Longer Yellow Lights Reduce Accidents
American Chronicle:s: "Longer yellow lights will do more to reduce crashes at intersections than any other method, including the use of red-light cameras, according to a new report.

The report from the Texas Transportation Institute is the result of a three year study of 181 intersections using police reports in three Texas cities. The purpose of the research was to determine the most effective solutions for problem intersections.

The research revealed that many yellow lights are shorting than the recommended minimum, causing a jump of 110 percent in the number of red-light violations. The finding gave support to motorists who are caught by red-light cameras. They frequently complain that a short yellow light forced them to chose between slamming on the brakes and getting rear-ended and continuing through the intersection.

The report concluded that the best way to improve safety statistics at intersections is to lengthen yellow lights to one second more than the minimum standard, which will reduce accidents by 40 percent and violations by 53 percent."
- posted by Sophont @ Thursday, June 23, 2005