Traffic lights.
It turns out the traffic lights that were supposed to create road safety and make traffic flow smoothly are doing exactly the opposite. They significantly increase travel times, and because drivers are following a light priority mindset they are tricked into a false sense of security which makes them less aware of potential hazards.
Portishead, a coastal town in England, started experimenting with turning off traffic lights in September 2009, and their experiment was a major success.
The removal of the lights in Portishead, a city that has grown quickly in the last decade, was part of a four-week study “to solve long-standing congestion at the junction,” which was so debilitating and disruptive it sparked street protests and political campaigns from frustrated residents.
For the trial period, roads were monitored using cameras to see the impact of no traffic signals on congestion. (A 20 mile-per-hour speed limit was instituted over that same period.) In the video and in comments on articles about the initiative, residents said there have been big improvements—drivers pay more attention to the road and nearby pedestrians as opposed to traffic lights. Plus, there are savings, as each traffic lights usually costs 30,000 to 50,000 pounds to maintain.
