Marshalite traffic signal Copyright © 2011 Dysprosia
Above is a traffic signal. In fact, I think it’s superior to the 3-state traffic signals we see here in the US.
Called the Marshalite traffic signal, it was invented by Charles Marshall in 1936. This was 50 years after the first traffic signals — little more than railway signals — were installed outside the Houses of Parliament in London. Around 1936, most of the world was using the three-color system we all know and love. However, Mr. Marshall thought there was a need for an improvement.
So, he invented the Marshalite and sold his fellow Aussies on it. It has a timer hand that indicates not only what action you should be taking — stop, go, or speed up — but also how much more time you had to perform that action. The only downfall to this is the exact point of the change can be unclear.
Though the last Marshalites were removed from the Nepean Highway in Victoria in the 1970s, I think they should be brought back. The shortcoming is easily solved by connecting a standard traffic light to it.
Not an LED one, though. They have issues.
The big problem I see is that they cannot be easily re-programmed — the ratio of time green to time red has to be constant, which isn't always the case with modern stoplights. Many of them are timed to provide more "go" time in one direction during the AM rush hour, then more "go" time in another during the evening commute home. Add in the complexities of left turn arrows and 5-way intersections and you've got very little flexibility with this technology. Something like a ring of variable-color LEDs around a standard signal bulb could provide the time data, but still be reprogrammable on the fly.
…But perhaps it's not so good for drivers to anticipate changes. Cause, really, anything that counts down time to green is just going to be used like a dragstrip christmas tree, now isn't it?
Some places in the world use a 4-state traffic light: red, red & yellow, green, yellow. When I was in Russia many years ago they had these. The main purpose of the red yellow was to warn pedestrians that now may not be a good time to cross that 10 lane street. It did create a dragstrip mentality, and when the red yellow was on drivers were revving their engines.
When I was a small child riding in the car with Dad, he would occasionally blow though a traffic light a little after it turned red. When I spoke up about it, he told me that the light was "pink". For the longest time, I kept trying without success to see the transition from pink to red. My own dad, rest his soul, wouldn't lie to me, would he?
It would be interesting to see whether the 4-state traffic lights are more common in countries where more cars have manual transmissions. We have them here in the UK- I think one of the main reasons for them is to give you time to get in gear before it goes green.
Yep! I was immensely pleased by those when I was in Scotland – I assumed that was the exact reason for them, and would appreciate them regardless of transmission (time to warm up the torque converter in an automatic, right?).
I was just going to say the same thing about the christmas tree. Talk about stoplight-to-stoplight drags – this is the perfect way to instigate them.
Yeah, they have a few of the timer ones here and it's a drag strip. Always.
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Neat, but I prefer our discrete signals. I don't see how this adds information that a motorist would find useful, without potentially getting into trouble.
My car can be a bitch to get into first gear sometimes. Also, I'll regularly shut off my engine at stoplights that I know are going to be long. It would be nice to have a warning to start/engage gear. Those are 2 reasons I can think of, but I'm not sure if it would outweigh the disadvantages.
Shut off the engine in traffic? You have far more confidence in your car's ability to execute a timely restart than I have in any of mine.
Amen. I have to carry a can of liquid freeze, in case the heat-soaked solenoid won't kick. The process wouldn't earn me any friends at a traffic light.
Yes, I know, "replace the solenoid". Buried deep under the Alfa's intake, that can be a three hour job.
Sadly, my first thought wasn't "Replace the solenoid." It was "Carrying a can of spray coolant sounds like a great idea!" I usually just hit the solenoid repeatedly with a tool handle and hope for the best. It's remarkably similar to my method of dealing with a carburetor float that sticks in traffic.
Also for a starter that fails to turn over, or a fuel pump that seems to have become stuck or cloggy.
Also a loose tail-light or turn signal, although that has to be a slightly gentler hit.
That assumes you can get a good whack at it – not always the case.
The taillights (and other lenses) of a Volvo 242/244 (and other similar-vintage bricks) are French.
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Very French.
So, of course, there's a known flaw where the electrical connectors work their way loose over bumps and you lose one or more light functions. Wriggling them or even slapping the back of the light from inside the trunk generally works. (Of course, when your instrument panel's bulb-failure light stays on permanently, it's hard to know you've lost both your rear brake lights until the friendly policeman pulls you over, but I digress.)
That very taillight decided to act up one day while I was leaving work. I believe I had a bicycle in the trunk and the lid bungee-corded down, so I didn't really feel like screwing around with the light from inside.
Understandably, I made the mistake of rapping the lens gently with my knuckle from the outside instead.
It's now patched with a rectangle of Plexiglas and a chunk cut out from another broken taillight.
I live for the thrill.