I was in Vienna a few summers ago and noticed that they have a countdown timer next to the yellow lights to let drivers know how much time they have before it turns red. No surprises. Perhaps we should do that here. Shorten the green light cycle by a few seconds, extend the yellow by a few seconds and count down from 6 or thereabouts. Maybe 1.5 seconds of yellow light for every 10 mph of the posted speed limit.
Saw that kind of thing in Turkey 5 years ago. Makes all kind of sense if your motive is assuring smooth, safe traffic flow.Shorten the green light cycle by a few seconds, extend the yellow by a few seconds and count down from 6 or thereabouts. Maybe 1.5 seconds of yellow light for every 10 mph of the posted speed limit.
I'm all for it. But the cynic in me says that the reduced driver uncertainty would lead to fewer bad decisions, leading to lower city revenue from tickets. And that might be the actual motivation of some of our "representatives."There was a big brouhaha recently about iPhones remembering their owners' locations. I think that officials responsible for traffic rules & regulations should carry a device which records their movements, so that the public can see if they obey the laws they impose on the rest of us. Down to the last jot and tittle, so they would have to either reform their driving into complete ninnyhood, or else enact more reasonable legislation/regulation.
In the nearest town up here, the ‘don’t walk’ lights for pedestrians on the cross streets flash (usually between 4 and 7 times) before the traffic light changes to yellow. It gives pedeatrians time to clear the cross street before the signal changes. If you can see those, you generally have a countdown timer to the light change.