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!
Yeah, my first visits to Eurolandia on business decades ago, I saw those light sequences and thought a) all those manual gearboxes need to know it’s time to engage, and b) us Yanks might not be able to handle the advance notice but it’d be worth a try.
Or, you know, you could pay attention to the state of the traffic lights changing at the other directions and anticipate accordingly.
Sarcasm aside, please continue this series! I was amazed that BC has a completely different set of rules than the rest of Canada. I’d expect that for Quebec, but not BC! Are we in bizarro land?
like the blinking green instead of a left green turn arrow? Yeah that terrified me, especially when I was at the front of the turn lane and didn’t know what it meant.
I wonder how much of this was aimed at manual transmission drivers. When I was in Switz with a similar light setup, it was nice to know when to shift out of neutral to get ready to go
Europe does most things better. The TV commercials assume you are NOT stupid. Traffic lights make sense. Food is better for you. Less crime. Folks are more courteous. Fewer savages. I could go on.
But, but, freedumb.
It’s a choice.
In France, the sequence is like in the Us. Orange is only orange, you don’t know if it’s going to Red or to Green.
Red with Orange is considered dangerous, as drivers would start too early.
I am ready to bet that in Italy it’s the same thing.
Germany is Germany. People are expected to actually follow the rules. Latin blood boils earlier.
It would definitely make me race other cars with that red/amber combination – thats when you put it in gear and start revving … ok it’s just me?
Once again i find USA to be a little … behind everyone else?
So maybe call those idiots at AAMVA and tell them to improve the lights instead of suggesting bans on historical cars
https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/dqkn5h/traffic_light_sequences_in_europe/
In our town, we just watch the pedestrian crossing light do it’s countdown to no walk … that’s when light turns green.
I did that in Germany too. Much easier/important as there is no right on red there. No one moves until the light goes green.
I did find there are some very impatient drivers, if your foot isn’t on the gas when it goes green, they will honk, even if it’s not really legal to do so.
Most American drivers are too busy looking at their phones to notice anyway.
Was in scotland a few years back, and wow.. the yellow and red was soo handy.
I really wished we had that here, although the blinky green would be nice but given most of us murikan drivers would just get really confused and crash more than we do
Obligatory:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piPz1prPrzs
How many rear end accidents do you want to have? By having the red light illuminate with the amber, people are going to panic and slam on their brakes causing the cars behind them to slam on there’s or slide into the first car.
This would be worse than New Coke.
Watching the video may help clarify this. It goes red->red/amber->green->amber->red. You’re getting warning that it’s about to turn green so you can shift into gear (or, more realistically these days, put the phone down)
No, here in ‘merica, people at light know to go not by watching light, but by me blow my horn at you after you’re still staring at your phone.
Me when I don’t read the article but comment on how it’s a stupid idea anyways
Think what you want but that’s never going to happen here.
Noticed this too while I was in Germany. I think it would be helpful for people with manuals so they can put it in gear and be ready at the green, but with manuals going away worldwide, it’s not really needed these days.
well yeah, there is that.
As a daily user of said lights I think they don’t make much difference for me. I usually put in 1st gear when pedestrian lights turn red and intersections without crossing are quite rare. When I’m second then I put it in 1st when the light turns green because there’s plenty of time before first car in line start moving. Also the yellow light is so short that it is very rare occasion when I don’t see green or red before it.
We like to do everything here in the U.S. as inefficiently as possible.
In orderly countries where they have red and amber before green it works pretty well. In places like southern Europe and Israel(probably most of the Middle East too), people are not so patient or orderly and it serves as an opportunity for half the cars to start driving into the intersection, so amber is effectively the “free for all” time in the intersection where you’ll occasionally see vehicles weaving through each other in both directions.
Maybe other places do this, but in much of Minnesota there is a countdown timer next to the crosswalk indicator. Many drivers use this to speed up in order to catch the green.
be careful Jason. you might be accused of (fined for) practicing engineering without a license…
Only 4 people recognize this?
A timer would be even better, and of course, just replacing intersections altogether with roundabouts.
Oh hell no! They did that on Venice Avenue and Jacaranda Blvd and half the drivers started avoiding that road all together and still accidents doubled. These are the dumbest thing ever put on a road.
if you are talking about the drivers, then i agree
When you are planning roads in a State that has one of the oldest populations in the country and is then inundated with drivers coming from over twenty states with their own regional driving habits (Never mind the tourists from overseas who are renting cars and driving on the same roads as well) you will quickly realize that adding in features that they have not dealt with is a recipe for disaster. Keep it simple!
This is evidently the idea in Ireland. Went last year. Almost all intersections were roundabouts especially in less urban area.
We think about fondly as we sit through one of our seemly 3hr light cycles in our city.
Can’t say for the rest of China, but where I live all traffic lights are LED. Whether red or green, it will blink once when there’s 12 sec to go, and then a countdown timer will display for the last 8 sec before the light changes. The lights will then blink for the final 3 sec before changing. There’s only amber for green to red, but it’s always 3 sec and will blink. Pretty easy to know exactly what’s going on
That is definitely a lot of warning ahead of your green light. What we need to add, is a gunshot sound ( like the Kentucky Derby!) to let you know that the light has turned green. That way, we can stop people from sitting at a green light!
A German here…
This sequence with yellow light illuminating briefly along with red light is to signal the drivers to shift into the first gear so they can take off quickly when the traffic light switches to green. Almost every vehicle in Europe is fitted with manual gearbox as the automatic gearboxes were expensive options and not so fuel efficient back then.
Now, the ratio of vehicles having manual and automatic gearboxes in Europe has changed with latter becoming more common, including the public transportation buses in the cities. (Germany even issued the driver’s licence that restricts the drivers to the vehicles with automatic gearboxes).
The current equivalent would be let off the brake pedal slightly so the automatic engine shutoff can restart the car. It still makes sense!
I find wiggling the steering wheel wakes the engine., or taping the gas and brake at the same time. Simply releasing the brake does nothing. This is on a prius, stomping the gas with the engine off is pretty quick and will chirp the tires if they are on a paint line.
Related:
As I’ve mentioned before Sweden and perhaps other countries circa 1980 used to have a system in which a digital sign just under traffic lights would show the speed you would need to catch the next green light. By maintaining those speeds you could catch ALL the greens! I thought it was a fantastic idea and eagerly anticipated its adoption in the US. Of course that never happened. When I returned to Sweden a few years later the displays were gone. Nobody I asked knew why. Decades later thanks to the internet I found a paper in English that discussed the system and what happened to it but that was years ago and I don’t recall the specifics. It would make for a great article here though.
I’m visiting friends in Austria right now and they have something like this. The town has a straight road with about seven intersections with traffic lights. There’s a sign that says if you keep to 50kmh you’ll go through on a wave of green. And it works; if you do get a red light, the others will be all green. I guess it’s just carefully timed.
That sounds about right. Enjoy it while you can.
I suspect perhaps lack of right on red helps with traffic flow. As you said, as long as the speed is proper, you can make the lights in succession. Some US localities are doing this too. The problem is, US drivers seem to be generally too dumb to understand the concept (see: racing up to the light that has just turned red) and on that same vein of dummies, cars turning in front of you (right on red) ruins the flow on the arterial.
Another thing is I felt the traffic lights were much shorter both for green and red. In the states it can literally be minutes of sitting if you are at the wrong intersection at the wrong time (like night when there is no traffic) In Germany, as long as I was at the light, I wouldn’t sit more than a minute for sure.
Right Turn on Red is the bane of pedestrians and cyclists, my city put in No Right On Red signs at a half dozen intersections and cut injuries to zero.
It seems Sweden has a new version of this being tested: “Time To Green”.
The traffic light immediately ahead sends a signal to the approaching cars which shows up as a countdown to the green light. Once through the intersection the car gets a signal from the next light with a similar countdown and the speed needed to catch that light on the green:
https://www.nordicway.net/demonstrationsites/information-on-time-to-green-signalized-intersections
What I described earlier may have been an early form of GLOSA (Green Light Optimized Speed Advisory):
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7013336
I agree this is better but seeing how nearly half of Americans still want to vote in a blatant conman back into the White House, this might be too confusing for them.
Pretty sure if a vodka soaked, bleary eyed pinko commie bastard can figure it out a red blooded, star spangled Joe six pack American who may or may not have graduated middle school can figure it out too.
There are far more wrecked cars in the junkyard with Biden stickers on them than Trump. Just a coincidence I’m sure.
Depends, front or rear damage… maybe bumper sticker rage hit..haha
I agree 100% that more information is better and we should probably do it the Russian way.
Obviously there are limits to the amount of information a person can process, but this is a single data point going from three signals to five so I think the average driver could handle the change. /s
Can we get a national law please so we can stop Michigan and their flashing after the red shit?
Finally, fuck yeah. It’d just plain be more fun. Furthermore, the extra red/yellow would help warn everyone it’s time to put their motherfucking phones down!
> we should probably do it the Russian way.
In Russia all three lights are red.
In soviet Russia lights change you.
I’m glad we got the light sequence situation sorted out and that we aren’t all being gaslit. With that being said, I agree with commenters who say the countdown is better than the yellow, especially if aligns with how many lights work here in WA (and I believe other places). Here, the pedestrian crosswalk sign comes on a couple of seconds before the light turns green. I am assuming the reason is so pedestrians can begin to cross and be more clearly seen before someone guns it from a green light and turns the corner.
What I like about the counter is that I think it actually encourages you to pay attention more to what’s going on at the intersection instead of getting lost in your phone or other distractions. You know what time you have to work and are encouraged to get traffic flowing at the right time.
What I like about the counter is that I think it actually encourages you to pay attention more to what’s going on at the intersection instead of getting lost in your phone or other distractions.
And that’s why it will never catch on.
In brasil, I saw some traffic lights with a countdown on top. It was quite useful as I was travelling with a friend clown/juggler and we were financing the travel by him juggling and me passing the hat at traffic stops.
Nice to know exactly when you got to move out…
This sounds both completely unbelievable yet completely believable in Brazil.
It’s also surprisingly common in Australia (at least in Melbourne) although most of the people doing it seem to be foreign backpackers.
People in brazil are really generous if you are able to do a good show (and my friend was really good at this). It’s quite common in south america, lots of travellers live like this.