 |
| Angelika/Mike Schilli |
|
Michael Anyone who has been to America knows that the traffic lights work differently there than in Germany: Firstly, there is no yellow phase for drivers when the light changes from red to green. It just goes "bam!" and this is probably due to the many cars with automatic transmissions: No one needs to engage a gear to start driving.
Before the traffic light switches back to red at the end of the green phase, there is, of course, a second of yellow so that you can brake in time. This is crucial: as soon as the light in one direction turns red, the one in the cross direction is already green! There is no grace period like in Germany -- if you try to rush through on red, it's not uncommon for the first vehicle coming from the side to crash into your side door.
However, Americans are notoriously bad drivers, and many of them talk on the phone, fiddle with the car radio, or drink coffee, and you often see completely absent-minded ghost drivers rushing through red lights. We've really gotten into the habit of driving off very cautiously when the light turns green and peeking into the side street to see if approaching cars are actually stopping.
The lack of a grace period also affects pedestrians: They have to be extremely careful to make it to the other side before the pedestrian light switches from "Walk" to "Stop" -- because then the cars immediately (!) get a green light. To give an approximate estimate on time remaining, an electric hand typically starts blinking at a point when a sporty runner can just barely make it to the other side. Older people usually stop then, while we young folks switch to 100-meter sprint mode.
Of course, the blinking doesn't always help, because each intersection has different settings. You have to rely on the traffic light technician who measured it at some point. That's why now there's something new now: traffic lights with large digital displays that count down the number of seconds until "Stop" appears. Brilliant!
Not only pedestrians love the new technology, but also drivers speeding by in the same direction, who can now peek over and read the exact number of seconds before their traffic light turns "yellow"! This often makes decisions easier, such as "Should I quickly change lanes to overtake the slowpoke in front of me, or can I still make it through behind them?" A year ago, these super traffic lights were only found sporadically at very large intersections in San Francisco, but now they are popping up everywhere, and everyone is thrilled. Bravo, San Francisco!
|
|
|
|
){kind=link}
All Editions:
2024 153 154 155 156 157
2023 148 149 150 151 152
2022 143 144 145 146 147
2021 138 139 140 141 142
2020 133 134 135 136 137
2019 129 130 131 132
2018 125 126 127 128
2017 120 121 122 123 124
2016 115 116 117 118 119
2015 111 112 113 114
2014 106 107 108 109 110
2013 101 102 103 104 105
2012 96 97 98 99 100
2011 91 92 93 94 95
2010 85 86 87 88 89 90
2009 79 80 81 82 83 84
2008 73 74 75 76 77 78
2007 66 67 68 69 70 71 72
2006 59 60 61 62 63 64 65
2005 54 55 56 57 58
2004 49 50 51 52 53
2003 43 44 45 46 47 48
2002 36 37 38 39 40 41 42
2001 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35
2000 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
1999 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
1998 7 8 9 10 11 12
1997 1 2 3 4 5 6
1996 0