Traffic lights at night

[GROWLER]

Pretty sure I'll have had a snarl about this in the dark and distant past, but make no apology IF I am repeating myself.

WHY, please WHY TF do they change to red as you approach them on a main rioad, when absolutely FA is waiting to come out of the junction?
You can see them on green, hundreds of yards before, but as soon as you get within 20 yds....RED!
There you'll normally remain until a car approaches the opposing junction, and then it'll do the same to them.

My suspicion is a government backed ploy to make us use and waste more fuel to swell their coffers, oh, and of course, just to piss us all right off too, naturally.

[Barman]

Madness... 

I remember ooooh, it must be more than forty years ago it is now...

My owld dad used to start werk very early (5am) and sometimes took me with him on skool holidays...

I clearly remember how the lights used to change to GREEN as we approached them as there was literally no other traffic on the road... Why can't they do that now...?

Or have the amber flashing lights on all four ways...?

[Baldy]

In the UK try flashing your lights a few times as you are approaching. They have sensors that pick up the blues & twos of emergency vehicles to try and give them a 'green wave' through the lights.

Do not get caught doing this as I believe it is now an offence.

[Barman]

JOM will explain everything...

[GROWLER]

JOM will explain everything...

He friggin' needs to too, as I'm getting increasingly more and more pissed RIGHT off with this now.....and I'm not alone.

Aren't you gettin' mixed up with temp. lights with the sensors Bald get?

[Just One More]

I get pissed off with it too Growler, but it's not my fault 

Years ago, trafic lights use to work on vehicle actuation (V.A) so as a vehicle use to hit the pressure pad or activated the infra-red sensor, the lights would change to your advantage. These days lights are generally on fixed time, and there are other variations of this.

The emergency services thing is called preemption, and it can be activated by the vehicle, or in some areas it can be done by the control room. I think Plymouth were the forerunners of this where as soon as the fire service knew where an incident was, they literally hit a button and it would map the route to the incident and it would would give a "green wave" to the vehicle so they could get to the scene unhindered. It only hit the headlines when either the mayor or leader of the council used their "power" and had it set so they could go to their daughters wedding unhindered 

For temporary traffic lights (TTL's), these can be set to VA or fixed time, but you must have written permission from the council to have them on V.A

[GROWLER]

I get pissed off with it too Growler, but it's not my fault 

Years ago, trafic lights use to work on vehicle actuation (V.A) so as a vehicle use to hit the pressure pad or activated the infra-red sensor, the lights would change to your advantage. These days lights are generally on fixed time, and there are other variations of this.

The emergency services thing is called preemption, and it can be activated by the vehicle, or in some areas it can be done by the control room. I think Plymouth were the forerunners of this where as soon as the fire service knew where an incident was, they literally hit a button and it would map the route to the incident and it would would give a "green wave" to the vehicle so they could get to the scene unhindered. It only hit the headlines when either the mayor or leader of the council used their "power" and had it set so they could go to their daughters wedding unhindered 

For temporary traffic lights (TTL's), these can be set to VA or fixed time, but you must have written permission from the council to have them on V.A

So why do so many change to red just before you reach them then ey, and you then have to sit there like a friggin' twat looking at the empty junction .
Happened 3 bastard times on me way to The Asda last night, and I really wanted to get out and do a 'John Cleese' one 'em...with a axe.

It's nowt to do with timing. It's obviously summat to do with night time traffic flow,  sensing movement coming towards them and then inexplcably stopping you.

One set granted, do change back to green withing a couple of seconds, but that's the exception. Others have you sitting there until a car approaches from the other direction as already stated.
Absolute friggin' madness.

Don't you speak to these traffic light maintenance  gets JOM?

Do us a  if you do ey matey.....

[Just One More]

Traffic signal engineers are known by many (myself included) in the industry as performers of the dark arts. I've never yet met one that isn't "strange"... see also, bridge engineers

[Uncle Mort]

It's more likely a case of your perception. Any green lights you pass through you don't give a second thought to but any red light, especially at night when there's little other traffic, you notice. The incidence of red and green is probably no different at night than during the day.

[GROWLER]

Traffic signal engineers are known by many (myself included) in the industry as performers of the dark arts. I've never yet met one that isn't "strange"... see also, bridge engineers

Well tell the next one you see that THE GROWLER is on the case now, and will be taking the matter up with the highest of  authorities for some pdq and definitive answers unless I get a satisfactory answer.

Defo gorra 'bee in me fur' over this matter, and it needs sorting.

Put it to them as i suggested in my op, that it's a directive from the shitesters in charge of us mere sheeples to drag more money out of us via fuel wastage (constant stopping and starting)

The fuel computer on my car can show zero to 57mpg on an extremely rare clear run to (always daytime) down to a miserable 43 mpg like last night.
I rest my bastard case that this is a conspiracy against us all.

[Just One More]

What's your stance on placing central islands by bus stops (not the lay-by type) so that when the bus stops you can't get past it cos the blue arrow on the island says you can only go left of the island and the bus is in the way 

[GROWLER]

What's your stance on placing central islands by bus stops (not the lay-by type) so that when the bus stops you can't get past it cos the blue arrow on the island says you can only go left of the island and the bus is in the way 

Yea. We got one just down the road (A41) but as annoying as they can be, especially if you're in an hurry,  I CAN actually see a bit of logic behind them, i.e., creating a slightly safer dis-embarking  point for passengers, especially kiddywinkies.

[GROWLER]

Cycle lanes!!

Wouldn't mind, but most of the designating white lines have worn away 'round here now.

[GROWLER]

Painting white lines THROUGH potholes..... and over road kill...as posted by you  sometime ago.

I rang the road maintenance dept a couple of years ago about them painting an arrow straight through a mahoosive pothole that was bang on line for catching the unwary's o/s wheel/tyre.

The supervisor went out to have a look at it , and rang me back granted  to agree with me that it was indeed total madness.

Still took them 2 weeks to lob a bit of wet gravel in it though, and there it remained, with a grey gap in the white arrow until they eventually dug up a full 200 yds of pot hole ridden tarmac to do the job properly.

[GROWLER]

I' mentioned during my last rant on this subject iirc, but there is one set of lights that controls a (granted) very busy junction entrance on the main road into Chester to a mahoosive garden center not far from here.
No problem with it at all, as this junction did claim many many lives over the years...mainly dodery owld blue rinses' who couldn't judge the high speeds on this busy dual carriageway.

However, the garden center closes at 7pm, and the gates are shut, so no traffic going in or out.

You approach them late at night when the road is very quiet, and the bastards ALWAYS change to red as you approach them, and remain on red until you've stopped.

I may have 'accidentally' driven through these without slowing down on one or two occasions.

tackled Cheshire West Highways maintenance, and the email back claimed it was for 'traffic flow purposes'.

Have you actually EVER heard of so much of a shite excuse in yer entire life ey, have you?