I read an article, some time within the past few years, from a traffic engineer who had some radically different thinking. He said everything they do to make the roads more safe, makes them less safe - primarily by providing a false sense of security. He idea was the removal of ALL traffic control devices. This would force everyone to pay attention and deal with making their way through traffic. As an example he referred to what you see in some of those very old clips from the early 1900's - cars making their way through an intersection with no traffic lights. Is a jumbled mess, but everyone gets through and traffic continues to flow.


Of course, one problem we have in the US is people illegally running green lights. As we all learned and know, it is only legal to proceed through a green light if the intersection is clear and it is safe to do so. If someone is running the red light, legally, you cannot proceed through your green light as it is unsafe to do so.

Watch motorcyclists - many of us check both ways when proceeding through any intersection, no matter what color the light is. People in cars and trucks don't ever seem to have that level of awareness.