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

Solvable.

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, I thought the law was clear - when the signals are obscured or not working, stop at the intersection and then proceed as per a normal crossroads.

Green lights are actually quite blue so that R/G colourblind people don't have problems, this shouldn't be an issue with the LED lights either.

Adding a heating circuit that only operates when cold is still more efficient than the old bulbs - it's only on for a portion of the year, and it's more efficient at turning energy into heat.

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

[Rob the Bold]

against the recommendations of professionals.

Can you find anyone who was recommending against these bulbs before they were installed, or as they say, is hindsight 20/20? I wouldn't be surprised if nobody actually knew that the lightbulbs were why snow didn't stick to the streetlights, since that's the way they've always been (maybe there had been tests run with florescent bulbs previous to the LED bulbs?).

Agreed. I really doubt the problem was foreseen by anyone. How many people, traffic engineers included, wondered why stop lights weren't obscured with snow? It's the dog that didn't bark. And who wouldn't want to save some electricity cost on the city's bill, and the extra labor and traffic tie-ups needed to more frequently replace incandescent lamps? Lower costs mean lower taxes, and/or more resources for dealing with other problems, of which most cities have no shortage.

Re:whatever happened to being careful?

[Locutus]

I agree. Too bad there's no IQ test required for having a child nor driving a multi ton vehicle. No doubt over 50% of those out on the road don't know where the stop/caution/go lights are on the tree.

LoB