Experiment: Town in England Turns Off Traffic Lights. Surprising Results. (Video)

Great thread.

Cities like Washington, DC and LA should take note.

Originally posted by rogerstigers
reply to post by wigit

 

oi. I wish Dallas would do that. I have never seen the milky way. Although, we don't have enough police to handle the crime from even a single night of blackout.

It would be much easier just to get out of town! You need to see the milky way at least once in your life. Trust me, the drive is worth it. Just go camping! Texas is so gorgeous, I can't imagine spending all my time in Dallas. *shiver*

Originally posted by TrueAmerican

Originally posted by jexmo
I hate to ruin this for you guys but if there weren't any traffic lights in England we would soon get used to it and start being selfish crazy drivers as per usual.

But that video just proved you dead wrong!

let them try to do it in Edgware road , Oxford street , Marble Arch, Piccadilly , Oxford circus , Piccadilly circus , Knightsbridge and high street Kensington , and if it works then i will believe in it

You all think this is a novell idea untill some one you know gets wasted by a person driving through an intersection. Where I live there are very few lights period, 8 total to be more exact. One of the light setups was put in last year due to multiple fatality accidents at that intersection. Since the light has been put up there has been no percievable loss in traffic flow, but there has been no fatal accidents. That intersection went from 3+ fatal accidents a year to zero now. This is the real world and in the real world people cannot be depended on to protect your safety, henceforth the addition of traffic lights in order to try and aid in driver safety. The fact that people run red lights on a daily basis says it all. If people cannot keep from running traffic control lights now, how do you expect them to pay enough attention when they are gone to avoid an accident? The sole reason it works in that area is due to the fact that people are so aware of it now, that will change and they will become complacent. It kind of reminds me of the whole 3rd brake light added to vehicles years ago, it worked great for a couple of years, then the accident numbers went back to normal. Where are the accident reports from this area as well? I am sure there were some, but to post results without them seems kind of bias and unscientific in the experiment.

Its my belief that at the least at night the signals would switch to flashing yellows and reds to ensure caution to people who do not know the area.

That is a major concern that should be considered, people who are not familiar with a particular intersection.

Over all I agree that most light are not needed... what is the point of lights letting you in and out of a round-about is that not the point of them... it just slows things down, makes people frustrated and makes people drive with emotion in mind instead of safety.

But every little thing big brother can control in your life makes you that much more of an object and not the divine being that we all are. Instead do what i do when coming up to a red light focus all your positive energy into turning it green and see how much less time you spend waiting.

NaMaSte'

Originally posted by janon
It would be much easier just to get out of town! You need to see the milky way at least once in your life. Trust me, the drive is worth it. Just go camping! Texas is so gorgeous, I can't imagine spending all my time in Dallas. *shiver*

I'd love to but I live in Scotland and all the dark remote places are haunted by strange beasties, aliens and UFOs, and on the more human side, naked dancing witches. It's not safe.

Did you do a search? I already posted this before.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

This doesn't surprise me at all

Either last year or the year before there was a big power cut in the north west of Glasgow, so all the traffic lights were out.

I flew home from work in about half the time it normally took, traffic FLOWED, instead of being bunched up in big groups by the lights.

it's definitely a system that needs to be looked into more deeply

reply to post by toreishi
WOW are you kidding me how in the world can anybody survive in that madness. There traffic mortality rate must be through the roof!!! LOL

I've had experience of this in the City where I work.

There is a roundabout that come the rush hour is so lagged up with cars it becomes a daunting and unpleasant prospect. It's like a black cloud hanging over the journey to and fro work.

I was astonished when the local council decided to do away with the lights and I was further astonished by how well it all worked. I expected mayhem!

I realized that the lights backing up the traffic created the illusion of a horde of impatient motorists. In reality, the quantity of traffic using this roundabout was nothing like what I had imagined before they did away with the beastly things. The roads in the U.K are being over-policed due to the low opinion our masters have in our common sense.

Never work in NYC
2nd

Originally posted by wigit

Originally posted by janon
It would be much easier just to get out of town! You need to see the milky way at least once in your life. Trust me, the drive is worth it. Just go camping! Texas is so gorgeous, I can't imagine spending all my time in Dallas. *shiver*

I'd love to but I live in Scotland and all the dark remote places are haunted by strange beasties, aliens and UFOs, and on the more human side, naked dancing witches. It's not safe.

Sounds like in Scotland you have to be afraid of sunny days least your own shadow attacks you. Sounds like fun. I'll have to visit it sometime!

Originally posted by TrueAmerican

Originally posted by jexmo
I hate to ruin this for you guys but if there weren't any traffic lights in England we would soon get used to it and start being selfish crazy drivers as per usual.

But that video just proved you dead wrong!

I think your both right. I think it depends on the area. Try this in South London and there's gonna be trouble haha.

you sure this is in bristol
none of them, not one person interviewed has a bristol accent
(the bristol accent is the farmer cornwall southwest england accent)

Dr UAE - sociable filter in turn might not work everywhere at all times of day, though twice I have witnessed lights out across the whole of central London. Congestion vanished into thin air, and people smiled.
LeaderofProgress - signals are no guarantee of safety, indeed "accidents" at signals are usually deadly, because of inappropriate and conflicting speeds. At the trial site, accidents weren't a problem. The problem was congestion. But equal (or no) priority prompts low approach speeds. Since Hans Monderman introduced these ideas in the Dutch town of Drachten, accidents have simply stopped happening.
Who is the better judge of when, or how fast to go - you and me at the time and the place, or lights and limits fixed by absent regulators?
co_creator - the reason for lights at roundabouts is to break the priority streams of traffic which at peak times can be continuous and difficult to enter. Remove priority, let people filter more or less in turn, and the "need" for lights disappears, as does the the need for speed. I don't even think amber (yellow)-flashing lights are necessary. The simple absence of anti-social rights-of-way means road-users can share the space equally.
maintainright and silverstar have seen it
This could work anywhere, including South London. As I say in the piece, our capacity for empathy is boundless. All we need is the freedom to express it.

at second 1:27, really dangerous...

They will test this next at airports and runways.

Fly second line fly.

reply to post by Nick_X




Try upping the ante.

Traffic lights are a conspiracy to make people sit and wait and burn fuel.

reply to post by TrueAmerican


This is a very interesting video. For several months, having to deal with the worsening gridlock that grips the D.C. area, I've been convinced that keeping traffic moving is the only way to truly maximize safety. Until I saw this video this evening, I couldn't picture how it could become reality. It will be an uphill battle trying to change the local culture to drive differently - drivers generally tend to think and act like they're entitled to text and drive, chat on cell phones without hands-free devices, and tailgate others (especially at red lights on steep hills and in the far right lane of a virtually empty highway). I'm not sure if this had been mentioned, but at least in the D.C. area, not only does the culture have to change, a massive driver re-education effort has to be launched in order for this to really work well.

Now, if at least some of those lights can be turned off, there won't be a need for those pesky red light cameras which really do nothing to reduce accidents at intersections in general (but they sure inflate the local city coffers).

This deserves a star and flag. Great post.

reply to post by Martin Cassini


Hey man, just seeing your post! Welcome to ATS! And that was the coolest experiment ever! Loved it!

It does make me wonder if most traffic lights are just power grabs by government to burn more fuel (increasing Big Oil profits) and issue traffic tickets (for more money.)