Stop Lights with a Progress bar!

[Mustang Dave]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Hi,

I think that we all should do what Finland does: ~6 hours of skid pad training for all drivers.

That makes too much sense. Sounds like too much fun.

[Burnt]

Somewhat off topic, but......just wondering what you guys consider a long enough red light to make turning off your engine worthwhile? 5 seconds? 10? 15? 20?

[JonnyG]

The amount of gas it takes to start up is about seven seconds worth of idling gas. So if you're going to be sitting for more than seven seconds, it saves gas to shut down. The argument is the wear on the starter and the possibility of older cars not starting back up everytime. Personally, I have an older car and I don't want to spend extra money on repairs, so I only shut down if I'm certain I will be sitting for over two minutes. But some people have their engines off while approaching the red light.

[shovel]

Originally Posted by Mustang Dave

When they put those roundabouts in Sedona (on a 4-lane road), it FUBAR'd the evening incoming traffic situation. Last time I went there, traffic was backed up for 3 miles.

You betcha! That's one of the ones I was thinking about specifically, too! They think it makes their tourist trap metropolis more "quaint" but really what it does is make thousands of drivers miserable every single day. Makes me want to toss the city planners into a jacuzzi full of black widow spiders.

[wdb]

Originally Posted by shovel

They may be good on paper where everyone magically does what they're supposed to do, but in actual reality all I ever see is close calls, collisions, and hurt feelings.

I emphatically agree!

Oh. You were talking about roundabouts. I was thinking about traffic lights with timers.

For those among us who endeavor to save fuel, the idea looks great. For those among us who endeavor to save time, the idea looks great too. Unfortunately my experience counts the the latter in far greater numbers than the former, and the result traffic lights with visible timers being far more car parts becoming detached from their vehicles in the middle of intersections.

[Christ]

Originally Posted by wdb

I emphatically agree!

Oh. You were talking about roundabouts. I was thinking about traffic lights with timers.

For those among us who endeavor to save fuel, the idea looks great. For those among us who endeavor to save time, the idea looks great too. Unfortunately my experience counts the the latter in far greater numbers than the former, and the result traffic lights with visible timers being far more car parts becoming detached from their vehicles in the middle of intersections.

Thusly, according to Darwin, less drivers overall. Win/Win for hypermilers.

What's the problem?

[Clev]

Originally Posted by Funny

Gizmodo- Stoplight with a progress bar

That is the place I found it and went through the link to the author's site. There has been quite a lot of varied opinions here, I do think that racing might become a problem, but not if these were placed on single lane intersections.

If people are going to streetrace, they're going to streetrace. Having an indication of an upcoming green does nothing to change that.

[Christ]

I don't think he meant street racing specifically... I'm sure that, rather, he meant throttling it to get through faster, which is, on all accounts, illegal.

Knowing that the light will turn green in just a second or two, drivers are less likely to brake or even let off the gas. Eventually, a second or two becomes 5 seconds, which is the average for how long the opposite yellow light lasts. If a driver encroaches the 5 second limit, there is a great chance for increased accident rates.

I still could care less, if you're that stupid, you deserve the Darwin Award you're so determined to get.

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by Christ

I still could care less, if you're that stupid, you deserve the Darwin Award you're so determined to get.

I don't mind if stupid people eliminate themselves from the gene pool, just as long as they don't take innocent by-standers with them. Crash into a big tree: go ahead, head-on an 18-wheeler: be my guest, drive off a cliff: you've got the green light from me, run a red and hit a car: no way Jose!

[Christ]

What if the other car was talking on it's cell phone while applying lipstick and would have had time to avoid the accident had it been paying attention? The resultant accident kills both drivers, with no passengers, and lowers my insurance rate by .000001!

I see what you're saying, though.