Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Dealing with Traffic Lights

How frustrating is it when it takes hours to drive just a short journey. Is it Traffic lights that cause the frustration, or is it that drivers don't understand them? I have always believed that the RED light means STOP. The AMBER light also means STOP. It doesn't mean Get Ready, but its appearance, after the red one informs waiting traffic that GREEN will appear soon. So why does every driver in front of me wait for the light to turn GREEN, then think to themself, a-ha I can go now. So he (or she for fairness) release the handbrake, puts the car in first gear, gives it a little rev, shudders and creeps forward, just getting through before the lights turn to red again.
Similarly, when traffic is running along nicely through traffic lights and far ahead the green light turns to red he (or sometime she) just keep going, and going, and yes it's RED but they know that the drivers crossing their path are only at the thinking stage - a-ha I can go now. Brum, Brum.
Worse still, at the waiting light, is driver number one hesitating, then number 2 waits for number one to go and then thinks - a-ha I can go now. Then driver 3 - you get the jist. Why is it not possible for 4 or 5 cars to think in unsion, and slowly move forward, and possibly get more that 3 cars through at a time. It's not Rocket Science.