The Story and History of the First Traffic Lights

#infrastructure #road #driving
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In this video we'll be taking a brief and condensed look at the history and story behind our traffic light signals. We see and use them everyday but did you ever wonder what the first traffic lights looked like and when they were installed? I did... here's a video about it.
Traffic lights were a design evolution of the railway signal so in some ways todays road based traffic lights are down to the railway. And traffic lights actually pre date the car... who knew. The first set was erected (snigger) in London but we couldn't make it work but the guys in the United States could, installing their first traffic light in Cleveland Ohio.

[@Craig-wp3pz]

Here in the heart of HS2 land, I think we are hogging most of the country's 'portable traffic management' temporary traffic lights, ✋ 🚦 🛑

[@MyWifeHatesThisCar]

Here in the heart of Stourbridge, I can well believe that - as we seem to be hogging most of the country’s portable traffic’s lights that were sent back faulty. None of the damn things work for longer than a day!

[@hampshirewanderer5078]

On behalf of the rest of the country, we appreciate the important sacrifice your area is making.😅

[@Craig-wp3pz]

@@hampshirewanderer5078 its OK, 👌 you can have them back.,.,., in 2033....😥

[@billy4072]

Yes , as mentioned , taking one for the team , 👌..you will be rewarded...in heaven. 😇

[@pauldudeuk]

Nah mate they’re all up here in Blackburn fixing our potholes 😂😂😂

[@pauldanks9878]

the modern day lights in Princes Square, Wolvo have the supporting columns painted black and white as per how columns used to be, as an homage to the history of the location!

[@Pugjamin]

Little known fact, the original 1920’s lights were installed there as a way to control traffic heading to the recently opened “pork joint”, which has remained open ever since!

[@pauldanks9878]

Haha, well not surprised, had many a good pork bap from there 😋

[@automotivel3501]

Didn't John say the original lights in Wolverhampton were suspended from wires?

[@pauldanks9878]

Yeah, so technically if they wanted to really be historically accurate, they should do that!

[@simocreations]

Now this is what I love about this channel. Useless but interesting ❤

[@tomsurrey2252]

AGREE!!! Hahaha!😀

[@Mike-H_UK]

My mate once worked for the traffic control centre in Northampton. I remember him telling me about one set of traffic lights where if he changed a single timing, there would be complete gridlock in rush hour that would be nearly impossible to clear. I think that was his revenge if his boss fired him, but I believe this 'good idea' stayed at the 'good idea' stage. To be honest, it was a bit hard to tell since the traffic was normally pretty bad in rush hour anyway.......

[@MrKashmire123]

As a Wolverhampton resident, that pronouncation was spot on 😉

[@notenoughmonkeys]

Not saying this is the greatest idea for traffic lights... but this is the greatest idea for traffic lights. Replace the sensors under the road with payment terminals. Now if you're sat at a red, you can pay for green. Three way lights, well now it's a bidding war. I've just solved world poverty and sped up your journey. You're welcome!

[@billy4072]

I cry when I see temporary lights with the words ......" 4 way traffic control" Bizarre how time slows down,,

[@simontay4851]

Especially when there are no holes in the road, no workmen, there is no other traffic and it would be safe to go.

[@MYCROFTonX]

Wickedsweetawesome! The History of the Petrol Station would be a longer and very involved video! But well worth it! There are so many milestones! I'm not going to give spoilers away but 1st shops selling petroleum Spirit in cans, the first handpumps on the side of the road, the first electric pumps, first fuel bunkering points for trucks... the list is huge and in the light of the Electrification woes we have it will highlight what EVs have to achieve to get even close to Hydrocarbons. As usual, really great dry delivery... always a joy to watch... cheers!

[@AutoShenanigans]

Yes someone else mentioned the petrol station history... might look into that.

[@jonc4403]

Don't forget the tetraethyl lead. kzbin.info/www/bejne/r5qtd4mpZsyNp9E

[@derekmarshall6332]

I work in Leicester’s Area Traffic Control as an Operator. This means Im one of those b@stards who get the lights installed, and then manage the timings whilst watching the traffic cameras. We don’t always get it right, but we solve many traffic queues by changing the timings on the fly, without anyone on the street even knowing. Ninja!!! Generally, most of our systems are computer controlled using loops in the road and the square detectors mounted on top of the lights, and we intervene in case of queues or faults. We have a control room with a video wall showing 40 cameras at a time, so we can keep an eye on things.

[@AutoShenanigans]

Sounds fascinating mate... any chance of a visit/look around?

[@derekmarshall6332]

@@AutoShenanigans I’ll ask for you 👍

[@annabelholland]

There has been a few instances of replacing roundabouts with traffic lights. Having both is sometimes the worst part (i.e. signalised roundabouts)

[@joshuaaaron125]

Norcross roundabout in Blackpool; National Highways have completely fucked that roundabout up!

[@harveyshaw1466]

They work if they are part time signals. I.e only operating during heavier traffic periods. But no need during light traffic. Also the UK should adopt the Amber flashing "take caution" during night hours.

[@tomwinch9107]

@@harveyshaw1466 there's a great example where the A30, A321 and A331 meet, just up from Junction 4 of the M3 - 3 lanes into 6 heading west and a right-turn Lane where the A30 meets the roundabout when heading east! It is not terrible until you encounter a driver who isn't familiar with it, or worse, one who doesn't realise that the paint has some meaning!

[@alexanderboulton2123]

Oof

[@TheCardiganR]

Roundabout with traffic lights often work better when the traffic lights have broken down.

[@comedyhunter]

interesting and a nice change for the motorway ones. How about one about Cats eyes ?

[@barrieshepherd7694]

Especially the LED road studs on the A38 (section approaching M1 near Alfreton)

[@comedyhunter]

@@barrieshepherd7694 LED cats eyes? really ? not heard of LED ones, how are they powered ?

[@barrieshepherd7694]

@@comedyhunter Solar charged - very effective IMHO - good in poor visibility - Google "Solar studs light up A38"

[@andrewbell1105]

Percy Shaw, inventor of the cats eyes, and a real Yorkshire eccentric legend.

[@comedyhunter]

@@barrieshepherd7694 oh wow I didn t know that was even a thing. "A four-hour charge from daylight is enough to power the devices for more than 200 hours and they are effective in heavy rain, mist or fog, according to Highways England. The studs have been introduced as part of £8.5m worth of improvements to journeys along the A38 between Ripley and junction 28 of the M1 near Mansfield - a stretch that is used by more than 23,000 vehicles every day."

[@template16]

Many decades ago when I was a lad... there was a rubber strip across the road approaching every set of traffic lights. Us kids were told they controlled the lights by cars running over the rubber strip so we would all jump up and down on the rubber strip to see if the lights changed. Of course they never did, well not because of us anyway. Far fewer cars on the road so jumping up and down on a rubber strip in the road was far less dangerous.

[@donalddodson7365]

Thanks, Jon. It is good to know there are now legions of Traffic Engineers, Traffic Commissions and traffic signal maintenance workers around the globe, who might otherwise be on the dole. Also, millions of insulated mugs to hold our beverages while waiting for the light to change. Here's a tenner for your next ride. 🤗

[@AutoShenanigans]

hehe, thanks mate. I think you're on the money with turn right on a red.

[@sddsddean]

The best system I know is in Austria. There the green light flashes 4 times before it goes to amber, then red, so absolutely no excuse for jumping a red!

[@KarrierBag]

Nice one, I used to work for Lux portable traffic lights when I was a teenager back in the mid 80's, was a right laugh, we covered most of West Sussex and were based off the M23 / A23 in Handcross.

[@msamour]

I like how you couldn't keep a straight face at the end. He may be a prick, but he probably contributed to saving many lives. So it's Mr. Prick to you then! 😂

[@AutoShenanigans]

Yeah he's alright really.

[@Tinhare]

Another great midweek video. I wish they’d bring in the flashing lights like they have in the US for quiet intersections, usually at night. You know, the ones where you sit there for five minutes at a red , no other traffic about, then wait for it to change. Red flash stop and give way, orange flash proceed with caution.

[@Skorpychan]

Are you aware that there are no cameras covering them? You can just go through.

[@dantopps7332]

​@@Skorpychanjust wait, surely your not in much of a rush anywhere at night to risk getting hit?

[@donalddodson7365]

​@@SkorpychanIn the US there might be a law enforcement officer desperate for one more citation before end of shift. 😢

[@eddiewillers1]

The UK should also have a 'turn left on red' if the road is clear - just as turn-right-on-red is the norm across North America.

[@Sagnag]

I'm telling you man... Every third blink is slower...

[@ADJLfanatic52]

I’m from the Cleveland area myself. Euclid is pronounced with a “k” sound so it’s more like “eu-klid”.

[@LUNITUNZBackup]

I'm glad someone pointed that out, that pronunciation was painful.

[@Assimilator1]

Lol, and interesting! 🙂 It would be interesting to know more about modern day traffic lights too, we hear about signal phasing, certainly some detect traffic, and some also measure your speed and stay or switch red if you're going to fast! Grrrr! What else do they get up to? Do any respond to flashing lights? Or is that a myth?

[@darleytransportandtravel6353]

These necessary but evil b.... Necessary some times but often not. When they break down in my town everything flows beautifully. No hold ups or delays. When repaired well it's back to the traffic queues again.

[@totherarf]

Our modern traffic lights are so sophisticated that some of them actually slow the flow of traffic down! Imagine that!

[@tonys1636]

The linked average speed lights that involve several junctions on a road over a distance of about a mile or so, by not partaking of the traffic light GP and sticking to 20 mph (or the advised speed) one should go through the whole section on green. They first appeared in the '70's. They keep the traffic moving and prevent it backing up tp the last junction, in theory.

[@redboyjan]

They used to be linked so the flow was good. Sacked the guy that did that stuff in council cuts so it's crap now

[@totherarf]

@@tonys1636 Try driving into Manchester nowadays!

[@lefthandedspanner]

on Sheffield's various dual carriageways (apart from the Parkway, which is grade-separated), the lights seem to be timed to make you stop at every single one of them this backfires when somebody breaks down and obstructs the flow; with nowhere to go, traffic tails back past the lights, past the next set of lights, and the next... bringing every major road within 2 miles to a complete standstill

[@SampleTracks2224]

Done deliberately to force people out of their cars, and increase misery.

[@rechnin6680]

That's amusing timing, just been reading about a rural village where they bought their set of temporary traffic lights a birthday cake!

[@samfordsaunders]

I live in Warrington, and the traffic lights here are the bane of my existence. Every junction and every roundabout is light-controlled - I can hit 9-10 sets on a one-mile journey. Drives me bananas!

[@starlight5229]

Love the mid-weekers Jon! 😊 They help me fall asleep (in the NICEST possible way of course 😁)

[@somnambulist7705]

Putting traffic lights on roundabouts, that previously replaced junctions controlled by traffic lights, it’s lunacy.

[@simontay4851]

I agree, its stupid. Especially when you want to turn left / 1st exit and you can see that it is safe to go.

[@jordanlewis3790]

these mid week videos are just as exciting

[@lefthandedspanner]

the lights at the Pellon Lane/Queens Road junction in Halifax were definitely controlled by some kind of external traffic management system, as they never had a regular cycle, and the phases seemed to vary with the traffic flows; that, or the software was badly broken

[@andrewrobertson444]

Japanese traffic lights drive me crazy. They're designed to be discrete and unobtrusive, which is exactly opposite to what you want from a traffic light.😡😄

[@johnwhitehurst474]

2,020 views Oct 31, 2021 UNITED KINGDOM inventor of traffic light. The first Traffic light was invented by British engineer John Peake Knight from Nottingham, England. In 1866, over one thousand people a year were being killed and over thirteen hundred injured on the roads in London. Mr Knight designed a traffic signaling arrangement system to control the horse drawn traffic and diminish the number of road accidents. The world's first traffic light was installed on 9 December 1868 in London near Westminster Bridge, at the intersection of Great George Street and Bridge Street, London . A plaque can be seen at 12 Bridge Street, Westminster near to where the the first traffic light in the world were seen. This invention later paved the way for the electric traffic light by the american ,Lester Wire in 1912. Eight years after the modern evolved Traffic light invention of Lester wire, a detective in 1920 by the name of William Potts introduced the amber light with a sequence of electronic controls that would form and evolve the automatic traffic light. Early traffic light signals were constructed for the railways with the railways and trains invented in Britain. They were gas powered and were red and green. Red means risk or danger in many cultures. This makes sense as this colour has the greatest length on the color spectrum.This means it can be see from a longer viewing area than other colours. Traffic light technology by the 1960s had evolved in to the computerized era,which could now change using the process of automation with computer software. www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/cont...

[@davidrobert2007]

Auto Shenanigans - one of the best KZbin channels.... ....IN THE WORLD. (Jeremy Clarkson voice)

[@kaitanfox]

Im almost never fussed by waiting at traffic lights, my only personal gripe are when the ones that detect whether a car is waiting (at motorway junctions and roundabouts for example) time out after not detecting a car for a while and go red before you're close enough for them to detect you despite no vehicles waiting at the other light so you end up being stopped for no reason. I have this a lot when its quiet driving home at 4:45am. It would be so much better if they just didnt change until they detected a vehicle approaching the red light so you can cruise toward it and have it change on approach without stopping, or it just stays green for you.

[@EngMadison]

We're starting to change our signals to this operation to deter speeding. People arriving on a stale green are more likely to speed than people arriving on a red. However if your rear detectors are setup to call, you arrive on a red but get the green just as you might start to slow down. So in theory you're not actually delayed, just not encouraged to speed.

[@grahampalmer9337]

Had it been Birmingham however it would need two Gs in it as it is written with an invisible extra G after the first M. Owl roight! :-D p.s. Have you watch the strip of blue lights, & the shadow from the window, whilst viewing this - & the piece on Cat's Eyes? :-)

[@johnmoloney5296]

Heard the music at the start ... first thing that enters my head.....you can't beat a bit of bully 😂😂😂😂

[@revidual]

Got through the whole thing without mentioning The Italian Job traffic computer.......

[@jonathanfarber]

Everyday an education. However over the past two hours I’ve have had the bloody Bullseye 🎯 soundtrack ratting around my head to the point where I actually shouted out and scared the ***t out of the dog.

[@burninglion2584]

Is there a 'name the theme music' thread on these videos? I'll go first: Intro: Bullseye. Outro: Nice.

[@pigeonpoo1823]

My problem is that i can't work out whether traffic lights know I'm there when on a bicycle and no other cars around. So if you see a lone cyclist running a red light, it may not be that he's just a massive entitled prick! Please bear this in mind. We're not all dicks, though i see many that are.

[@rockerjim8045]

so many road junctions could be in improved. Move the pedestrian crossing positions further away from the junction and convert the traffic lights to a roundabout.

[@YetAnotherGeorgeth]

As someone from Wulvuramptun, you did pronounce it correctly!

[@garyhinson3876]

now there's a surprise that Wolver-bloody-hampton, detest driving thought the place, they seem to be seeded at night, there are always more of them each time you drive through the wretched place

[@fumthings]

3:53 "replace the warning bell SEEN on" i guess you could see a bell, but they are usually heard...

[@fatcontrole1]

8hrs in and no one has mentioned flashing the headlights on the approach to traffic lights to make them change.....

[@peterclarke3619]

Is it Sunday, I must have slept through the weekend, anything good happen.

[@Pymmeh]

"Necessary but evil bas*ard" is how my boss introduces me in meetings.

[@alexanderboulton2123]

2:34 What an absolute UNIT of a man! Literally just a gigachad.

[@AlfaGiuliaQV]

Lester Gigachad, the inventor of the electric traffic light.

[@PiousMoltar]

2:34 man that guy's head is so small and shoulders so wide he looks like a computer game character.

[@fuller9x]

We just need to find three minis and a way to sabotage the traffic light computers to then cause utter chaos

[@LukeBunyip]

I like traffic lights. But only when they're green...

[@snowmanbuzzfm]

I was always fascinated as a kid with one set of traffic lights on Lower Macclesfield Road and the junction of Buxton Road in Whaley Bridge Derbyshire. The lights were positioned that close to the pub on the corner that they had to cut out the left hand side of the light surround to tuck it against the wall. The lenses used to touch the wall of the pub and light it up like a disco 🤣 Sadly a quick look on maps shows said lights have now been pushed a few yards back from the corner 😭 no more half a traffic light

[@chrisskelhorn5727]

Wouldn't LED gas lamps be more successful? 😲

[@mittfh]

Perhaps at some point, consider doing a potted history of the menagerie of pedestrian crossings, from the original Zebra, through the alphabet soup of PEdestrian LIght-CONtrolled (pelican), Pedestrian User Friendly INtelligent (puffin), TWOCAN (toucan - pedestrians + cyclists), to Pegasus (where they ran out of acronyms and just adopted the winged horse - pedestrians + horse-riders).

[@AutoShenanigans]

On paper it sounds very boring but I suppose that what we do around here.

[@tooleyheadbang4239]

You missed out PANDA. There was one near Waterloo station, when I was a kid.

[@RClaffieJr]

Yep, that's one thing we're good for in the States. Telling you where to go :)

[@pietweety7020]

John, you speak so quickly I could only wish our traffic light system did the same. Great video as usual.

[@tomwinch9107]

I'm not sure how speaking traffic lights would be effective - really hard to hear with the stereo turned up to 11 ...

[@pietweety7020]

@@tomwinch9107 haha, I live in Oldham and most of us are too drunk to see, we have talking traffic lights 🍺🍺👍

[@fumthings]

maybe you meant to say "what a prick" ... in the arm for road safety...

[@Shaun30-3]

Aaaaaaaaaaa John you light up my life WOW interesting story mate

[@PineappleSkip]

Nice video. I like learning stuff. BTW Australia was a laggard and didn't install its first set of traffic lights until 1933. The bastards have done their best to catch up since then.

[@AutoShenanigans]

To be fair, you don't need traffic lights on those 1000km dust trails you guys call roads :D

[@nicc5122]

In South Africa they are called robots. Due to frequent load shedding the junctions turn into 4 way stops which seem to work better than with the lights operational!

[@AutoShenanigans]

I am aware they're called robots... and I think that's awesome.

[@RichieRouge206]

Was gonna say this, being Saaarrrff Afreeekan myself 😅

[@Mike-tv9rk]

Give me names and dates so I can invent a time machine to go back and stop it all . 😢

[@francisnewmarch6837]

Looking forward to The History of Potholes. Cheers from London

[@team-118]

Traffic Lights or .... 'Christmas Tree' ?

[@janeyb007]

The first automatic traffic light in Europe was in Potsdamer Platz, Berlin in 1924

[@mrbluesky2050]

bit of mid-week light entertainment there.......

[@cbrue1896]

The song "Slave To The Traffic Light" from that little band from Vermont comes to mind after watching this installment of AS. Nicely done, Jon. Traffic lights are a necessary evil. When one is late, you seem to catch all of the red lights. When you want to be late or not in a hurry to get anywhere, you always seem to catch the green lights.

[@tdyerwestfield]

I always thought the first ones were in Detroit.

[@Jonathan_55018]

thanks for sheddoing light on traffic lights

[@hairyairey]

It's interesting to note that the automated traffic light predated the invention of the transistor.

[@Loud_Whisper1]

How about including Garrett Morgan the black inventor input to traffic lights. 🚦

[@brandongorte4746]

You mean for adding the same amber light to them that had been added three whole years earlier by William Potts in Detroit?

[@vikkiruss]

I always wonder if the traffic light system in the Italian job was how’s the traffic light systems were at the time

[@hairyairey]

No, it took that eminent scientist Benny Hill (possibly his only serious role) to break them. Watch the movie again, the signalling ends up completely messed up.

[@isaacplaysbass8568]

Also: have you considered either doing interviews or getting people to show you the Traffic Light Tech in automotive museums, operation centres etc? (or for other street tech)? Also: surely the traffic light disruption tech in The Italian Job was bogus, riight? Right guys? ...

[@Anmeteor9663]

My vote goes to putting the police back in the middle of the road and scrapping the lights and computers. Oh, the fun we could have😂😂

[@AutoShenanigans]

We can barely fund the existing police :D

[@toxigames]

The first permanent electric traffic lights were on Park Row, Leeds. (March 1928)

[@paulreynolds1510]

Another thing that is very annoying is the variable speed limits on the motorways for what reason?????? When you get going and nothing there

[@EmyrDerfel]

The whole point is to slow the traffic down before it gets to the obstruction so you just get a slow zone rather than an actual jam, and it's easier to get recovery/emergency vehicles through traffic that's still moving.

[@Froobyone]

1:21 Wait, did they use demons to make the light on the early designs? Because that's a demon with big ears waving his arms menacingly at me.

[@AutoShenanigans]

It seems back then someone also thought similar.. www.victorianlondon.org/lighting/trafficlights.htm

[@alexanderswistak1778]

Correct me if I am wrong but I once herd the average person spends 3 years of their life waiting at traffic lights 🚦

[@simontay4851]

Only 3 years. Is that all? Seems like much more to me.

[@TransportationTravels]

Too many traffic lights in the UK are on set sequences and are not traffic sensitive. Drives me mad.

[@AutoShenanigans]

Yep.. don't drive in greater manchester, they're bloody everywhere.

[@paxford2]

I only use them if it is not safe to not do so.

[@nicks4934]

Those traffic lights are gas lighting us 😂😂

[@jimmydesouza4375]

Was nervous about this video. I am thankful it's of quality.

[@AutoShenanigans]

you and me both :D

[@WhiskeyGulf71]

The funny thing is that most of London’s traffic lights are still on a timer & have no adjustment to manage traffic. This is most annoying when using the streets of London in the early hours when the roads are near empty but the bloody traffic lights are still cycling through & stopping vehicles for no damn reason. No one seems to have clued in the T/L engineering department that stopping traffic increases pollution. They still seem to thing that if they make it as inconvenient as possible to move around London by road then people won’t drive anymore 😂

[@simontay4851]

Not just in london, the traffic lights where i live are left on at night and obviously don't have sensors in the road. I sometimes have to wait at a red for minutes with no other cars waiting. This is at 9PM.

[@dangerousandy]

How the devil are you?

[@dilwyn1]

WoW ! That was a very interesting vid. As a temporary and permanent Traffic signals engineer I have learned a lot. Thanks for the upload 👍

[@Timbex2005]

….and not one reference to the computerised traffic system in the Italian Job 😄

[@RichardWatt]

Which was then referenced in the 1980s MacGyver series (Season 1, Episode 4).

[@marvintpandroid2213]

Love a bit of Bully

[@goldenaxe1986]

Another Great Vid thanks For Watching. Please Add a Pencil to your Cup Of Crayons. Pencil Lives Matter .😁

[@AutoShenanigans]

My mum says I'm not allowed pencils... too sharp.

[@goldenaxe1986]

@@AutoShenanigans sooo Unfair... I've admired your Epic adventures and enjoy the humourous jives you sneakily add into them. Was wondering if you have any thoughts about doing anymore vids on Lost & abandoned airfields ? Celloggs Frosties GrrrrrEAT !! Work though & Look forward to future projects...

[@macstyle2012]

Where i live, traffic lights almost dont exist. They have replaced most with roundabouts

[@DavidShepheard]

One thing that frustrates me is PELICAN crossing lights, where a pedestrian presses the button and has to wait for ages. These things should be reprogrammed to change straight away. Any delay should be after the pedestrians have crossed.

[@sonadagothalus]

As someone who does audits for the motor trade, looking into the first car dealers in the UK selling different cars would be good. The first rover dealer in the UK in 1898 (so they told me) in Hampton Court has a cabinet that is like a shrine to the owner with his death certificate and his glass eyeball in a wedding ring presentation box, keeping an eye on the business. These oddball locations are like stepping back in time 50 years. Worth doing videos on but not sure if you could ever film without either being seen or the caveat of not slating them which defeats the amusing element of all your videos.

[@willtricks9432]

Not a lot of people know that.

[@TheLoxxxton]

YES! My dad always said the first traffic lights in the UK were installed in Wolverhampton! To be be clear just say Wolves ya cheeky bugger

[@DrivermanO]

A cities' traffic lights all controlled by a central unit? As adverised in "The Italian Job"?

[@stevieandthebarbies]

It brings to mind a visit to Rome some years ago when I was asked what I thought of their “illuminations” - ie the traffic lights that Roman drivers take absolutely no notice of

[@handyandy6050]

With Benny Hill "hacking" them?

[@McRocket]

An Auto Shenanigans video? It must be Sunday. 5 more days of work. Damn it!!! ☮

[@621pw]

Here in Leeds I think they had the first permanent automatic traffic lights in the UK on Park Row - a year after Wolverhampton - but I believe the latter had them put in as a trial.

[@edwardjackson2221]

You forgot to mention Garrett Morgan the black man who invented the traffic light

[@bruceblackmar9942]

I remember in the mid 1960's in the suburbs of New York city there were still traffic lights with only red and green lights. When they would change from green to red, the signal would have both lights lit for a short time.

[@donwright3427]

In the South Africa they call them robots!

[@nicks4934]

As did my grandfather from Yorkshire

[@isaacplaysbass8568]

Ah hah! I'm looking forward to the next installment of "The Secret History of Road Furniture" or whatever you choose to name this series. Nice one.

[@PhilipMurphyExtra]

The only Traffic Lights that would annoy you, Is ones that are not designed for the actual roads.

[@brandongorte4746]

3:53 The amber (or yellow) was added by Officer William Potts of the Detroit Police Department in 1920. He noticed that the change from green to red often did not provide enough warning to adequately stop traffic safely so he added the extra light between the green and red cycles. These were first tried out at Woodward and Michigan Avenues, and then spread quickly to other parts of the city.

[@tomwinch9107]

Would 'psychotic junctions' be a good future series? There's a great example where the A30, A321 and A331 meet, just up from Junction 4 of the M3 - 3 lanes into 6 heading west and a right-turn lane where the A30 meets the roundabout when heading east! It is not terrible until you encounter a driver who isn't familiar with it, or worse, one who doesn't realise that the paint has some meaning! There's also a traffic light controlled cross roads just over the River Blackwater bridge where a pair of roads parallel to the main road have one stop line with traffic light on one leg, and a give way line with a traffic light pointing towards it on the other leg ... Now I know you are not a lawyer (as indeed I am also not), but I can't see how crossing the give way line when the light is on red can count as failing to stop at a traffic light ... it could be charged as dangerous driving or driving without due care and attention if there was an accident, but it's not a traffic light offence! The number of cars that slowly cross the line when stopping at a red light is crazy - do they not know that failing to stop before the line is the same offence (though likely less dangerous!) as carrying on!

[@wilderwegrow]

Hey Jon, me again. I’ve just had a glass of wine and decided that instead of just watching your videos in awe, i would awkwardly message you and hope you don’t think i am a weirdo. You’re hot. There. I said it.

[@wilderwegrow]

I’m also 33 and female, just incase you might think anything other than that. Well. Now i do seem weird But! Still true x (Literally actually true, just a random 33 year old girl who loves motorway videos) 🎉

[@AutoShenanigans]

Wait... you're a female? Well that's novel for this channel :D I'll send you a link to my onlyfans.

[@wilderwegrow]

For sure 😂