The Importance of Traffic Lights

When people think about traffic lights, there is always the association with a 3-lamp light that has green at the bottom, yellow in the middle and red at the top. However, public transport generally uses a different type of traffic light, to make sure that public transport and private traffic will not meet with a collision in regards to priority and safety. Public transport lights shapes can vary in terms of arrows and letters, and contain various colored bars.

The traffic lights are one of the best ways to guarantee the safe flow of traffic everywhere. Even though the most known colors in traffic signals are red, green, and yellow, their meaning may vary, depending on a specific country we are referring to. The red color is generally associated with “stop” and this is the meaning almost everywhere. The color might also refer to something such as a closed road. Yellow, which is usually found between green and red as earlier said, means that you have to get ready for the green color that’s just about to turn on, which symbolizes your turn to get going/move. The green color allows you to cross or drive ahead. Green and red colors are normally the ones that last longer, when compared to yellow. In some instances, you might be required to stay at the stop light for more than five minutes when the red light is on. This usual happens especially when construction work is going on around the road. Some countries turn off the green and red lights at night until the following morning, and leave everything to the traffic signs and the yellow light. This is effective in cities and towns with less traffic and smaller populations.

Some traffic lights are usually improved by the use of sound effects, which is done to ensure the safety of every pedestrian that might be blind or have vision problems. What happens is that when the color is red, there will be a sound that beeps slowly, indicating that you can’t cross. If the light turns green, there will be a continuous sound indicating that it’s safe to cross. These pedestrian crossing boards are usually put out of action during the night to ensure that the closes by residents aren’t disturbed by the constant annoying sounds.

It is no secret then that traffic lights have become very popular and have widely been used for more than 100 years. They prevent traffic accidents and ensure people’s safety, something that hasn’t changed in a long time and is certainly here to stay endlessly.