![\"sand-glass-traffic-lights-3\"](\"http:\/\/blog.privatefleet.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/sand-glass-traffic-lights-3.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nComments on the web have included queries about how colourblind drivers are going to cope, as you don\u2019t have the usual red up the top, green down the bottom convention (which was put in place for the sake of colourblind drivers). I guess something could be sorted out \u2013 horizontal stripes for red and vertical stripes for green, maybe.<\/p>\n
As far as a quick flick around the web can make out, it\u2019s unclear whether or not these lights are actually installed anywhere yet. They may still just be a concept. Certainly, there would be a lot of legal hoo-hah and research before they actually get adopted anywhere.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t the first time a designer has tried to include time left into a traffic signal. There was the \u201cMarshalite\u201d design that came out in the 1940s that had an arrow that travelled around a circle like a clock hand, moving from red to green, with a brief segment painted amber. These were an Aussie innovation and several of these were around Melbourne until the 1970s. You can still find one on display somewhere in the Melbourne Museum.<\/p>\n
But I have to admit that the traffic light system that I liked best was the rather basic one that they had in La Paz, capital of Bolivia, in the late 1980s, when I lived over there. Most traffic lights outside the city centre were operated manually by a cop, except late at night when there wasn\u2019t much traffic (not sure what they did then \u2013 I was never out that late). The cop would sit there flipping the switch up and down, with a brief pause in the amber section that showed yellow for all directions. There were no problems with hoons using the \u201cget ready to go\u201d signal as an opportunity for a drag race, as there was a cop there watching everything. The cop would usually change the lights when the waiting traffic on any road built up to a certain level. Usually is the operative word. Most motorists knew perfectly well that if a chauffeur-driven Mercedes<\/a> swept along, standing out like a sore thumb in the middle of the Beetles<\/a>, Ladas and Pajeros<\/a>, the lights would be operated in its favour\u2026 after all, it could be a government official or the head of police in there. The human factor would also come into play if you were (a) good looking and female, and gave the cop a nice smile; or (b) had a heap of kids waiting to cross as pedestrians.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n