Plan B Forum

Swindon is to trial a system that will use traffic lights that turn red if a speeding driver is approaching.

A sensor will determine if a car is travelling over the speed limit and switch the lights up ahead to red before it arrives.

Swindon council is thought to be the first to trial such a system in the UK, although similar systems are already used in European countries such as France and Spain. The trial comes two years after the Conservative council in Swindon switched off all of its fixed location speed cameras in 2009.

Councillor Peter Greenhalgh, cabinet member for transport, said: "We've seen it working elsewhere in Europe and what it does is it destabilises the driver.

"Frequently you see drivers just concentrating on themselves rather than what's happening in front of them. What this does is it takes those drivers out of that comfort zone and makes them concentrate on what's actually happening ahead."

Drivers will not be told the reason for the lights turning red, and nor will they be told the precise location of the lights that will use the new system.

Councillor Greenhalgh said: "The whole key is to monitor driver behaviour without beating them over the head.

"It may annoy them, but I think eventually people will work out that if they maintain a constant speed at or around the speed limit then actually their journey times will be much shorter because they won't be getting delayed by traffic lights."

Andrew Howard, head of road safety at The AA said that the scheme could be beneficial, but warned of the dangers of reducing respect for traffic lights.

"We must make sure there is still respect for traffic lights," he said.

"Red light running has always been a problem; we have to put cameras up to stop people running lights. If it does lower, even marginally, the support for red lights then that is the downside."

However, he said that it was a scheme that was worth investigating, saying: "Nearly everything in road safety is worth trialling."



http://uk.autoblog.com/2011/05/19/swind ... ntrollers/

The Hen wrote:Do you?

A red light will occur, just like any other valid red light.

The only thing is, this one will be triggered by speed.

Anyone approaching that is not speeding, will do what they always do, stop.

Crackpot wrote:It does make one wonder about the time the amber is given. The whole mix seems like a recipe being worse than the cure

Sean wrote:From the article:


I didn't read anywhere about the amber light being bypassed...

obviously, if the guy is in range of the sensors, if the yellow is used, he will clear with no problem, if the yellow is used with a shortened delay then he will run the light - about the same as not using yellow and if the green for the other guys shows up.

Motorists driving at speed over a specific threshold, which Swindon Council will not reveal, are identified as speeding, triggering the traffic signals at the junction to turn to from green to red.

To ensure that speeding vehicles have enough time to safely stop when the signals change to red, the Data Logger is located well in advance of the junction.

The cameras will recognise emergency service vehicle number plates and ensure that a red signal is not triggered for emergency service vehicles.

Speed data for Thamesdown Drive and Queens Drive suggests that the signals are likely to operate to their usual phasing in the morning and evening peak when vehicles are likely to be travelling well within the speed limit to avoid congestion.

The system is therefore likely to be effective at off-peak times when traffic volumes are lower and vehicle speeds are higher.

Drivers will not be told the reason for the lights turning red, and nor will they be told the precise location of the lights that will use the new system.

Councillor Greenhalgh said: "The whole key is to monitor driver behaviour without beating them over the head.