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Traffic-haters

I have been searching to try and find info on 'Speed sensor operated traffic lights' without success. I seem to recall that I read either an article or reply to a readers question in the non too distant past - as I only take the Daily Telegraph as my regular (Daily and Weekends) paper and very rarely read any other paper, I believe I saw it in the DT. The reason I am trying to find this info is because my Local and County Councils (North Yorkshire) have recently replaced 'Brick and Asphalt' Speed Humps with some even worse preformed rubber compound monstrosities in my village and, following a meeting of Villagers with representatives of the County Council where we were stonewalled, I want to take the matter further. The village is on a very busy 'A' road and it appears to me that Speed sensitive traffic lights could well be a sensible solution to the problems we have with speeding HGVs and buses in particular. They, of course are not affected by the speed humps. Any info you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Asked on 23 January 2010 by D.H., via e-mail

Answered by Honest John
They are commonly used in Spain and Portugal. Basically, radar beams bounce off the speeding traffic and switch on timed red lights that go back to flashing amber if the speeding vehicle slows down enough by the time it reaches them. They are very effective, but really need to be backed up by cameras on the red lights to nick anyone who jumps them. These systems can be integrated into pedestrian crossing systems where, obviously, the lights don't necessarily turn amber or green by the time vehicles reach them. The traffic light lobby that made a fortune for manufacturers by persuading
government to install redundant ramp metering on motorway sliproads could have benefited us all by lobbying for speed control traffic lights instead.
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