Traffic lights


BBTM

Senior Member
Nov 23, 2004
2,287
12
38
BB West
Since the pedestrian light got count down, why not for vehicle side? Like 30 to 60 (depends on traffic) for green, 5 to 10 for amber? Then at least driver know the whether having the enough time to cross and not try to beat red light? But the design need to change to square ;p But pedestrian side, red also got people cross, haha!
 

Since the pedestrian light got count down, why not for vehicle side? Like 30 to 60 (depends on traffic) for green, 5 to 10 for amber? Then at least driver know the whether having the enough time to cross and not try to beat red light? But the design need to change to square ;p But pedestrian side, red also got people cross, haha!

Why fix something that is not universally broken?

Anyone who is a proper driver know Amber you slow down to a stop, you stop at Red and you ONLY go when it is Green. Idiot proof.

Why have a count down where you are encouraging idiots to try to beat the COUNTDOWN in a thousand kilogram vehicle barring down the road. Human walk slower to cross and a countdown makes sense. The kiasu driver mentality.
 

Here in China all old traffic lights are getting slowly upgraded to have the countdown you mentioned. All new ones already have it.
 

Here in China all old traffic lights are getting slowly upgraded to have the countdown you mentioned. All new ones already have it.

Local needs this kind as some drivers got to e brake to avoid beating the red. Some time old methods got to change, like why you will buy smart phone when old type of phone still usable?
 

Agree, some part of M'sia already implemented. And the people there are quite happy for the changed..
Why not in Singapore?
 

Since the pedestrian light got count down, why not for vehicle side? Like 30 to 60 (depends on traffic) for green, 5 to 10 for amber? Then at least driver know the whether having the enough time to cross and not try to beat red light? But the design need to change to square ;p But pedestrian side, red also got people cross, haha!

Other countries already have this. SG is slow. Or maybe LTA has not collected enough road tax $$ to do it.
 

Other countries already have this. SG is slow. Or maybe LTA has not collected enough road tax $$ to do it.

Must wait for some people to implement then credit goes to him. Else all bochap, ha ha!
 

http://www.thenational.ae/uae/trans...nd-cons-of-countdown-timers-at-traffic-lights


http://www.lta.gov.sg/apps/news/page.aspx?c=3&id=83wtd5o27ivc96jb50bc741soobdjqca7e4zoe07stq76po3m0

Good and bad reason for it but the culture of a country is just as important as to whether it works or not. The jury is still out on this in difference parts of the world. Singapore has already done test of their own to see if it is better or will make matter worst. I have seen too many vehicles try to beat the light. Twice a few of us almost got knocked as cars scramble to get thru amber before it turn red. and it did but they did not brake. Anyone who has took a step or two too early, the story would have ended very differently.
 

Last edited:
In a country (China) where most folks drive like F1 drivers trying to beat every color light, the countdown has really helped to prevent a lot of accidents.
 

In a country (China) where most folks drive like F1 drivers trying to beat every color light, the countdown has really helped to prevent a lot of accidents.

Just like the pedestrian crossing, most will dare not to dash if counter is near. Unlike previous, blinking also dash or walk across, drivers got to wait for them.
 

Since the pedestrian light got count down, why not for vehicle side? Like 30 to 60 (depends on traffic) for green, 5 to 10 for amber? Then at least driver know the whether having the enough time to cross and not try to beat red light? But the design need to change to square ;p But pedestrian side, red also got people cross, haha!

3 arrows are painted before traffic crossings. If you passed the 2nd arrow when light turns amber, you are safe to cross.
 

3 arrows are painted before traffic crossings. If you passed the 2nd arrow when light turns amber, you are safe to cross.

That's in Highway code theory. But in reality, many drivers forget.
 

3 arrows are painted before traffic crossings. If you passed the 2nd arrow when light turns amber, you are safe to cross.

But some time the amber light turn too fast and the driver is speeding, so, reaction time is not there. Anyway, got to wait for some years (or maybe not) to implement this concept down here.
 

Havent forgotten yet. Got my licence in late October last year. :) Unfortunately no car.

Rent a car and try out yourself. Real world and theory are totally different things. One most important thing to remember, there is a thing call BRAKE! Btw, don't speed, road here not suitable for it, drives with care. :D
 

http://www.thenational.ae/uae/transport/traffic-experts-consider-pros-and-cons-of-countdown-timers-at-traffic-lights http://www.lta.gov.sg/apps/news/page.aspx?c=3&id=83wtd5o27ivc96jb50bc741soobdjqca7e4zoe07stq76po3m0 Good and bad reason for it but the culture of a country is just as important as to whether it works or not. The jury is still out on this in difference parts of the world. Singapore has already done test of their own to see if it is better or will make matter worst. I have seen too many vehicles try to beat the light. Twice a few of us almost got knocked as cars scramble to get thru amber before it turn red. and it did but they did not brake. Anyone who has took a step or two too early, the story would have ended very differently.
makes perfect sense to me
 

makes perfect sense to me

I am all for the counting down for pedestrian to know when to cross and how much time is left as you are walking which give you time to look and consider quickening your pack. I saw some example of what they did for the count down traffic light. If it is a slow lane that is fine, but in wide multi lane road that are busy. That is just one more thing to consider as you drive down the road at 40 to 80 km/h and hopefully you are not looking at your smartphone, someone in a rush, drunk or foreign driver in a truck doing delivery.

This is not about old thinking and not change. Along the way we have new circumstances that has come along that compound the situation further and when you change things too quickly that can solve old problem but not the newer ones that comes along. I can imagine drivers will think this is a great idea. Anything to quicken their driving from point A to point B. Even the idea of having self driving cars even as good as it have gotten in the last few years, it might be a decade or more before it is implemented.

It's not always the advancement that scares me as a big fan of technology it is the human factor that scare me a lot more.
 

Other countries already have this. SG is slow. Or maybe LTA has not collected enough road tax $$ to do it.

because .. they invested in too much red light camera ...
 

Why fix something that is not universally broken?

Anyone who is a proper driver know Amber you slow down to a stop, you stop at Red and you ONLY go when it is Green. Idiot proof.

Why have a count down where you are encouraging idiots to try to beat the COUNTDOWN in a thousand kilogram vehicle barring down the road. Human walk slower to cross and a countdown makes sense. The kiasu driver mentality.

I believe this subject was discussed before. LTA defended their rationale for not having count down and even did a trial to prove it is not working.

They forgotten our traffic light timing here is non standard. Somebody ever share that it is so smart that the duration changes according to traffic condition. So how do motorists going to guess when it will be faster than usual? For me, it is not the interval that is annoying, it is the speed of change from green to red that you got to guess.

Singapore likes to be special or maybe like someone mentioned, the cameras work well and that is the objective. The fact that many motorists sped pass these traffic lights show the timing has problem.