Traffic light concept might help reduce accidents

When it comes to traffic lights, the shift from standard ones to those that use LEDs has been a pretty significant jump for two reasons – it is a whole lot easier to view the current status even under bright sunlight, and if one LED goes out, the rest will still work instead of having the entire light go out of commission. Over the years, other small improvements include throwing in a timer beside the LEDs, and here is a concept by designer Chang-Chi Shih that offers smaller LED lights arranged around a timer, hence saving even more space.

Some say that such an idea might be counterproductive, as we end up depending fully on the traffic light when it turns green, going ahead without bothering as to whether others from a perpendicular road might just decide to beat their red light. Hogwash, I say, as regardless of what kind of traffic lights are in place, common sense prevails where one needs to make sure that junctions are clear before revving away. Color blind folks might have some trouble with this though…

Edwin Kee
Categories: Gadgets
Tags: Concept