The light’s still on red for the Tories
As head of the Tories’ Economic Competitiveness Policy Group, John Redwood has been busy. Last week he announced a 10 point plan for “reducing tension and pollution” in the UK’s transport system. Redwood amazingly figured out that the transport system in this country doesnt work, but his suggestions for improvements seem to focus on only one form of transport - the car.
The car is certainly the biggest cause of tension and pollution. But Redwood’s plans certainty won’t reduce them.
His main initiative is to rephrase traffic lights and allow cars to turn left as they do in America and elsewhere. I’m not convinced that this would work. A recent Written Answer from the Government pointed out some of the technical problems and why our currently system is better:
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the impact on road casualties of adopting a policy of allowing vehicles likely to make a left turn at red traffic signals. [75928]
Dr. Ladyman: The proposal for ‘turn left on red’ is not considered suitable for traffic management purposes in this country.
Although there are similarities between the road traffic signalling systems in the UK and abroad, there are also differences. Many other countries use fixed time signals, where the green period is based on average flows. These periods will not necessarily be proportional to the actual flow. ‘Turn right (left) on red’ is often used to overcome resultant delays. The majority in the UK are either vehicle actuated or connected to an Urban Traffic Control system using ‘live’ information. Timings are proportional to the flow and ‘turn left on red’ would not afford the same advantage.
There are also differences in junction type. Where ‘turn right (left) on red’ is used, for example in the United States, most junctions have good visibility between side and main road traffic. Many junctions in the UK have poor intervisibility because of existing buildings and the junction geometry. Any uncontrolled movements from the side road would involve increased risks and an increased accident potential at the junction.
Also, in the UK many pedestrian phases display a green figure on the ‘side road’ while a red is shown to the ‘main road’. Allowing vehicles to turn left on red would pose increased risks to all pedestrians, especially vulnerable road users such as blind and partially sighted pedestrians, who are often given audible and/or tactile signals as an indication that all conflicting vehicular movements have stopped.
Studies in the mid-1970’s, in six states of the USA where ‘turn right on red’ was introduced, showed that pedestrian and cyclist accidents increased, ranging from 48 per cent. to 123 per cent. Vulnerable groups showed the greatest increase.
In Belgium a priority from the right system (which is similar to what Redwood is envisaging) causes chaos.
The real way to solve tension and pollution would be to get people to leave their car at home. Tension on the road can lead to road rage. But you can’t have road rage without a car (and as a report recently pointed out it might actually be a mental illness). It’s also the car which is a major cause of pollution.