At first glance, traffic light signals are all very simple and we have all known them since childhood. Red - stop, yellow - get ready, green - go. This is a very simple rule. In this article we will look at this rule deeper within the framework.
Let's find all the pitfalls hidden in traffic lights. The most interesting signals will be those that are located in the additional section of the traffic light and what signals there may be in this section. We will look at Chapter 6 of the Traffic Rules regarding the regulation of traffic through an intersection using traffic lights.
6.1. Traffic lights use green, yellow, red and white-lunar light signals.
Depending on the purpose, traffic light signals can be round, in the form of an arrow(s), a silhouette of a pedestrian or a bicycle, or X-shaped.
Traffic lights with round signals may have one or two additional sections with signals in the form of a green arrow(s), which are located at the level of the green round signal.
We will not consider white-lunar traffic lights, in the form of a silhouette of a pedestrian or a bicycle, and X-shaped ones in this article.
6.2. Round traffic lights have the following meanings:
- A green signal allows movement;
- A green flashing signal allows movement and informs that its time is expiring and a prohibitory signal will soon be turned on (digital displays can be used to inform drivers about the time in seconds remaining until the end of the green signal);
- The yellow signal prohibits movement, except in cases provided for in paragraph 6.14 of the Rules, and warns of an upcoming change of signals;
- A yellow flashing signal allows movement and informs about the presence of an unregulated intersection or pedestrian crossing, warns of danger;
- A red signal, including a flashing one, prohibits movement.
The combination of red and yellow signals prohibits movement and informs about the upcoming activation of the green signal.
This paragraph of the traffic rules describes round traffic lights. The most common traffic light, which is most often found on the roads.
6.3. Traffic light signals, made in the form of red, yellow and green arrows, have the same meaning as round signals of the corresponding color, but their effect extends only to the direction(s) indicated by the arrows. In this case, the arrow allowing a left turn also allows a U-turn, unless this is prohibited by the corresponding road sign.
The green arrow in the additional section has the same meaning. A switched off signal of an additional section means that movement in the direction regulated by this section is prohibited.
The first thing you should pay attention to is that the signals are made in the form of arrows, i.e. the arrow is a signal. The signal is not round. Traffic light signals with a contour arrow do not fit this definition, and clause 6.3 of the traffic rules is not applicable to them.
The second important point is that traffic light signals made in the form of arrows regulate only indicated directions. For example, if the red arrow to the right is on, then movement is prohibited only to the right; moving straight, turning left and turning around are not regulated by this signal.
The same applies to the green arrow signal, but only if the arrow is in the main section of the traffic light. Determining, for example, in the dark, whether this is the main section of a traffic light or an additional one is very simple - if the section is additional, then some signal in the main section of the traffic light must be on; if there are no other signals besides the arrow, then this means that the arrow is in the main sections.
6.4. If a black contour arrow(s) is applied to the main green traffic light signal, it informs drivers about the presence of an additional section of the traffic light and indicates other permitted directions of movement than the additional section signal.
This paragraph describes the purpose of the contour arrow of a traffic light signal. We see that a contour arrow can only be placed in the main section, and only on a green traffic light signal, and unlike a signal in the form of an arrow, a contour arrow allows movement only in the indicated directions. Traffic in other directions is prohibited.
We could finish our material here, if not for one very common situation in practice. We often come across a traffic light with the following signal:
In front of us is a traffic light with an additional section and a round signal. It would seem that according to paragraph 6.3, moving in the direction regulated by this section is prohibited.
But let's figure it out:
- According to clause 6.2, a round green signal allows movement in all directions, clause 6.3 regulates traffic light signals made in the form of arrows, in this case clause 6.3 is not applicable.
- The additional section may not be visible at night, and traffic light signals may not have different meanings depending on the time of day.
- The direction regulated by the additional section is unknown to us, we only know that it is “different” from the signal in the main section, and in the main section we have a green signal that allows movement in all directions,
- The additional section may not contain a traffic light signal at all, but can be used, for example, for a timer.
Thus, with a given traffic light signal, according to clause 6.2, movement is allowed in all directions, unless otherwise prohibited by signs or markings.
Response from the Ministry of Internal Affairs Let's summarize:
- The round traffic light signal extends to all directions,
- The traffic light signal, made in the form of an arrow in the main section, applies only to the indicated direction and does not regulate traffic in other directions,
- The traffic light signal, made in the form of an arrow in the additional section, applies only to the indicated direction and prohibits movement in other directions,
- A round traffic light signal with a contour arrow on it applies only to the indicated direction and prohibits movement in other directions.
And this is how the TV show “Main Road” on NTV sees the situation.
Dear you without obstacles!
Oleg There are two signals at shunting traffic lights:
Blue - prohibits maneuvers,
White - allows.
At shunting traffic lights, such colors are used so that drivers of other trains do not confuse them with other traffic lights, since their indications concern only drivers performing shunting work.
Eduard It seems that the switches are not being made now.
Valentin As you know, the railway uses Leonid shunting traffic lights, the blue signal of which prohibits maneuvers
Vadim
Konstantin it is prohibited to perform maneuvers
Dima A very difficult death is coming your way! At a speed of 80 km/h
Valery a blue traffic light on the railway means - atas cops, smile for everyone!
Boris “Maneuvers are prohibited”
Warning traffic light in front of the station entrance traffic light. A yellow flashing signal means “Allowed...
Why are there blue traffic lights on the railway? | Topic author: Stepan
Denis
Railway traffic lights actually use not only the usual red, yellow and green colors, but also moon white and blue
The white-blue traffic light belongs to the shunting category. That is, the lunar-white light allows Egor to carry out maneuvers, and the blue one prohibits it. In some cases, a shunting train is even allowed to pass through front lights if the moon-white light of the shunting traffic light is turned on. That is, a train cannot go to another station, but it is possible to go outside its own station to move or reconnect cars.
By the way, in addition to shunting stations on the railway, there are also entrance, exit, route, checkpoint, barrier, warning, repeat, locomotive, hump and cover traffic lights. They use the same five colors in different combinations.
Yuri The white-blue traffic light belongs to the shunting category: the moon-white light, for example, allows you to recouple cars, serve them for cargo operations, etc., and the blue one prohibits this.
Andrey According to the alarm instructions. All meanings of blue fire can be found here.
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As you know, you can cross the road only in designated places and only when the traffic light is green. But traffic lights appeared at our intersections not so long ago; before, traffic controllers were in charge of coordinating traffic. Who owns the palm? Today, on Traffic Light's birthday, we will deal with this issue.
1. Inventors of the traffic light
The first person to think of installing a traffic light at an intersection to regulate traffic was John Peake Knight, a Londoner and specialist in railway semaphores. The first traffic light he designed was installed in the British capital on December 10, 1868 near the Houses of Parliament.
Switching of signals was carried out manually using two semaphore arrows. In a horizontal position they signaled “stop”, and when lowered at an angle of 45° they signaled movement with caution. So that at night the signal given by the arrows could be identified, a rotating gas lamp was used, which shone red or green.
In 1910, Ernst Sirrin of Chicago developed and patented the world's first automatic traffic light system. His traffic light had two signs, Stop and Proceed, without backlighting.
Just a couple of years later, in 1912, a resident of Salt Lake City, Utah, whose name was Lester Wire, created the world's first electric traffic light, with two round signal lights of red and green. For unknown reasons, Wire did not patent his invention.
The next name in traffic light history is James Hogue. On August 5, 1914, the American Traffic Light Company installed four electric traffic signals designed by Hogue at the intersection of 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland.
The traffic lights were equipped with two light signals - red and green, and when switched they gave an audible signal. The entire system was controlled by a policeman who sat in a glass booth specially equipped for this purpose at an intersection.
Six years later - in 1920 - traffic lights were installed in Detroit and New York, which included a yellow signal. The people who developed them did not know each other: William Potts from Detroit and John F. Harris from New York.
Similar traffic lights were installed in 1922 in Paris at the intersection of Rivoli Street and Sevastopol Boulevard, as well as in Hamburg on Stephansplatz Square. In 1927, the same traffic lights appeared in Wolverhampton, England.
The American inventor Garrett Morgan, who in 1923 received a patent for a traffic light of an original design, is often mentioned as the first inventor. The first countdown traffic lights appeared in France in 1998.
As for the Soviet Union, the first traffic lights were installed here in the early 1930s. First, a traffic light appeared at the intersection of 25 October Avenue and Volodarsky Avenue in Leningrad (modern Nevsky and Liteyny Avenues in St. Petersburg) on January 15, 1930. In Moscow, the first traffic light began operating on December 30 of the same year at the corner of Petrovka and Kuznetsky Most.
2. Types of traffic lights
The most widely used are street and road traffic lights. Among them, car and pedestrian traffic lights stand out - these varieties are most often found on roads around the world.
Car traffic lights. As a rule, there are traffic lights with round signals of three generally accepted colors: red, yellow and green. The order of colors is strictly regulated. If the signals are located vertically, then red is always on top and green is always below. If the traffic light is horizontal, then the red signal will be located on the left, and the green signal on the right. Car traffic lights are often equipped with additional sections with arrows.
A yellow signal almost everywhere means this: driving beyond the stop line is allowed, but it is necessary to reduce speed when entering an area protected by a traffic light, and be prepared for the traffic light to switch to red. This signal may also be orange.
Traffic lights for pedestrians installed in close proximity to installed crossings. There are usually only two signals on them - prohibiting and allowing. Their appearance may vary. The most common signals are in the form of a silhouette of a person - standing or walking.
In some countries, such as the USA, the red signal is made in the form of a raised palm. Sometimes the words “Go” and “Don’t Go” are used instead of little people and palms. In Oslo, two standing red human figures are used as a traffic signal prohibiting pedestrian movement.
Why such difficulties? This is done for the convenience of people with poor vision, as well as for those who have difficulty seeing colors (color blindness). In addition, traffic lights in different countries are equipped with an audible signal.
3. Design
What are traffic lights made of? There are several possible traffic light designs. The first option is traffic lights using incandescent or halogen lamps. Their design includes:
- Lamp
- Reflector
- Light filter
- Fresnel lens
- Visor.
- LED Matrix
- Anti-vandal glass
- Visor.
In Russia there is a monument to a traffic light.
It was installed in Novosibirsk in 2006.
Every resident of even the smallest city remembers traffic rules lessons from childhood regarding the rules for crossing the road. It is human nature to grow, and many gradually turn from pedestrians into drivers. To drive on the road correctly, you need to understand not only road signs and markings, but also traffic lights.
Traffic lights at an intersection
The most famous are three-color traffic lights, consisting of the following set of colors:
- Red traffic light . In a stable state, driving through a red traffic light is prohibited from driving on the road on which the traffic light is installed. A flashing red light also prohibits movement, but also notifies that signals will soon be switched . This type of signal is most often used at railway crossings, and on ordinary roads this goal is achieved by turning on both red and yellow signals at the same time.
- Yellow traffic light . In a stable burning state, it prohibits movement in all cases, except for the situation when the driver crosses the road lane, but does not have time to brake his vehicle before the marking. In this situation, it is necessary, if possible, to leave the intersection area. A yellow flashing traffic light allows movement and also indicates an uncontrolled intersection and a pedestrian overpass..
- What does a green traffic light mean? . In a stable burning state, it allows movement on the road lane. A green flashing traffic light also allows you to move, but also warns that the burning time has expired.
Also on many roads there are possible additions to traffic lights. Recently, it has become common to install timers that indicate the operating time of the enabling signal. Additionally, there may be arrows that are mounted at the level of the green light either on one side or on both sides.
What do traffic lights mean?
The traffic rules for various traffic lights with arrows can be characterized as follows:
| Traffic light with two arrows | Tram traffic light | Trackless vehicle | ||
| Single lane traffic | Two-lane traffic | Three-lane traffic | ||
| Only central green traffic light | Move only forward | Move only forward | Move only forward | Move only forward |
| Central green traffic light + right arrow | Move forward + right | Move forward + right | Drive forward for everyone, move right only for the far right lane | |
| Center green signal + left arrow | Move forward + left | Move forward + left + turn | Move forward for everyone, move left or turn only for the left lane | |
| Central green signal + both arrows | Movement is allowed in all directions | Moving forward + turning + turning around | Moving forward for everyone, turning for the outer lanes according to the rules, turning only for the leftmost lane | |
| Red traffic light + right arrow | Movement only to the right | Movement only to the right | Drive only to the right and only for the right lane. Traffic is prohibited for other lanes. | |
| Red traffic light + left arrow | Driving left only | Move only to the left or turn around | Driving for the left lane only: turn or turn. The remaining lanes are standing. | |
| Red signal + both arrows | Moving forward is prohibited, turns are allowed | Moving forward is prohibited, turns and U-turns are allowed | Moving forward is prohibited, turns in both directions and U-turns from the leftmost lane are permitted | Moving forward is prohibited, turns in both directions are allowed only from the outer lanes, U-turns are allowed only from the leftmost lane |
| Only red signal | Road up | Road up | Road up | Road up |
For a set of a standard traffic light and one arrow, the requirements are less stringent.
So let's take a three lane road as an example. If the traffic light is green with an arrow to the right, then the rules specified in the table will apply for the center and right lanes. At the same time, standard traffic regulations apply for the left lane. The prohibiting signal is subject to the same restrictions. In the daytime, such an addition to the traffic light is clearly visible, but it is not always possible to see it at night. For this reason, black arrow outlines are pasted onto the center signal to indicate the action for a specific lane of the road. If the green lamp itself does not have such a schematic image, the signal is valid for all road users, regardless of their location on the road. There are also traffic lights that have arrows instead of the usual round traffic signal. In this case, traffic control occurs only for those directions indicated by the arrows.
At night, most traffic lights turn off and enter a yellow flashing mode. In this case, the intersection is considered unregulated and must be driven in accordance with the relevant traffic regulations.
Pedestrian traffic light and bicycle crossing signal
At traffic lights there are only 2 sections for the indicated traffic participants. For pedestrians, a person is depicted, and for cyclists, their two-wheeled transport is depicted. In the area of pedestrian crossings, traffic lights are increasingly equipped with a timer indicating the waiting time and the time allotted for crossing. Additionally, for the deaf, a speaker can be installed that announces the permitted direction of the transition, as well as its beginning and end.
In some cases, if there are bicycle paths, smaller analogues of three-section road traffic lights can be used, under which a white plate with a bicycle sign is fixed.
Reversing traffic lights
These signals are used on roads of the same name, when on some lanes traffic can be carried out in one direction or the other. The direction of travel along one or another lane of a reversible road is determined by the degree of congestion for each side. The following types of signals are used:
- a red cross in the shape of the letter “X” - prohibits driving on a specific lane of a reversible road;
- a yellow arrow pointing to the right - instructs the driver to change lanes located nearby on the right side;
- green arrow straight - allows movement in this lane.
These types of roads are not widespread in the Russian Federation, so few drivers are familiar with this type of traffic organization.
The importance of traffic lights for rail transport
Traffic signals for trams
For trams, a white four-cell traffic light is used, made in the shape of a “T” symbol. Movement for them is allowed only when the lower signal is turned on, and the upper cells indicate possible directions of movement.
A railway traffic light also often has a white lamp in its arsenal, which regulates traffic through the crossing:
Traffic lights at a railway crossing can also be both red and flash alternately. In this case, travel is strictly prohibited. Movement is only permitted when both lamps are turned off.
Fine for failure to comply with traffic lights
For violation of the instructions of the electronic traffic controller, the following penalties are prescribed:
- fine for a red traffic light- not less than 1000 rubles, when driving through a prohibitory traffic light signal again, not less than 5000 rubles or deprivation of driving license for a period of 4-6 months, article 12.12 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation;
- fine for driving through a yellow traffic light— for the first violation the penalty is 1,000 rubles; for a second violation, the fine will be 5,000 rubles or deprivation of a driver’s license for a period of 4 to 6 months;
- failure to observe the stop line before an intersection- at least 800 rub.
- when entering the reversible lane when the traffic light is off- at least 5,000 rubles, since due to the traffic light working on the other side, traffic can be regarded as driving into the oncoming lane;
- in case of failure to change lanes on a reverse road- at least 500 rubles under Article 12.15 of the Administrative Code.
Compliance with traffic light regulations allows you to regulate traffic in such a way that road users are in safer and more comfortable conditions. Therefore, in order not to increase the likelihood of getting into an accident for yourself and others, you should be careful on the roads. This will help keep not only your budget intact, but also your life.
Video: What do traffic lights and traffic controllers mean and the rules for driving through an intersection.
