Traffic Lights: A History

[@anangryranger]

Being an old school peace officer, now long since retired, I remember vividly directing traffic. Mostly during peak traffic "rush hours". We'd go to heavily congested intersections. Set the timer controlled traffic light to "caution". Then stand in the middle of the intersection and direct traffic with hand signals, and the whistle blows to move things along. Now fifty years later, I still have the same old "Acme Thunderer" whistle. Early sensors were long rubberized strips that ran across the lanes in front of the intersection. As cars would pass over the sensors, the light system "counted" the number of vehicles crossing. Then at set intervals, the lights would change. Sometimes, a sensor strip would get stuck, causing a "stuck light". We'd stop traffic, and taking a large hammer, go and pound each sensor strip until the lights returned to normal. Fun days.😉 Traffic control by the video sensors and computer have all but eliminated the old "Traffic Cop" from daily life. 👮

[@51WCDodge]

Still standard issue to many forces in UK. 😁

[@aaronbasham6554]

the new system does work a lot better, but do enjoy when there are still traffic cops. Weird old touch

[@anangryranger]

@@aaronbasham6554 Yup, had a city council member once tell me watching me direct traffic was like watching George C. Scott, as Gen. Patton. Where in the scene he stood atop a tank, and directed a massive traffic jam of vehicles at a muddy intersection. Said it was purely magical. I told him I didn't know about the magical part, but I was a drill sergeant in army, among other things. I knew how to move troops, and drivers were like moving troops. Get their attention, and give a sound command. They'll move in an orderly fashion. And I added besides keeping a good traffic flow, the primary goal I had was to avoid becoming a "hood ornament" on a Buick! 😄

[@zellfaze]

ACAB

[@rickgomez2885]

When I was a teenager in the early seventies, there was a sensor strip for a traffic light near my home. Sometimes, when there were no other cars around while I was stopped at a red light, I would go backwards and forwards repeatedly hitting the sensor strip until the light changed. It actually worked.

[@joshuaobelenusable]

Ashville, OH has a the "worlds oldest working traffic light". It ran traffic from 1932 to 1982 and now runs inside a museum. It was pulled from service because it is a single lens that changes and color-blind people struggled to determine if it was red or green. It still functions inside the museum, really neat mechanism.

[@jeffreywhitehead9386]

I was listening to a retired Navy Admiral on the radio here in Australia, who stated that because the British Navy was crashing at sea in inclement weather, they commissioned a large survey to find the best two diametrically opposed colours to use in all climatic conditions day and night. Red and Green was the result of this survey. He also went on to say that British Rail adopted these colours and chose red for stop. One can only imagine what it would be like should they have chosen green but I guess we would all be none the wiser. Thank you kindly for your wonderful videos. Always a delight to indulge.

[@martinevans9757]

The History Guy: Making something as... pedestrian... as traffic lights into a transport of delight.

[@trumpetmom8924]

Fun Fact about Syracuse, NY: on Tipperary Hill, the traffic light at the top of the hill is upside down - green is on the top, red is on the bottom. The old story says that the Irish boys of the area kept throwing stones at the light to break it because they wanted the green on top to represent their proud heritage. After replacing several lights, the city finally acquiesced and flipped the light. So if you have red-green colorblindness, be alert if you drive in that area of Syracuse. (The intersection of Tompkins and Milton; you can see it in Google Maps street view.)

[@squirrellymcbutterballs3510]

Drove by it today on my way to Coleman’s.

[@PetiteKeyboardist]

Ooh, I was hoping he would mention that. I’m from Syracuse.

[@newrunner91]

Lived in that neighborhood for about 3 years. Fun times as a single, young man.

[@Orangefan77]

I expected that to be a part of this video... oh well.

[@urlton]

I wondered if it would be mentioned too. Glad to see it in the comments; saved me some typing

[@NickRatnieks]

The yellow light is called amber in the UK. There were public information films that asked "Are you an amber gambler?" which encouraged people to try and stop- not race through the amber light to beat the red light. When I was a kid there were rubber strips in the road that actuated the lights when cars drove over them- so we would go out into the roadway and jump up and down on them!

[@filanfyretracker]

Officially its Amber in the USA too, but in normal speak its yellow. that is in manuals for traffic signal design the color is specified as Amber, Likely because "Yellow" is very ambiguous but Amber is a very specific shade of yellow.

[@morrisghill]

Great research. You might have added (based on the Jam Handy clips from the mid-1930's) that a common pre-WWII sequence was G-Y-R-Y-G. The extra yellow after red gave motorists a few extra seconds to shift from neutral to first gear to be ready to promptly go on green. As late as the 1960's, I remember signals that were still using the pre-war sequence. Those were old signals that had green on top facing the cross-street, enabling a 4-way signal to operate with only 3 bulbs instead of 12.

[@thomasrengel5577]

I was going to post about green-on-top for side streets--I haven't seen any since ca. 1970. Used to see them in western PA and the upper Ohio Valley. When I find one I'll photograph it. Local variants like the Red-Yellow combination for "pedestrians only may cross" of Mass. and RI didn't get mentioned. That Red-Yellow is rapidly disappearing.

[@christophermcnally2190]

Enjoyed the video very much! I collect and restore old traffic signals have always loved them. I have a whole garage full of them including several old 4-ways, several neon pedestrian signals and a variety of lights from the 1930s to the 1970s

[@whaaaat_scoobs]

Another fun fact about a related traffic control system, the parking meter! The first parking meter was installed in downtown Oklahoma City, my city! We also have a large traffic signal manufacturing company in a suburb of OKC called Pelco Products that makes light poles, traffic lights, and all other traffic control subsystems for distribution around the country.

[@donnahaynes8766]

I was riding with my dad in a small town in TN 50 years ago give or take a bit. The traffic lights on side streets consisted of two boxes, one above the other. They each had two red lenses and two green lenses with only a single light bulb in each box. Dad happened to be red/green color blind. Scary ride with him 😅.

[@jhazardiii]

Same story, second verse, middle Tennessee in 50s and 60s.

[@ronniewatkins]

Great topic, Lance! Now if we could just get people to use their turn signals, we'd be doing great! Cheers!

[@Leskeepingitreal]

That’s one of my pet peeves.

[@jeffbangle4710]

But if you signal your turn, you lose the element of surprise... ;)

[@ronniewatkins]

​@jeffbangle4710 Don't try that near my Trooper Post, or one of us just might surprise you with a Traffic Citation or three!

[@dr.froghopper6711]

In my state of New Mexico, DUI is the state sport and people just buy more “aiming fluid”.

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

BMW drivers take note…

[@rhettshanley8712]

Your probably my favorite history KZbinr. You cover every topic you can think of. I can’t fathom the hours you put into researching stop lights of all things!

[@andrewcarter7503]

One of JP.Knight's 5 sons founded the company J.P.Knight Ltd which went into shipping. Fast forward 120 odd years and I worked for the accountancy firm that looked after the J.P.Knight group of companies, still run by the same family. The family connection to traffic light development was something they were still proud of.

[@et76039]

For most of the 20th century, Crestview, Florida had a very uncommon traffic light, near the post office and Piggly Wiggly on North Wilson Street. That one seemed to be the result of someone wanting to see the bulbs do double duty and simplify the circuitry. Thus, while traffic on one street saw the common red on top and green on bottom, the other street had green on top with red on bottom. The only place I ever saw a traffic light go from red to yellow to get to green. Sadly, this rarity has been replaced by a light that operates more conventionally.

[@davecaron1213]

Learning to drive in Massachusetts in the 60s was unusual because of some unique laws. For example, as well as the usual red and green signals, there was a red then red-yellow signal meaning pedestrians were crossing. Standalone pedestrian crossings had a flashing green light, meaning it could change to red, yellow. There were also two types of stop signs. The common type we have now had different laws. When there were multiple cars in line, every other car had to stop and then the two cars could proceed if it was safe to do so. Then there were the “Thru Traffic” stop signs which required every car to stop as we do now. I believe most of these laws are no longer in effect. Although not a law, entering a highway (freeway) was different. The rule was to step on the gas, enter the road, and then look left! LOL.

[@-jeff-]

Thanks, THG, for green lighting this flashy piece of history. 🚦

[@TheOldManAndTheSaw]

In addition to being the first city to have their traffic lights automated, Syracuse New York is also the only place where you will find a traffic light with the green light on top and the red on the bottom. It's located on Tipperary Hill and is history that deserves to be remembered.....check it out.

[@matthewcostello3530]

one of my cousins was a stone-thrower

[@TheOldManAndTheSaw]

Ah! Then sure you'd be knowin' the history. And also Coleman's. Dave

[@lauriesue2244]

Aviation, which took many of its terms & systems from maritime, also uses the red & green lights on wing tips so another pilot could more easily know if a plane was coming towards him, or away from him.

[@BradThePitts]

I remember the chaos in my home town with the arrival of the new LED traffic lights. Unlike the incandescent lights, they didn't get warm enough to melt snow. When it snowed heavily you couldn't see any lights at all! No idea how they fixed it.

[@LordGryllwotth]

Fastest would have to be to install a heater. Now we get LED lightbars with heating! Worth it for the period when the temp is at 0c to 3c and snowing and get stuck. And that happens with incandescent lights too.

[@evensgrey]

Another quirk of Japanese traffic lights is how often they are spread out horizontal, while in North America they are almost universally vertical, with the colors being the familiar sequence from the top down of red, amber green. Except in the Province of Quebec in Canada, where they are quite often horizontal, sometimes with red on both ends, and the green often being much bluer than is common in the rest o the continent, and the red lights on horizontal traffic light often being square instead of round. (This MIGHT be to help people with color vision defects. The most common color vision defect is the inability to distinguish red and green properly. Of course, the vertical arrangement used nearly universally elsewhere still allows for easy differentiation of red and green by being at the top and bottom.) It might also be because Quebec will do things differently in order to not do things the same way as they are done in Ontario.

[@AaronOfMpls]

Some US states and cities have horizontal overhead lights, too. And even outside those, you'll sometimes see horizontal overhead signals in places where height clearance or strong winds are an issue. The color arrangement is standard too: red is on the left in the US, and on the right in Japan. For more, Road Guy Rob did a video about horizontal traffic lights a while back: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYnFeZeBf5Z3bZo

[@ElectroDFW]

In much of the South you'll see them too. Also in high-wind environments, and anywhere tall trucks regularly travel.

[@danburch9989]

Many, most, or all signals in TX are horizontal. Vertical mounts sometimes break in high winds.

[@offrails]

Here in Florida they've converted many to be horizontal too - instead of suspending the signals from cables hung across the intersection, most new light installations have been large cantilever poles with the lights mounted horizontally. I'm guessing this reduces the chance of the lights becoming projectiles when hurricanes hit and improves aesthetics too

[@chilkat_river]

I live in rural Alaska, my community doesn't have traffic lights. We have one four way stop intersection on Main and second avenue. No four lanes, No turn lanes. I like it here.

[@tommylovell2528]

I've seen a few comments about the traffic light on Tipperary Hill in Syracuse New York and agree that it would make an excellent History Guy episode .

[@carlos-ju7ce]

In South Africa, we call traffic lights, Robots. It's been so since 1927, when the first lights were installed in Johannesburg. The City Clerk was the one that gave them the name, as he exclaimed, "It looks just like a robot!" Nobody says Traffic Light. 🇿🇦

[@bertkutoob]

That actually makes semantic sense if you think of a robot being an electromechanical device which performs the function of a human, the first "controllers" having been humans. In the late 1990's /early 2000's I served on an "experts" committee whose task was to oversee the revision of the traffic signals section of the South African Traffic Signs Manual. I was hugely entertained by the passionate professional "pro/con" squabble as to whether "robot" vs "traffic signal" should be ratified as the official term. Unfortunately (IMO😢} the "robot" supporters were voted out... But in the vernacular, we still call them robots....

[@superted6960]

A name that was also given to the first automated lights in Leeds UK in the 1920s. It didn't stick though.

[@Nicksonian]

Growing up in Ohio in the 1960s, traffic lights were, as they still are, placed over the roadway. Oddly, during our family visits to Wisconsin, I always looked forward to seeing traffic lights on poles at the sides of the road. I see from Google street view that Wisconsin is still putting them there, although some now are over the road as well.

[@frafraplanner9277]

I think traffic lights are better placed on the sides of the road

[@RobertStewart-i3m]

Back in 2001-02, I lived in Phoenix AZ. There was 1 intersection there were very serious problems with folks running red lights. It was on the news many times because of all the accidents, especially at rush hours. This happened mainly going south. Finally, Phoenix PD took quite drastic steps to fix the matter. They swarmed the area with 3 cars and 8 motorcycles. We'd be driving down the street and commonly see 4 cars pulled over with 1 or 2 being pursued. This went on for 6 months, every day 2 times a day. Weekends were just silly. People would get 2 or 3 tickets- running the light and speeding. If you were a jerk with the cop, you got reckless driving too. The courts caught on quickly, especially to those who got cited more than once

[@marvwatkins7029]

May all who view this THG episode forevermore see traffic lights differently and favorably.

[@marydesmond9595]

red means stop...green means go...and yellow means go faster!

[@peteengard9966]

When the LED traffic lights came out. They thought they were great until the first snow and the lights were completely snowed over. They had to retrofit heaters in the lights to melt the snow and some would have large ice cycles falling on the cars below.

[@FuncleChuck]

Technology Connections?

[@LucarioBoricua]

They're still great all-around, and there's lots of places around the world where snow is of little impact, or is absent altogether. The whole notion that the heat output of the older incandescent lightbulbs was a deliberate feature to melt off snow is just a convenient coincidence. No one thought about it until the LEDs drastically reduced the waste heat, and thus reduced energy demand to operate equipment that's active 24/7.

[@danburch9989]

And there went the energy savung by switching to LEDs. Our early LEDs had a high failure rate.

[@rnascak]

Three oddities or rarities I've discovered regarding traffic lights - In Germany, the light cycle is red, red/amber, green, amber, etc. The short red/amber indicates the light is about to turn green. In downtown Charleston, SC, there were (in the '70s/'80s) traffic lights that faced due east, and at sunrise, the red light was impossible to see. The city's solution was to add a strobe tube horizontally across the red light that would flash when the red light was on in hopes of getting drivers to notice it. Finally, in Roseville, CA, there's an intersection that is near a high school, heavily traveled during the day, but rarely used at night. The light is "green on demand", with sensors in each direction. During daytime hours, it works as a timed light. However, in the evening, it switches to all directions red. When a car approaches, it instantly turns green for that direction and stays red for cross traffic.

[@filanfyretracker]

You see the strobe tube on some higher speed roads too, One of the parkways in NY outside the city there is a traffic light at an office park and because there is no lights in one of the direction for miles they have a strobe in the red to get your attention. I believe its at Reader's Digest, but its been a decade plus since ive been that way so dunno if the strobe is still there.

[@Dratchev241]

I remember somewhere long ago i seen a strobe ring around the outside of the red lens that was maybe the late 80s

[@catherinesanchez1185]

Here in Maryland, we call the light on demand “ a smart light “ . It’s great when you’re driving through a heavily developed area of stores etc late at night or sundays when there’s no traffic . You can really get moving

[@boggy7665]

@@filanfyretracker The Clavey Road stoplight (eliminated 1990) at the northern end of the Edens Expressway near Chicago, Illinois, had a strobe around one of the reds. This intersection was notorious for sleepy/inattentive drivers plowing into stopped traffic. The turnoff to continue on I-94 is a mile prior & easy to miss.

[@Project_Low_Expectations]

Fascinating story about something no one would ever even consider learning about. Awesome job

[@adriang6259]

Awesome. Been thinking about this for a while now. It's interesting where cities place the lights for ease. I just came back from Düsseldorf and I had to crane my neck to see their lights. Other places placed a second set of lights in a good line of sight for the driver in front of the line. They also had a system where the amber light flashed before the green came on, like some kind of race. Another quirk was the pedestrian walk symbol come on simultaneously with the green arrow turn so you have to wait for people to cross the road before you could turn right.

[@Onewheelordeal]

Making a right turn across a currently open crosswalk is super common in the US, just the nature of timing ppl to walk parallel with the main traffic

[@user-vm5ud4xw6n]

I don’t have any fun facts or any history lessons I can share. But when I was 16 my dad took me for my drivers test. He was so nervous thinking about it he ran a red light. That was our little secret and I never told anyone!!

[@mattgeorge90]

Thank you for sharing. Always a great day when the History Guy pops up!

[@greg1martin]

I remember when my town's single traffic light had three light bulbs. The red light was on the top for two directions and on the bottom for the right angle directions. Eventually, the red on top standard was followed. Of course, the red on top helps those with color blindness.

[@J0hnnieP]

Wanna have REAL fun? I have achromatopsia (severe loss of color discrimination). Traffic lights that are sideways instead up/down are very annoying for me.

[@boggy7665]

Grandma's town had one, two blocks down from her house. I can remember, in boredom on a sweltering night during our visit, standing on the sidewalk or leaning on the fence wall in front of her house, watching it cycle away with there being almost no traffic at all in either direction. The lights weren't perfectly coordinated, so there was a moment in one change when all three bulbs were lit, and in the opposite change when nothing was lit.

[@boggy7665]

W.S.Darley

[@LucarioBoricua]

@@J0hnnieP The correct installation of sideways traffic signals has the red light towards the center of the roadway (left side on right-hand drive countries, right side on left-hand drive countries).

[@jimh6754]

Those signals only had 3 bulbs (top, middle, and bottom) instead of the modern 12 bulbs for a 4-way signal. Since a single bulb had to light all 4 directions, the lenses had to be different on adjacent sides. These were marketed as being simple and inexpensive.

[@julesjames593]

Perfect! I'm writing a neighborly FB post about the abandoned-in-place Red/Green traffic signal on our drawbridge. Yellow -- proceed with caution -- isn't applicable for drawbridge openings!

[@lostboytnt1]

I live nearby, and am very proud of the irish Tipperary hill area, in Syracuse NY. Where 'Green reigns supreme!' (only green on top light)

[@SoloPilot6]

The Los Angeles traffic light bells survive to this day -- in cartoons! The major cartoon studios were in LA during the prewar years, and rapidly adopted the audio cue to emphasize signal changes. One major argument was over light placement -- railroads put green at the top (the "high ball") and red lower (closer to the engineer's eye line, useful when smoke and steam often obscured forward view). The "stop at top" lights were standardized to differentiate trolley signals and car signals. Los Angeles also developed the "scramble" system for pedestrian crossing at intersections. All cars stopped and people would walk to whichever corner they wanted. This is gone from LA, but still found in major cities around the world, such as Tokyo.

[@grapeshot]

Yep, they finally put Garrett A. Morgan into the inventor's Hall of Fame, he did improve on the traffic light🚦🚦🚦

[@jennifersalt3194]

I came to the comments looking for Garrett Morgan.

[@pthom1508]

It's telling when the accomplishment of one of the best known black inventors is "he slightly improved the traffic light." It's the equivalent of a special olympics bronze medal.

[@grapeshot]

@@pthom1508 and it's telling that your kind can't stand it whenever black people do great things because the jealousy with your kind is pathological because you're kind loves writing themselves as the hero in every damn story

[@grapeshot]

@@pthom1508 also Morgan invented a gas mask that has saved millions of lives

[@CasperGutman]

He invented a traffic signal not a traffic light.

[@RetiredSailor60]

Good Monday morning History Guy and everyone watching...

[@catatonicbug7522]

The next time I go down town to Salt Lake Ciity, I will try to remember to find the intersection where that first electric traffic light was installed. Pretty cool piece of history there!

[@AnotherOpinionatedIdiot]

I'm related to Mr. Morgan. It's amazing that he achieved so much in a state that still has segregated burial sights. Great video.

[@goosenotmaverick1156]

As in they still segregate even new people being interred? (I think that's the proper word?) Even to this day?

[@Sapper201D]

I can attest to that fact. In Carlisle, Ky, they only recently began interring whites into a black cemetery in the last eight years. My grandmother was one of the first people of color interred into the white cemetery in the late 90's.

[@goosenotmaverick1156]

@@Sapper201D Holy. Crap. I had no idea things were still like that in places. What a messed up world we still live in.

[@ponyote]

I remember growing up near Somerset, PA and having signs down the main street which read "Lights calibrated for 35mph" or similar language. That was quite clever, to my opinion.

[@onliwankannoli]

I was pleasantly surprised you brought up Japan’s “blue” lights and explained it quite well! I’m suddenly hungry for a blue apple…

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

It’s the same in several Asian languages, such as Khmer. Considering basically almost everything in medieval Asia was either blue (sky) or green (jungle and rice paddy) it’s amazing they didn’t come up with another word…

[@onliwankannoli]

@@bob_the_bomb4508 It’s interesting that many ancient languages like Greek didn’t have a word for blue. It’s often thought blue is the last color added in a culture or language. Unusual that Japanese had blue before green.

[@davidlyon4950]

Having lived in Japan,I knew this. But even in the US, if you closely ponder the traffic lights, it is really more of an aquamarine... just a matter of is it a greenish blue or a bluish green

[@erintyres3609]

@@davidlyon4950 Yes, green traffic lights are really somewhat blue. I heard that the bluish tint improves its visibility.

[@jasonw8124]

@@erintyres3609 Makes it easier for colorblind to see, because true green is the common color colorblind people can't detect.

[@trevinbeattie4888]

Coincidentally I watched a video from Weird History earlier today which explained how we got our traffic light colors. Railroads originally used red for stop because the longer wavelength can be seen at greater distances. They used to use white for go and green for “go slow” but since the green light was just a white light tinted by a cap if the tinted cap fell off it would send the wrong signal; additionally the white lights could be confused with starlight at night. So eventually they changed go to green, and slow to yellow to better distinguish it from red and green. (From the video: “Why Common Items are Specific Colors”)

[@ElectroDFW]

Thank you! I need to watch that !

[@ronbeck201]

Red light means stop, green light means go, yellow light means go very fast.

[@LadyAnuB]

I love the use of the film, "A Trip Down Market Street." The pedestrian-delayed light I've seen in recent is actually an old idea is cool. (Oakland Tribune newsreel here? Yes, I live in the Bay Area.) Modern improvements include camera detection systems, turn arrows that cross opposing traffic that flash after being solid, amber reflective tape around the outside of the light background.

[@slypear]

So great you mentioned the Japanese blue/green light issue!

[@CAMacKenzie]

2 color traffic lights with semaphore arms were still seen in some small towns in the U.S. well into the 1950s. I don't remember where it was--I was too young to know where we were other than "not home"--but I remember seeing them a couple of times somewhere when we were on a driving vacation in the mid '50s. More than that, I have a vague memory of seeing them somewhere in the Los Angeles area (Glendale? Santa Monica? San Fernando? don't know where) in the early '50s.

[@ElectroDFW]

A lot of animation uses the arms, especially those from the early days, or those that pay tribute to those from that era.

[@MarinCipollina]

Hollywood had the semaphore arm traffic signals until sometime in the 1960s

[@mikebikekite1]

The first time I saw traffic lights with visible timers showing when the lights would change was in Cairo, Egypt. It all seemed very sensible as it gave drivers the opportunity to switch off their engines etc. The whole concept was undermined by the fact that most drivers didn't actually stop for the red lights. It was almost as interesting looking at the chaos on the roads as it was looking at the ancient monuments.

[@MrDfallon]

My friend is colorblind and depends upon the position (top, bottom or middle) of the light (as opposed to the color) to know whether it is a stop, caution or go signal. I didn't see any mention of when that was standardized. Nevertheless, very interesting as usual.

[@peterpayne2219]

I was getting ready to comment about how Japan uses the word “blue” for “Green” but you were on top of it!

[@edwinwhitaker5679]

With regard to their altitude, the traffic lights below the 2,645 metre Col du Galibier are the highest in Europe. They control the flow of traffic under the col as the 1000 foot length tunnel is only wide enough for one lane of traffic. The tunnel was built in 1890. I have crossed the col on a bicycle three times and there are very fine views from the summit.

[@justin39640]

There was still 2 lamp signals in NYC within the last 20 years. Mostly in the Rockaways under the L. Green and red at the same time was the same as a yellow signal.

[@stevenlitvintchouk3131]

When I was a very young kid (1950s), there were still two-color red/green (no amber) traffic lights in my neighborhood. Instead of an amber light signaling a change to red, the red and green lights were lit at the same time to mean this.

[@michaelgarrison7604]

As a 30-year traffic signal technician let me just say good job

[@danburch9989]

I'm a retired tech after 18 years. I really enjoyed that work.

[@fldon2306]

BMW had an available in-car display on some models that would notify a driver whether the upcoming traffic light was red or green. (2015’s. Don’t know if it’s still offered) Downside, the traffic lights had to have special transmitters to share the information, and most lights in the USA didn’t have it.

[@tonyx3768]

The old Asheville, OH traffic light is history that deserves to be remembered.

[@carguybikeguy]

I love everything about your channel. I especially love the deep dives you do into tech related to the motoring industry. It fills in a few blanks for me & I end up learning more about stuff I thought I knew quite a bit about. Oooooh! Could you do a minidoc on the Curta?! That little calculator has a remarkable origin story.

[@MartianSolarbuddy]

When Intel introduced the 4004 chip, the very first microprocessor on a chip in 1970, it was first used in a brand of Japanese calculator. It was also widely used as a controller for traffic lights for a number of years. Chip collectors have had good luck in recovering Intel 4004 chips from city yards after those old units were decommissioned.

[@lloydhayne2488]

Absolutely a fun video. Learned much. Thanks

[@Jabberstax]

The History Guy can make the most mundane things interesting.

[@cristiancristi9384]

The japanese blue 🔵 colour story is odd and funny 😄 at the same time. When I was little my dad bought a japanese Casio mathemathical calculator that had the display with lighted digits in a sublime "blue-ish green" colour unseen anywhere else. Now after many years, I found out why 😊

[@rogerstephenson5639]

One of the things that I wish the USA would adopt from France is a lower light mounted on a pole at street corners in addition to the overhead traffic light. This makes it easier for the lead vehicles to see and also adds a safety factor when bright sunlight makes the overhead light difficult to see.

[@MarkoVukovic0]

In South Africa, all our lights are mounted on poles and there are two sets. One at the intersection and another on the opposite side.

[@filanfyretracker]

I see something like this in some places in NJ, you have the overheads and then sometimes hanging over the oncoming lane another light facing your direction. One near my house like this because there is a corner before the 4 way intersection. Lets you know what the light is doing before getting to it.

[@brandongorte4746]

Illinois does this a lot, using side signals as well as overhead signals.

[@corvid...]

Yet another great and informative video... And I got my THG shirt in the mail, I am wearing it as I watch this. Delightful!!

[@JimKlohr-wl5wi]

Only the THG could make a documentary of traffic lights interesting!

[@marvwatkins7029]

I once met a guy that collected stop lights as a hobby. But then he worked for the City Bureau of Electricity, so he always had the right of 1st refusal whenever they were replaced.

[@gigglesmurf2004]

9:51 Oh I feel this so hard. The lights on the main road outside my development are not timed well especially late at night and weekends. I’ve waited for 2 minutes for a light to change on a road where there hasn’t been any cross traffic in that time. I really need to find the right office at the dot to complain to to get it fixed.

[@edwardaustin740]

I'm always amazed and intrigued by what you have for us. Thanks History Guy.

[@jeffreywhittle6161]

For decades in many rural towns in the U.S., there were only single flashing red lights at intersections. Even years after they installed timed yellow/red/green traffic signals, anyone giving you directions would say "turn at the red light". 😅

[@stevenlitvintchouk3131]

There are still plenty of flashing red lights outside of cities today.

[@patmcbride9853]

Many times I wished I could just honk to change a light when there was no cross traffic.

[@stuartkeen5234]

Very enjoyable , we see them every day but it really doesn’t occur to us where and when they were invented.

[@Fred-mp1vf]

In Bolivia the traffic signals are manually operated. Each intersection has an officer who stands in an elevated "basket" all day and flips the switch back & forth - a job he's grateful to have, as jobs are scarce.

[@jul1440]

The nomenclature gets to me. To me, a "traffic light" or "traffic lamp" lights up a road, and a "traffic _signal"_ controls traffic.

[@Jbot123]

Red means stop. Green means go. Yellow means go very fast.

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

As famously said by Jeff Bridges in ‘Starman’ :)

[@jfchonors8873]

I recall bronze traffic lights with a statue of Mercury on top on New York’s Fifth Ave Sometime in the mid 1960s they were taken down

[@nunyabidniz2868]

"Red means stop, green means go. Yellow means go very fast." - _Starman_ (1984)

[@JennaCee]

Another really fascinating look at what keeps our communities moving.

[@pmsteamrailroading]

It would have been nice if you talked about how the sensors worked. (Many people think it’s weight, it’s not) Also why the green light is on the bottom for cars. Railroads have green at the top.

[@filanfyretracker]

I believe its something like a metal detector or eddy currents, because I know people with things like Japanese sport bikes used to get an iron brick of sorts they bolted to the underside of the bike so it would trigger the lights. Because while a car or even sometimes a big ole Harley had enough steel, the small light sport bike did not.

[@punditgi]

Traffic signal is the official name of the device. But this history definitely deserves to be remembered! 😊

[@stevebailey325]

10:42 as a former enlisted corporal (USMC) I can verify we would have ignored the lights whether there was an officer or not. In fact i think we would have ignored the lights MORE if there was an officer present. 😊

[@goodun2974]

"The windshield's clear, and the night is bright/your baby's so near, and she's givin' you the Green Light...." Bonnie Raitt

[@brendanotoole5871]

Stopping on the reds, going on the greens, tonight will be like nothing, you've ever seen, barreling down the boulevard, looking for the heart of Saturday night. Tom waits, heart of saturday night

[@goodun2974]

@@brendanotoole5871 , good song, that! Although, "you stop on the red and you go on the green" comes originally from Mississippi John Hurt, "Candyman".

[@shananagans5]

You should also do the history of Edgar A. Walz, who invented the turn signal in 1925. He got a royalty every time someone used their turn signal. Sadly, he passed away, destitute, in 1947. lol

[@kevinconrad6156]

How would that be counted?

[@shananagans5]

@@kevinconrad6156 It's not funny if you overthink it.

[@kevinconrad6156]

@@shananagans5 it’s not funny

[@shananagans5]

Well, you thought about it to much. :) @@kevinconrad6156

[@Noubers]

@@kevinconrad6156 It's a joke that no one uses their turn signals so he never got royalties.

[@maralisil]

Crouse Hinds was a major employer here in Syracuse NY. The company still has a presence here 😊.

[@HBrooks]

some lights in houston can take 3-4 minutes to cycle. insane congestion. westheimer road in the afternoon... 8 lanes of mayhem with a median.

[@MrDibbons]

I noticed an omission in the video with respect to the three-color, four-phase traffic signals seen in Mexico (an improvement over the USA three-color, three-phase signal). In Mexico we have red phase (1), then green phase (2), then flashing green phase (3), then yellow (4), and back to red (1). The flashing green (for a couple of seconds) warns drivers the light is about to change, much appreciated as one approaches what is commonly known as a "stale green light."

[@ErikVince]

Traffic lights had a very interesting history considering I thought they were only something in modern times I didn't think they dated back to horse and buggy

[@DarkpawTheWolf]

Worth noting is that in the train world, the colors are opposite, with green on top and red on the bottom. The reason for this was in the early signal designs, if something broke inside the signal, it would "drop to red" to stop all traffic, thus being an early example of the term "fail safe".

[@ericemmons3040]

I have also heard that with upper quadrant semaphore signals, many of them showed a color light along with the position of the semaphore arm. Since a raised arm meant "proceed" and showed green and a horizontal (lowered) arm meant "stop" and showed red, with a 45-degree arm meaning "approach with caution," the railroads decided to put color-light signals up using the same configuration. Green was at the top to mimic the raised semaphore signal, and red at the bottom to mimic the position of the lowered semaphore arm.

[@Spitnchicklets]

There is a light in my hometown (Hull Massachusetts) that turns yellow before it turns green as well as red, which is the only one I know of that does that. Not sure why, but it does 🤷‍♂️!!!

[@eTraxx]

~1958 I remember there being a big deal made of a traffic light that a computer would control based on the number of cars waiting .. must have been a "big deal" if I remember it after all these years!

[@AGnorTheChannel]

Random fact about traffic lights in television - in the late '90s, there was a sci fi show called Sliders, in which the four protagonists were searching for the earth from which they originated. On the first truly promising earth, the kid who had invented interdimensional travel found himself sitting at a red light in his car with a long line of traffic behind him, and one of the other drivers hung out his window and informed him rudely that it was okay to go, it was a red light. Needless to say, they hadn't actually found their earth.

[@timmeinschein9007]

In most (US) states it is: Red = Stop, Green = Go, and Yellow = Go Faster!

[@goodun2974]

"Yellow light, drive very fast!" was used as a scene in the movie StarMan.

[@timmeinschein9007]

@@goodun2974 Yes! But it is becoming increasingly true!! Isn't it?

[@ElectroDFW]

I was literally wondering about this the other day! 🤯 I was asking myself: why is red "stop" and green "go"? How/why did we ever decide that? I was hoping it was more instinctual than "we copied boats." But I imagine if you look back further, we might get to something innate in the human psyche/experience, Like, when caveman were doing something, and they saw red coming out of them, they learned to stop what they were doing. Like when they were trying to spear the beast, and they saw a lot of red, they could stop because they had won. That red embers in the fire meant to them: "No, Stop! Do not touch!" Hence, red = stop in the cultural memory. Just bathroom thoughts.

[@frafraplanner9277]

I think red=fire, magma, etc. And green=plants, vegetables, greenery

[@ericemmons3040]

I think that is a logical connection. Red has been a sign of danger for a long time, since blood is red, and too much blood loss is dangerous. Also, fire is red in certain circumstances, and fire is dangerous. Green is an inviting color. Yes, it is the color of spring, grass, and flowers, among other things, and invites us to come on and enjoy ourselves. So, it's the perfect color to say "come" or "let's go." Yellow is the most noticeable color. If you really want someone to notice something, color it or paint it yellow. So, it's the perfect color to mean, "Hey, pay attention! The light's about to change from green to red!" So, psychologically, the colors seem to attune with our senses and help us make sense of traffic.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

Red and green lights were adopted as these colours were unlike house lights which would be a yellowy-white colour. Actually blue glass was used on raikway signals to make green light as oil lamps burnt with a yellow flame.

[@craigmorris4083]

I feel that these lyrics might be appropriate here: I like Traffic lights (3x) No matter where they've been I like Traffic Lights (5x) But only when they're green

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Lol- the Contractual Obligation Album. That song was playing in my head all day when I was producing this episode.

[@bjsracer]

I did enjoy watching this episode of The History Guy, thanks :)

[@honodle7219]

Traffic lights are one of the most useful inventions ever made. Universal (global) green: go, red: stop is humanity actually showing some smarts.

[@goodun2974]

" Don't drive like my brother!". "Don't drive like *MY brother!" Click and Clack, the Tappett Brothers.

[@CasperGutman]

As mentioned, the modern three lens light we use now was invented by Detroit Police inspector William Potts in 1920.

[@turkfiles]

Great lesson. Had a feeling railroad signals would somehow fit into the development of traffic signals.

[@craigs1266]

Thank you for the knowledge. Nice video with my morning coffee. 🙂

[@AdamEmond]

Dang i love this channel