Recently, I was in Germany, and even though my trip was unfortunately cut short because of some stupid fever, I still managed to spend some time out on the streets among my automotive peers, and while there, I was reminded of something. A detail sort of something, but one of those small but important details that has the potential to change how we go about our lives. This was a detail about traffic lights, and how ones in many places in Europe – including Germany – work, I think, better than ones in America. I should explain.
What I’m talking about are the nearly-global standard three-light traffic signals, which are (almost everywhere), a red light up top, a yellow/amber one in the middle, and a green one below. These colors and their meanings are universally understood to be red=stop, yellow=caution, green=go. If this is news to anyone reading this, then allow me to be the first to congratulate you on your recent birth! You’re going to love it here on Earth! Be sure and try the scampi.
More specifically, I want to talk about the sequence of lights, because the straightforward way we tend to do it in America is not how it’s done everywhere else in the world. There’s some subtle but important variations, and I want to discuss two of them. First, let’s recap how American traffic lights work. Here’s the basic sequence:
I think most of us know this: on green/go, it eventually goes to yellow/caution, then red/stop. So, before green goes to red, you do get a bit of a warning.
[NOTE: I had this backwards before! Because I’m an idiot. But, it doesn’t change the overall point of the article, so please read on, and accept my addle-brained apology. Well, it changes some of it, I suppose. But not all of it. – JT]
Here’s some video evidence:
This generally works fine, but I think some European lights add some useful things. For example, here’s how the lights work in Germany (where I noticed this and started thinking about it all) and in the UK, and a number of other European countries:
…and, if you’d like video evidence, here you go:
…and, what the hell, here’s another, from Copenhagen, though you’ll have to watch a lot to see the full sequence:
[Ed note: I made a GIF – Pete]
Look, they even have a handy rhyming mnemonic to remember it!
Okay, the big thing here is that when the light is changing from red/stop to amber/caution, both the red and amber lights illuminate! Now, at first you may not see what the big deal is, because how is that any different, really, than the American single yellow light? It just shows that the red period is ending and the green/go period is about to start.
So, we have the transition from stop to go marked with red and amber lights, and the transition from go to stop marked with the single amber. This gives you a lot more information when you approach the light; in America, if you approach a green light, you do get the yellow warning before red, but I like that they have the red-and-amber warning as well. It’s just more information.
There’s even one more, even better sequence that seems to be used in Austria and Russia and a number of other countries: in this sequence, the green light blinks before going to amber, giving you even more information about when the mode will change. This seems really helpful, as you can be hauling ass to a green light and get even more warning that you should slow down – or if you’re close and daring enough, speed up.
Here it is in action – this video makes the amber/yellow light look a bit reddish, but it’s amber:
Why don’t we do it this way here in America? It would seem that light sequences that warn of the specific mode change coming next would be a good thing, right? Well, for whatever reason, the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), 2009 edition, states in Part 4, section 16:
“Except for warning beacons mounted on advance warning signs on the approach to a signalized location (see Section 2C.36), signal displays that are intended to provide a “pre-yellow warning” interval, such as flashing green signal indications, vehicular countdown displays, or other similar displays, shall not be used at a signalized location.”
This and other references to warning indications for transitions of states all seem to be banned from use, though it’s not entirely clear why. I suppose the thinking may be that giving a specific indicator that a change is coming could trigger reactionary behaviors in drivers, though I would argue those already happen, anyway, and at least with the extra signals, more information can be conveyed to the driver, which should help them make better decisions.
Is it just me, or do other Americans feel that European sequence makes more sense? European readers, what can you tell us about living with these traffic lights? Let’s discuss this, because I’m genuinely curious!
The “red+amber” aspect is used in Massachusetts to mean “Exclusive pedestrian phase. No vehicles may move, including no turn permitted on red; pedestrians may cross in any direction, including diagonally.” First time I saw that after moving to Mass., I thought the signal was broken. I think they’ve gradually been phasing them out (see what I did there) but there are a few still around.
The Barnes Dance phase?
Hadn’t heard that expression, but yeah, that’s what it is.
some history for you: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-12-18/a-brief-history-of-the-barnes-dance
What’s annoying to me is how the yellow light timing is not standardized across different states. I’m used to the long yellow lights here in Arizona, so when I visit my family in NY/NJ/PA, I end up running red lights constantly because the yellow light is on for like half a second there.
It’s easy to assume that intersections with the light cameras will have very short yellow lights.
I’ve always thought they based yellow time according to the speed limit. A 50 mph road will have a longer yellow than a 25 mph road. If they don’t do this then they should.
That makes a lot of sense. Most of the streets here in Phoenix have 40-45mph speed limits so everyone’s doing 55-60. In NYC it’s like 25-30mph everywhere which is annoying.
swear it was supposed to be that whatever the speed limit is you turn that into seconds and thats how long the yellow is on. 65mph speed limit, 6.5sec yellow. thought there was even a federal law for it because towns would manipulate it and shorten them so they could write tickets for people running red lights.
OMG I’m so happy that finally got a step ahead of you people! I commented this exact thing two days ago. I’m sure this article was in the queue long before I made that commented, but I’ll just accept this as a win.
https://www.theautopian.com/meet-the-confusing-complicated-flashing-green-traffic-lights-of-british-columbia/comment-page-1/#comment-434235
And yes, I’m one of those weirdos who watches the cross traffic lights to time my own reds and greens,
why do you ask?
I’m not confident the Euro system of illuminating the yellow and red lights to inform drivers of an approaching green light is a good idea in the U.S. I’d rather see the better consistency in the length of the yellow light with the red light flashing once or twice before the yellow light disappears.
Besides, It’s guaranteed many of our poorly disciplined population of drivers would view the red/yellow combo as their signal to get a jump on their fellow drivers in “beating the green.” Adding the inevitable growth of green light jumpers to our epidemic of red light runners and others who think yellow means “floor it!” is bound to create total chaos at intersections.
It was all a fever dream.
It’s just you. KISS.
Here in the US that would just equate to people texting and missing TWO lights instead of one..
I still remember my first time driving in Europe (in either Paris or Milan…hey, it was a long time ago!) and watching the yellow light come on after the red but before the green.
All around, I could hear the revs rising in cars around me. When it hit “green,” I might have been caught in the first lap of the Monaco Grand Prix. I loved it.
Mt Vernon, Ohio used to have lights that changed from red to yellow and then green.
Torch, what’s up man? No yellow between green and red in the USA, huh? OK, we’re not gonna judge you, we just want to get you some help. We’re here for you, man. Just let us help you.
Here where I live lights have a timer built into the light so you know exactly how long you have before the light changes. It’s great knowing exactly how much time you have when you want to check something on your phone, change the tune, grab a snack and even when to put the car back in gear. For green it essentially renders the yellow irrelevant since you can calculate from far away if you have time to go through before the light changes:
Here is how they look (the center light will change to yellow or green along with its timer, it’s a multi-color LED: https://images.telediario.cr/5IjO1Q1il3qElccG6sQRaVNY278=/363×205/uploads/media/2023/02/16/danos-semaforos-significar-gasto-millones.jpg
The problem with these color-only indicators like those in Germany is that their warning period is too short. Good only for putting the car in gear and nothing else.
Lifehack: use the traditional American get ready to stop yellow on the cross-traffic light as a functional replacement for the European red+yellow get ready to go light.
Per TheHairyNug the pedestrian countdown works even better but for the vast areas of America that doesn’t have one, the cross-traffic yellow works.
The only downside of the red+yellow is that it’s interpreted as functionally indistinguishable from a green.
As an American who grew up with manual transmission cars in the family, I learned this as well; my parents pointed it out to me, even, so it was passed down across generations. Watch for the yellow to come on for the cross traffic, put the clutch in and shift into first; presto! You’re all set to move promptly on green. Also, those polarized lights used at complicated intersections (the ones designed to have no off-axis visibility) were supremely annoying in this context.
“…a red light up top, a yellow/amber one in the middle, and a green one below…”
In some parts of New Mexico (and maybe other places) traffic lights are mounted horizontally because of windy conditions.
Where is the Editor?
Sorry! this is on me! I fixed it. Not sure what my problem here is.
Right on, simple error, and thanks for the all the work.
Don’t sweat it Jason – the site was running on dipshittery fumes, and we needed a top-up.
In Austria, the green light blinks four times before going amber. And the amber is true for everyone in the intersection – those putting their car in gear and shooting the second it turns green as much as anyone dumb enough to enter an intersection after the fourth blink. The intersection should be totally clear in the shared amber phase but that’s sadly not really true in most places.
Wait… what?
“Well, the difference is that after the green/go period ends, the amber light illuminates alone, as a warning that the light is about to turn red!”
That’s how every American traffic light I’ve seen operates. Maybe I’m missing something here.
The “standard american sequence” graphic is backwards. The images should be flipped.
If you read the article, what he’s explaining is backwards too. I think he may still be just a bit jet-lagged.
Yes I suspect that’s the case. Seems like someone needs a little editing now and then 🙂
It perfectly supports the text of the article. Which is also wrong, but I hope that’s the point.
Today on The Autopian: Torch forgets how traffic lights work!
Tune in next week for: “Why don’t tail lights get brighter when you hit the brakes?”
Not just why they don’t get brighter, but why is it they dim when we brake?
Exactly! The Europeans also do turn signals better. They always make sure they’re red instead of the federally-mandated yellow we have in the US.
I actually once followed a Pontiac G6 where the taillights turned off when they hit the brakes. Not much can make you question reality like some bad GM electronics.
Aka “GM electronics.”
pedestrian count downs do it even better tbh
Beat me to it – the countdowns skirt around the rules and give you an idea of just how stale the green is.
The one thing nice about the crazy roads in China, at least the one place I’ve been, is some of the intersections have large timers showing the remaining light duration, much like the pedestrian countdowns, but way more visible and straightforward to use. It would be nice to see more use of this elsewhere, not so much for the rest of the driving there
The primary benefit of the yellow light illuminating with the red is that it gives drivers that have a manual transmission time to get on the clutch and shift into gear. If this was the case in the USA, I hazard a guess we’d have more people driving manuals because knowing the light is about to change takes some of the stress out of starting from a standstill. The rest (light goes from green, then yellow, then red is standard everywhere I’ve ever been in the world).
Yeah, that would be beneficial for a manual trans driver, but if you’re like me you’re already looking at the traffic lights on the perpendicular street whenever possible to see when they turn yellow.
I grew up in London and always like the red/yellow combo so you knew when to put it in gear. Particularly in a place like London with streets at all kinds of angles or multiple streets converging it’s not always easy to see the lights in the other direction (unlike in the US with mostly grids). This just makes it easier to stay focused on what’s in front of you.
Didn’t the British driving rules used to require you to take the car out of gear, set the parking brake, and take your foot off the service brake at a red light? I don’t know how much anyone does that in practice after they’ve passed their driving test, or if it’s still the practice nowadays — but advance warning with red+yellow before advancing to green would certainly be helpful for drivers to get set back up for moving again.
> takes some of the stress out of starting from a standstill
What stress? Push left thing with foot, wiggle stick with hand, press on right thing with other foot as you gradually release the first foot.
Either you’re experiencing some brain fog or trying to gaslight us. Green, yellow, red, green. Not Red, yellow, green, red. And, given that the gif agrees with your text, I suspect the latter.
Yeah. The American sequence above is backwards.
And Torch should know that. Which makes me suspect this is an elaborate gag. Otherwise, someone needs to check on him and make sure he’s okay.
That fever must have been worse than anyone thought.
America is Freedom Land! Free to do what you want and try new ideas to see if they’re better.
…
Except that, whatever you were thinking about, you can’t do that.
Wait, in the US there’s no amber in the Green-Red sequence? That’s more important than in the red to green sequence!
No, it’s the red to green sequence where there is no yellow light. I think this article is written in a rather confusing manner.
Not just confusing, but actively wrong–the gif supports what is written, not what occurs. I hope Torch is pulling our legs and not delirious.
Maybe he is in a fever dream from all the amber turn signals in Europe.
I don’t get it. The only difference is the Red/Amber before a Green. That just tells the stopped traffic to prepare to go. The moving traffic gets a single amber, then a red, just like we do.
IMO, an improvement would be Green – Amber – Red/Amber – Red. That would split the Amber for moving traffic so they would know if they should stop or gun it.
Maybe I’ve misunderstood something, or we do it differently here in the midwest; yellow means the light is about to turn red. After red, it goes straight to green. I appreciate the European addition of a yellow/red combo to indicate the red is about to change to green, but we already have the single yellow indicating a green has ended and prepare to stop for a red.
Never seen RYG sequence in the US.