![]() (To give them another two seconds and give them the chance to cross the intersection. “Para mabigyan ng another two seconds para magkaroong ng pagkakataon na makatawid sa intersection,” MMDA Traffic Engineering Section Chief Engineer Francisco Pesino said. MMDA said they have already reached out to local city governments as regards the issue. (You are not surprised with the changing of color because you can prepare.) “Hindi ka nabubulaga, makakapag-prepare ka,” a motorcycle driver said. Some motorists, however, still prefer timers in the traffic lights. Presently, traffic lights using sensors are used in more than 200 intersections in the National Capital Region. The MMDA started the project in 2012, the report said. They have to finish their time which is about a minute or more.) (Motorists are usually complaining ‘there’s no vehicle in all approaches but we’re packed in our lane’. “Usually ang reklamo ng mga motorista 'walang dumadaan sa lahat ng approach kami meron' pero wala pa yung time nila kailangan nila ubusin yung isang minuto o higit pa,” said Engr. The new technology entails the installation of loop detectors or sensors that will determine the flow of traffic in the intersections. To get occasional notifications when we write blog posts, sign up for our email list.Loop detectors or sensors are set to replace the timers of all traffic lights in the intersections across Metro Manila in two to three years.Īccording to Joseph Morong’s report on “24 Oras”, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has been slowly changing the timers with its adaptive sensor traffic control system. Follow him on Twitter here or Google Plus. But there are situations that benefit from a little discretion. By switching the countdown to a spoken one that drivers can’t hear, pedestrians could benefit without drivers aggressively tailgating each other to beat the light. Just as crucial information is only announced to the staff who need it, the signal needs to reach only the pedestrians. This suggests a solution to the problem with countdown signals. I know that there are traffic lights that have timers, and no amount of creeping will help. Many hospitals have a different color or number corresponding to different emergencies – a fire, bomb threat, or shooting – to alert staff to the situation without causing a panic. Similar codes exist in public venues around the world. If they merely announced a fire over the intercom, they could risk a dangerous stampede to the exit. They can then put out the fire and, if necessary, begin evacuating patrons. Inspector Sands does not exist, it is a code understood by the staff. Instead, (at least in Britain), they “page Inspector Sands” to the location of the fire. If there is a fire in a crowded theater, the staff will not announce it over the loudspeaker. The authors of the study suggest selectively installing countdown signals at intersections with a history of being dangerous for pedestrians.Īs the authors point out, there is an analogy between the traffic lights and emergencies in public places. Pedestrians are more vulnerable, but incidents involving pedestrians typically happen at very low speeds and result in minor injuries while car collisions occur at higher speeds.īut the paper’s findings do suggest that, following the law of unintended consequences, a decision meant to improve public safety actually had the opposite effect. It’s hard to say which type of accident is preferable. ![]() ![]() But that improvement was more than offset by the number of rear end accidents between cars. ![]() By knowing whether they had enough time to cross the street before the light changed, pedestrians suffered fewer injuries. In one respect, the countdown signals did operate as intended. By looking at traffic data from before and after the installation of countdown signals in Toronto, researchers found that the signals increase the number of collisions at intersections by 5%. This is the conclusion of a recent paper on “The Costs of Public Information” ( pdf). Too many cars are stacking up at an intersection and they detect vehicles arriving at the intersection. On country roads, traffic lights use detectors. If you’re anything like the residents of Toronto, where a large number of “countdown signals” were installed in 2006-2008, you’ll likely accelerate, tailgate the car in front of you as close as you dare, and quite possible bump the car in front of you. There is a lot of traffic in big cities and the traffic lights are usually on a timer. But you as a driver know that as soon as the clock runs out, the stop light will turn yellow and then red, leaving you stuck at the intersection for several minutes. It informs little, old ladies and parents with adorable 5 year olds when to cross the street. But on either side of the road, a sign with a blinking orange hand is counting down: 6, 5, 4… You are driving toward an intersection and the light is green.
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