emergency responders to reduce response times for ambulances and fire trucks. You can watch a local news report on the switchover below.

Continue reading LA traffic lights get in sync to ease congestion [w/video]

LA traffic lights get in sync to ease congestion [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 26 Feb 2013 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A PSA from ATS: Don't run red lights

Zach Bowman — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 14:06:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Safety, Videos

Abiding by traffic signals is perhaps the simplest rule of the road. Any preschooler can tell you what red light means, but that doesn't stop a staggering number of drivers from ignoring the lights altogether. ATS, a company responsible for manufacturing red light cameras, wants us to think a little harder about coming to a complete stop the next time we lose the right of way. The company says that more than 100,000 people are injured in collisions involving a driver who ignored a red light.

The video after the jump compiles a number of incidents in New Jersey involving inattentive or downright stupid drivers. Some of the clips feature near misses, while others involve scary collisions. Hit the jump to see for yourself, and remember to heed the traffic signal the next time you're behind the wheel.

Continue reading A PSA from ATS: Don't run red lights

A PSA from ATS: Don't run red lights originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 01 Jan 2012 14:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Illinois considers letting bikers ride through red lights [w/poll]

Noah Joseph — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 15:31:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal, Motorcycle

If you've ever ridden on two wheels, the following scenario might sound familiar: You pull up to a red light on your motorbike, scooter, bicycle, what-have-you, and you wait for it to change. And you wait, and wait and wait. The problem is likely that your wheels haven't triggered the sensor embedded in the pavement. So what do you do? Sit and wait some more, knowing that the light won't change? Or go through the red light and risk getting a ticket?

Well, a law under consideration in the state of Illinois could rectify the problem. While some municipalities are working at installing other types of sensors to accommodate two-wheelers, the state legislature is also debating a bill that would allow riders to simply go through the red light in question.

The proposal has been amended to include only cities with less than two million inhabitants, and appears to leave the matter of how long is a "reasonable" amount of time to have waited at the light before proceeding up to interpretation. Of course, traffic conditions would have to allow it as well, but as far as the law's concerned, well... that could be about to change for bikers in the Prairie State.

So what do you think - good idea or bad idea? Cast your vote in the poll below.

View Poll

Illinois considers letting bikers ride through red lights [w/poll] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 04 Aug 2011 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Did driving the speed limit cost a 79-year-old man his life?

Zach Bowman — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 09:03:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal, Safety

On June 15, 2009, 79-year-old Andrew Cavanaugh was t-boned on the passenger side of his 2004 Buick Century while driving through an intersection and subsequently died from injuries he sustained in the collision. Both Cavanaugh and the driver of the 2003 Toyota Camry that struck him, 71-year-old Jacqueline Stinson, were travelling at the posted speed limit of 25 mph at the time of the accident. The only problem was that the stoplight on Cavanaugh's end of the intersection was timed to require a minimum speed of 30 mph for a driver to safely make it through before the light changed from green to red. Investigators found that Cavanaugh had just three seconds to make it across four lanes of traffic. To make matters worse, he wasn't wearing his seatbelt.

Cavanaugh's daughter, Shanon Baker, has since filed a lawsuit accusing Pinellas County, Florida as holding the blame for her father's death. While the light is maintained by the Pinellas County Highway Department, its duration was calibrated by the Florida Department of Transportation when it was first installed in 1998. Since that time, there have been no other reported incidents as a result of the light's timing, and Pinellas County intends to fight Baker's lawsuit.

[Source: Tampa Bay Online | Image: Horia Varlan, CC 2.0]

Did driving the speed limit cost a 79-year-old man his life? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 21 Jan 2011 09:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Study: Traffic lights should respond to cars, not other way around

Jonathon Ramsey — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 09:59:00 EST

Filed under: Etc.

Anyone who's sat at a red light for minutes on end in the middle of the night when there's no cross traffic can cheer on science for proving what we already knew: lights that adapt to the flow of traffic, instead of dictating the flow of traffic, can improve the flow of traffic. A team of researchers discovered that if you let lights locally decide how to time their signals based on how much traffic they're dealing with, and then communicate that with nearby lights, you get closer to the "green wave" of lights that keeps thing moving smoothly.

The issue with the centralized, top-down system of control is that it is geared to address an average traffic situation that rarely occurs as planned. The variations in rush hour traffic mean that lights are trying to apply one solution to a vast number of situations. In their trial in Dresden, Germany the team found that traffic congestion was eased by nine percent, pedestrian congestion by 36 percent, and bus and tram traffic by 56 percent. With rush hours spreading in time and distance, the proof and implementation of this can't come soon enough. Thanks for the tip, Toy!

[Source: Science News | Image: Corbis/Getty]

Study: Traffic lights should respond to cars, not other way around originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 23 Sep 2010 09:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Study: Drivers in right-hand lanes tend to speed through yellow lights, left-laners do not

Jonathon Ramsey — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 16:20:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Safety

It seems most studies of amber lights focus on whether cities are using them to gather revenue. The theory - and let's face it, sometimes the fact - is that the light time is so short that drivers end up tripping the red light camera and getting a fine. Conversely, a new study by the University of Cincinnati and Ohio Department of Transportation has taken a look at how drivers behave when they encounter a yellow light no matter how long it's illuminated.

More than 1,500 drivers were caught on camera in suburban Ohio as they approached high-speed intersections and entered the "dilemma zone." Without offering any hypotheses for the discoveries, a few of the most interesting finds were:

Drivers in the left lane - the high speed lane - tended to stop for yellow lights, drivers in the right, slow lane, did not tend to stop.
Longer yellow lights tended to have more drivers running them.
If the street had a higher posted limit, there was a larger tendency for drivers to go through yellows - more drivers in 55 mph streets ran yellows than those on 50 mph streets.
18-wheelers ran yellow lights more than pickups, SUVs, light trucks and sedans. According to some police records, however, truckers weren't more likely to run or be cited for running red lights.

America's lack of high-speed lane discipline tends to put drivers of different defensive inclinations at different speeds in every lane no matter how many lanes there are. Part of making yellows more predictable has been installing countdown timers at crosswalk signals so drivers can tell how much time they have before the light turns yellow. In our experience, a fair number of drivers either hit their booster rockets and zoom through a green light or start slowing down before the light's even turned yellow. We imagine we'll be seeing more of this kind of research soon enough...

[Source: Kansas.com | Image: Corbis]

Study: Drivers in right-hand lanes tend to speed through yellow lights, left-laners do not originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 08 Jul 2010 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Traffic light as redesigned for the color blind

Jonathon Ramsey — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 08:30:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Design/Style

The Uni-Signal traffic light - Click above for high-res image gallery

The Uni-Signal is aimed at helping those who are red-green colorblind to have an easier time with traffic signals. Instead of using circles for all three lights, the red light gets a triangle, the yellow light remains circular, while the green light goes square. There's no mention of the colors of the lights being changed, but the shape identification could make for quicker comprehension among those who have a hard time with such things. Have another look at the Uni-Signal in the gallery of photos below.

Gallery: Uni-Signal traffic light

[Source: Yanko Design]

Traffic light as redesigned for the color blind originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 18 Jun 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Unintended Consequence of Technology: New LED traffic lights can't melt snow

Michael Harley — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:31:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Safety, Technology

Traffic lights using state-of-the-art LED illumination use 90 percent less electricity, offer a much longer service life and are more durable than their incandescent counterparts. Taking advantage of the countless benefits, cities around the country have been replacing traditional filament-based traffic signal bulbs with LEDs for years. Unfortunately, the low-watt LED units burn much cooler than its white-hot counterpart making it unable to melt snow off weather exposed traffic fixtures.

"I've never had to put up with this in the past," said Duane Kassens, a driver from Indiana who was involved in an accident attributed to a snow-clogged traffic light. "The police officer told me the new lights weren't melting the snow. How is that safe?" It obviously isn't.

Municipalities around the country are taking different steps to keep their signals shining brightly in the face of Mother Nature. Crews in St. Paul, Minnesota, use compressed air to keep their lights clean. In Green Bay, Wisconsin, city workers brush the snow off by hand in a labor-intensive process. Until a fix arrives, it is best to take the advice of Dave Hansen, a traffic engineer with the Green Bay Department of Public Works. Treat a blocked signal as if the power is out. "If there's any question, you err on the side of caution," says Hansen.

[Source: AOL Autos | Image: Oswego Police]

Unintended Consequence of Technology: New LED traffic lights can't melt snow originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Scuderia Ferrari to bring back troubled pit-lane traffic lights system

Noah Joseph — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 15:59:00 EST

Filed under: Gadgets, Motorsports, Technology, Ferrari

Sometimes the best approach is the simplest, but that kind of attitude doesn't always fly in the high-tech haven that is Ferrari's headquarters in Maranello. Traditionally, one pit crew member would stand beside a Formula One car in the pit lane box holding a small sign on a long shaft to signal the driver when it was safe to drive out, but Scuderia Ferrari tried last year to replace the "lollipop" sign with an electronic system. A small box with lights, controlled by computer, was implemented in an effort to streamline the process. Unfortunately, the progress proved anything but, and the system caused several costly errors this past season, culminating in the inaugural nighttime Singapore GP, where Felipe Massa was signaled to leave the pit before the refueling hose was detached. With his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen waiting behind, Massa drove off, dragging the fuel line - and a crew member -along with him.

The incident cost the Massa and Ferrari dearly, and they ended up losing out on the Drivers' Title. The electronic system was subsequently abandoned and in favor of the simpler lollipop. Undeterred and determined to get it right, however, Ferrari reckon they've learned from their mistakes. During the off-season, they have been hard at work on the system and are planning on bringing it back for the 2009 championship. For the sake of the entire team - especially the guy who has the precarious job of holding the fuel nozzle - we hope they've got it right this time.

[Source: Autosport]

Scuderia Ferrari to bring back troubled pit-lane traffic lights system originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 10 Jan 2009 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Two L.A. traffic engineers charged with sabotage, hacking traffic lights

Dan Roth — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:56:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal, Safety

One way to get what you want when it comes to contentious negotiations with your employer is to throw them into disarray and then go on strike. Or, it could net you a trial, and if you're lucky, a stay in the clink. Gabriel Murillo and Kartik Patel are going to trial on felony charges after they allegedly broke into a computer system and disrupted traffic flow at four of Los Angeles' most busy intersections. The reason for the discombobulation was an impending job action by the Engineers and Architects Association, according to prosecutors. The pair contend that their motive was not sabotage, but protection of the computer system that controls more than three thousand traffic lights. The city of Los Angeles had locked engineers out of the computer system in light of the impending strike, and Murillo's attorney asserts that his client merely took note of the changed settings and modified them back to what they were originally. Whatever the reason behind it, the traffic signal chaos took four days to set straight, although no accidents were attributed to the actions of the two engineers. They don't call it HelLA for nothing.

Two L.A. traffic engineers charged with sabotage, hacking traffic lights originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Townsfolk react to red light rigger on video

John Neff — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 16:06:00 EST

Filed under: Gadgets, Etc.

The story of the Colorado man who got fined $50 for using a device to change traffic lights on his way to work from red to green has made its way around the internet already. As much fun as it is to read about the man's eventual capture after two years of playing god in traffic, it's more fun to watch this CNN video of townspeople pissed off that the guy got off virtually scott free. Hilarity also ensues watching the authorities explain how after fielding two years of complaints about an unexplicably long red light at this particular intersection they finally went to the tapes and noticed a reoccurring Ford Ranger pickup that never got caught... by the light, that is.

[Source: CNN via AutoSpies]

Townsfolk react to red light rigger on video originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 20 Apr 2006 16:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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