Midwest Seeing Red Over 'Green' Traffic Lights

theodp writes "Many municipalities have switched to LED traffic signals because they burn brighter, last longer and use 90% less energy than incandescent bulbs. But they also emit less heat, meaning they sometimes have trouble melting snow, causing problems across the Midwest. In Wisconsin, snow blanketed LED traffic lights in some towns, leading to crashes at intersections where drivers weren't sure whether to stop or go. The unintended consequences of the green technology were also identified as a 'contributing factor' in the death of an Illinois woman hit by a driver who blamed the snow-covered energy-efficient signal for giving the appearance of a normal green light instead of a left-turn signal. 'We can remove the snow with heat, but the cost of doing that in terms of energy use has not brought any enthusiasm from cities and states that buy these signals,' said the CEO of an LED traffic-signal manufacturer. 'They'd like to be able to take away this issue, but they don't want to spend the money and lose the savings.' In the meantime, some towns are addressing sporadic problems by dispatching crews to remove snow or ice from signals using poles, brooms, and heating devices." We were discussing these recently at the office — several folks in the building are red/green color blind and different street lights are differently distinguishable.

Comments

Climate Change

[BobMcD]

Has anyone studied the impact of so many small sources of heat on the changing climate? Here we have a tiny example, to be sure, but changing the type of lighting in the streetlight has impacted the climate around that light so much that snowfall is now an issue where it was not before. If everyone everywhere stopped using incandescent bulbs and switched to LED's that (for the sake of argument) used exactly the same amount of electricity, what would the impact be on our environment?

In that vein, there are billions of humans on the planet who insist on keeping their immediate climate around 72 degrees throughout every season. Every time their immediate climate touches the global one, a micro-transaction of heat occurs. If this completely stopped, and for the sake of argument humans didn't die because of that, what would the impact of this be on our environment?

Finally, with all those billions of humans themselves being chemical engines which emit heat as a by-product (as evidenced by my cat's behavior this winter), what would be the impact of reducing their body temperatures to, say, 80 degrees?

If all of this doesn't somehow add up, I'd like to know why. I am genuinely curious... And for the sake of discussion, I'd prefer to leave the political BS out of it. I'm genuinely interested in the science behind it.

Re:Too bad we don't have rules to deal with this

[JWSmythe]

    In a 3 car situation, I believe the car to the right has priority. I say believe, because it's never used in practice, so you forget little things like that. It's like remembering the allowable blood alcohol level. Who cares? We're not drinking, and measuring out blood alcohol before we drive. Either you drink and don't drive, or you don't drive and you drive home. Virtually no one stops at 1 drink if they're out somewhere.

    So anyways...

    In practice, the way the 4-way cluster-_uck goes is this. 4 cars come up to a stop sign. Usually the one who gets there first isn't quite sure of what to do, so they'll sit there while the other 3 drivers wait. Sometimes they'll be chattering on the cell phone, or yelling at their passengers, or even admiring the scenery. When these drivers have a situation that takes a single brain cell to negotiate (go or not go), they shut down. Oh look, pretty flowers...

    So, you sit, waiting patiently. Eventually someone goes. Regardless of who moves first, someone else will always (ALWAYS) try to move at the same time. It's a given. They see motion, so some primitive thought in the back of their head says "the pack is moving, so will I." They'll both realize it about 5 feet into the intersection, and they'll both come to hard stops. This will go back and forth for a little while, until one finally moves.

    I've learned to use an alternative technique to this. I stop long enough to evaluate the other drivers. This gives me a good 10 seconds to figure out the situation. Is one a teenage kid in a fast car? He's probably going to go first all on his own, like it or not. Grandpa Moses? He's going to go, very very slowly, at the least opportune time. I wait for just shy of when the above mentioned cluster-_fuck, and go. My car accelerates and brakes very well. I'm not doing drag race launches through the intersection, but I scoot through fast enough where I won't get hit. Most people in legitimately fast cars (not 4 cyl cars with a coffee can for a muffler) and/or are good drivers, actually use eye contact and hand signals to negotiate who's going first. Being that I'm in a fast car, I'm usually waved through first, regardless if I waved to them to move first. :) They know I'll get out of the way quickly so everyone else can move.

    A lot of times, if I see that we're going to be in a situation like that, I slow down real early before the stop, so it's obvious that I was the *last* person there. That doesn't always help. Even adding 15+ seconds to my stop, they're still confused, and I'll frequently go first. {sigh} Stopping several car lengths before the stop sign isn't enough of a clue to those people either.

    There was a recent story on here, about drivers that are jerks actually help keep traffic moving. If I scoot through the intersection safely, the car opposite me usually does them same. Now you've moved two cars through, and the other two can move safely once you're clear, and the problem is resolved. Frequently, taking that extra little bit of initiative is required to keep traffic moving. Otherwise, those 2+ minutes these 4 cars sit there trying to figure out who's moving first will cause a backup behind one or more of them.

    As much of a jerk as I may sound like, I've never had a near miss or accident at a 4 way stop. I've had more problems with folks running red lights. Come on, the light has been read for over 10 seconds, don't you think you should stop? Some people only see traffic lights as an suggestion. "hey, maybe you should stop, but don't worry about it." And no, I'm not in snow country, so we don't have the problem with snow on the lights. We do have vicious thunderstorms and hurricanes, which will completely kill off the lights sometimes. And ya, if your light isn't working, it's a full stop, dammit. I do.