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Flashing your headlights at temporary traffic lights

Lisa Miles

I'd like some of our engineers working in the Automotive and road transport systems industry to settle an argument I've been having with my partner for some time now. 

He's convinced that flashing your headlights at the temporary traffic lights you see controlling traffic flow at roadworks causes them to turn green. Now I understand his thought process in that there are sensors there that will 'see' there's vehicles waiting but I don't think that flashing your headlights makes any difference at all? 

For example one evening last week (it was still daylight) we were out and about and while driving through a local village we came across some roadworks. As we approached the temporary lights you could see that there were no cars waiting on the other side so he starts flashing our headlights and in a few seconds the lights turn green. Now he's convinced that they turned green because he was flashing the headlights whereas I pointed out that 30 seconds before there were two cars travelling in the opposite direction from us that would have just gone through the lights. The fact that they turned green when we got there was purely because we had hit the sequence at the right moment. He on the other hand is convinced that flashing your headlights at them will turn them green if there are no other cars coming through. 

So what is the answer? Does it or does it not? Thinking

  • in reply to Lisa Miles

    Plus 1 for that idea of count down timers on temporary traffic lights for the UK

  • in reply to Lisa Miles

    Interesting - I do a lot of work on improving safety at level crossings (road / railway crossings), where we have big issues with impatient crossing users doing silly (and sadly occasionally fatal) things, I'm wondering if there's something in that idea that we can use - I don't think we could use a countdown timer as such as there's always a chance of the train stopping as it approaches the crossing which would throw the time off, but there may be something - I might throw it in next time we're brainstorming ideas!

  • in reply to Andy Millar

    This is true engineering.  People having open discussions and making things better for everyone in general.  

  • in reply to Lisa Miles

    Hello Lisa:

    Why not count down clocks on permanent signal lights? We have them at selected interchanges here in the US. 

    Peter Brooks

    Palm Bay FL

  • in reply to Andy Millar

    Hello Andy:

    Here in my area we have major railway/road crossing problem.

    Within the past year we have started private passenger (high speed trains) train service from Miami to Orlando using lines that previously only carried slow moving goods trains usually at night. High speed means about 80 mph max. This passenger service typically has one major accident per month. 

    Down south they had one between a Firetruck and the train-- the train won.

    Unlike the UK we do not use a BOX system  at crossings (gates swinging outwards) they just raise gates only up and down, The BOX system is only required for speeds over 80 mph.

    Just in our county (about 70 miles) we have 37 separate level crossings.

    They are now adding barriers (whenever possible) between each side of the traffic (close to the crossing) to prevent people going around the gates.  

    Peter Brooks

    Palm Bay FL

  • in reply to Peter Brooks

    The only time I have seen countdowns on traffic lights was in India, in the city of Hyderabad.
    This was about 25 years ago, and I found it utterly incredible to witness. The relative cost of fuel and wages/ human life was such that in all but the grandest vehicles, engines are turned off until the count reaches about 10, and then there is a frantic clanking and grinding of starter motors between 10 and about 5, and in some of the more dilapidated machines passengers get ready to push or negotiate how they will shunt start if they know the car behind. Then between 2 and zero, the traffic moves off with the odd bump and ding and a  lot of honking and the whole 'slug' of traffic accelerates more or less as one, not in a chain as in the UK.
    Remarkable in my eyes to witness, impossible to cross the road, and really, really efficient in terms of cars per cycle, but lethal.

    We'd need a complete reprogramming of road safety culture to do that here.
    Mike

  • in reply to mapj1

    I remember seeing similar in Singapore about 20 years ago for pedestrian crossing.  They had a count down timer for the pedestrian to cross the road.

    mapj1 said:
    We'd need a complete reprogramming of road safety culture to do that here

    Agreed.  Maybe we do need to change the UK road safety culture.

  • in reply to Sergio Fernandez

    Also some count down clocks have a chirping sound for blind people.

    Peter Brooks

  • in reply to Peter Brooks

    I guess by a box crossing you mean what we'd call a gated crossing? There's still a few left in the UK but I don't know of any on high speed lines. For high speed lines it'll be lifting barriers right across the roadway, for lower speeds it may be half barriers across one side of the road. Except at Redcar where there are sliding gates. Then we still have a vast number of "user worked crossings" - i.e. a gate and a sign saying "look out for trains"! We're slowly getting warning lights at least rolled out across those.  

  • High speed means about 80 mph max.

    Really? In these parts 80 mph is the top for local stopping trains - proper intercity ones have been at least 125 mph since the 1970s (and steam powered Mallard hit 126 mph in 1938 (although that was never part of a regular service). And Japan and China are now putting us to shame.

    countdown timer

    Already known on pedestrian crossings here - been there for a few years in London I think and just turned up locally on a busy junction.

    Also some count down clocks have a chirping sound for blind people.

    Many pedestrian crossings here have a ribbed cone underneath the "press to cross" button housing - that rotates when it's safe to start crossing, as well as the bleep - so works for hearing as well as visually impaired.

      - Andy.

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