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Crossing at the 14th/9th/Hudson intersection reminds me of the Assault challenge on American Gladiators. Except nobody’s firing tennis balls at me. And I’m not given any softball grenades. And Larry Csonka is not involved.
OK, maybe that’s a bad analogy. But yesterday – simply trying to cross the road – I was nearly run over, and witnessed several near-accidents. Something was amiss.
That something was the traffic lights.
Armed with a heightened sense of caution and a Canon Digital ELPH, I returned to the scene today.
Am I crazy, or are these signals hopelessly mixed?
I don’t do too much New York City driving, and perhaps more seasoned vets can better interpret the contrasting lights. (Maybe red and green means yellow. There are a lot of designers in this neighborhood.)
What do you think? Are we looking at a potentially dangerous glitch in the traffic system? Or do I just need to retake my DMV road test? Here’s the Google Maps satellite view of the area. I don’t know how or why this would help.
Update: Jim makes a lot of sense. That’s probably it. Am I embarrassed I couldn’t come up with that on my own? Slightly. But I’d rather be made a fool of on this website than be one of the four cars I watched fly through the red light and nearly get plowed by a bus. (Or ticketed.)
Just like in Mexico City.
posted by Alex on 7-19-2007 at 4:33 pm
Maybe, if you gave a few more clues about where exactly you were standing and what direction you were facing, I could understand.
posted by William on 7-19-2007 at 4:37 pm
It appears there are two sets of lights for one direction. This is because the street you are crossing is quite wide. The first light will turn RED while the the second light stays GREEN in order to clear the traffic out of the intersection before the opposing traffic is allowed to enter the intersection.
posted by Jim on 7-19-2007 at 4:54 pm
Looks like it’s designed for traffic flow thru the “Y” intersection but what do I know - I’m a Western Redneck with hippie-biker-computer geek background relocated to the rural Southeast…
I *do* know that in the nearest “metropolitan” area (Aiken, SC) every time it rains the traffic computer gets a mind of it’s own and cops a ‘tude, short-stroking major intersections and occaionally freezing up. Local constabulatory don’t seem to understand how to direct traffic - guess it’s not covered in SC cop school, although they all seem to know when there’s a new batch of donuts at the Krispy Kreme.
posted by Doc on 7-19-2007 at 5:56 pm
Jim is correct.
posted by David Serry on 7-19-2007 at 8:07 pm
People coming to Europe usually have this reaction. I think it comes from a lifetime of seeing the faraway streetlight instead of the closest one.
Mexico and the US (and I expect most of America) usually follow the route that an intersection of two streets has only two “flows” of traffic to control.
In Europe in reality there is a possible flow for every corner in an intersection.
In your typical two-street crossing this means in America (continent, not country) you’d have two sets of street lights. In Europe it means the same crossing would have four street lights, each with its own timing.
Why is this? This really is supposed to make things easier, especially for pedestrians. In America it’s common to cut-off the pedestrian light crossing time to synchronize it with the main flows of traffic. In Europe the main flow can be split and traffic sent down one way stopped while the other way could still have a green light.
In reality it makes no difference. You can drive in both. It’s true, though, that in both you’re supposed to use the streetlight you have closest to you (which is usually the one almost above you, not the one in the opposite corner). We do this wrong in all places and that’s the reason it is jarring to see this.
Paying attention to the furthest streetlight is as bad driving as starting to roll when what we think is the opposite light turns yellow.
posted by eduo on 7-20-2007 at 1:43 am
Indeed. Jim’s explanation is so much better than my own attempt (which was lost as a comment and that’s probably for the best).
In Europe stree lights are usually like this. You’re instructed when getting a driver’s license that the street light that applies to you is the closest one. Using the one across the street (or seeing when the other one turns red) is a recipe for disaster.
posted by eduo on 7-20-2007 at 5:46 am
The streelight system in downtown Augusta GA bothers me every time I drive through. Picture two lovely tree-lined lanes, separated by islands that run the length of the street. Each intersection has a traffic light. But - the trick is when you are turning left, you are confronted with another light that is, of course, red. So the dilemma is, does this light apply to you, or do you continue with your left turn? Don’t even get me started with the potential for confusion with U-turns.
posted by Julie on 7-20-2007 at 7:43 am
Julie - New Orleans has the same arrangement of grass islands and another light that is usually red once you’ve started the left turn. The local custom is to stop if there is oncoming traffic (obviously), but continue with the left turn if either no one is coming or the space in the center of the intersection gets too crowded.
posted by Becky on 7-20-2007 at 10:16 am
I have to say about 3 weeks ago I was driving through this exact intersection. I thought maybe there was an electrical problem because a police officer stopped an put his lights on. It turns out he was doing that for his benefit. Well needless to say I eventually ended up making an illegal right turn on red and moved on. But this article brought back so many bad memories.
posted by Melted on 7-20-2007 at 12:45 pm
I know what Jim means, there’s lots of traffic lights like that in my hometown around train tracks, to clear out the little area between the tracks and the intersection. But wouldn’t the timing be switched, i.e. the one closest would be red first?
posted by cousin on 7-20-2007 at 2:01 pm
Julie of Augusta,
It’s the same in Aiken, as I’m sure you know. I was told when I first came here that if the traffic island was round you could continue your turn - if it was square you had to wait for the light to change.
I currently ignore all these instructions and continue my turn, after coming to a full stop, if there is no oncoming traffic. So far I haven’t been busted, but I suppose that’s just a matter of time and how many Krispy Kremes the traffic cop has consumed.
Will make an interesting trial, I expect.
Doc
posted by Doc on 7-21-2007 at 6:36 am
You should see the traffic lights along HWY 78 near Stone Mountain Park north or north-east of Atlanta. You have multiple lanes and eacg lane has a light. The confusing part is some of the middle lanes are subject to change of direction and all of the lights are as follows: green is a green arrow pointing down. Red is a red X. Some of the red lights flash when activated with a strobe light. Some of the turn lanes are marked by a white right or left turn arrow. As i said the middle lanes can be used by both directions of travel. I don’t believe these guys have heard the old saying: ” if its not broke, don’t fix it!”. All of the surrounding neighborhoods and roads off of HWY 78 use the standard red, yellow, green lights. You can get used to it but for first timers………LOOK OUT!
posted by John Brown on 7-21-2007 at 12:09 pm
hey doc, i live in aiken. we have a krispy kreme?
posted by jenni on 7-22-2007 at 11:08 am