This is so right up my Incand Jockey alley. I can now add "LED's cause traffic fatalities" to the list of why you all need to keep givin' sugar to us Incand Jockeys.
RIP Lisa Richter
RIP Lisa Richter
Last edited:
You know I love my Incands but check this: LED traffic lights kill people
- Thread starter LuxLuthor
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sed6
Enlightened
Re: You know I love this: LED traffic lights kill people
Already being discussed here...
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/252431
Already being discussed here...
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/252431
Re: You know I love this: LED traffic lights kill people
Not discussing this link...and not disussing the very real fatality in that thread. It's not a trivial issue.
Not discussing this link...and not disussing the very real fatality in that thread. It's not a trivial issue.
Re: You know I love this: LED traffic lights kill people
Just goes to show: You cant fix stupid!
If you cant see the lights do you just carry on or use caution?
If light goes out at summer is the situation different than snow in the winter?
Just goes to show: You cant fix stupid!
If you cant see the lights do you just carry on or use caution?
If light goes out at summer is the situation different than snow in the winter?
Re: You know I love this: LED traffic lights kill people
They tried out some LED traffic lights around here about a decade ago as well. They went back to incans, I assume for the same reason as the article states, snow piling onto the LED lights and not melting off.
They tried out some LED traffic lights around here about a decade ago as well. They went back to incans, I assume for the same reason as the article states, snow piling onto the LED lights and not melting off.
It01Firefox
Newly Enlightened
Re: You know I love this: LED traffic lights kill people
We also have a LED traffic light in our town and the thing is so bright you can actually see it from a couple of miles away.
The pro side is that you can see the light even if the sun is at a really bad angle. With the old incans you couldn't tell if it was red or green.
On the con side is that the designers forgot to put an ambient light sensor in the thing, because it's just as bright at night and that makes it really hard to see past the traffic light itself.
The snowed in traffic light is a non issue, because if the traffic light is out for whatever reason, power outage for example, the traffic signs apply and if there are no signs it's simple right before left (at least here in Germany).
Markus
We also have a LED traffic light in our town and the thing is so bright you can actually see it from a couple of miles away.
The pro side is that you can see the light even if the sun is at a really bad angle. With the old incans you couldn't tell if it was red or green.
On the con side is that the designers forgot to put an ambient light sensor in the thing, because it's just as bright at night and that makes it really hard to see past the traffic light itself.
The snowed in traffic light is a non issue, because if the traffic light is out for whatever reason, power outage for example, the traffic signs apply and if there are no signs it's simple right before left (at least here in Germany).
Markus
was.lost.but.now.found
Enlightened
Re: You know I love this: LED traffic lights kill people
I don't buy it. The article says that the crash occurred "during a storm", and it is implied to be a snowstorm since they go on to say that the light was covered by snow. Had the driver been going an appropriate speed for the conditions, there should not be enough speed to cause a fatality. Blame driver inattention or excessive speed, but don't blame the traffic light. This is simply a diversion for the offending driver to shed some blame.
I don't buy it. The article says that the crash occurred "during a storm", and it is implied to be a snowstorm since they go on to say that the light was covered by snow. Had the driver been going an appropriate speed for the conditions, there should not be enough speed to cause a fatality. Blame driver inattention or excessive speed, but don't blame the traffic light. This is simply a diversion for the offending driver to shed some blame.
Re: You know I love this: LED traffic lights kill people
No it is a real design problem with LED's. No one thought of the snow problem, and now Lisa Richter is dead because of LED traffic lights. It's similar to the insane design of CFL's that have highly toxic Mercury in the ballast if it is broken.
They should ban LED's.
No it is a real design problem with LED's. No one thought of the snow problem, and now Lisa Richter is dead because of LED traffic lights. It's similar to the insane design of CFL's that have highly toxic Mercury in the ballast if it is broken.
They should ban LED's.
It01Firefox
Newly Enlightened
Re: You know I love this: LED traffic lights kill people
Yes and they should also ban power outages, because they affect traffic lights no matter what the emitter is.
Yes and they should also ban power outages, because they affect traffic lights no matter what the emitter is.
Re: You know I love this: LED traffic lights kill people
Correct - at least in Norway. I would guess those rules would apply pretty much to most of the globe....
Did any of you read the reader's comments below the linked article? Hillarious... Made me spill my coffee.... Someone is apparantly using alternatively logic ... or they could very well be trolling. Or how do you like this logical conclusion:
Fact: "LEDs save millions of dollars in energy and maintenance cost, but don't produce enough heat to melt snow that sticks to the lens." So, it is therefore only logical to conclude that . . . Chinese products are junk. The human capacity for reasoning is absolutely amasing ...
Correct - at least in Norway. I would guess those rules would apply pretty much to most of the globe....
Did any of you read the reader's comments below the linked article? Hillarious... Made me spill my coffee.... Someone is apparantly using alternatively logic ... or they could very well be trolling. Or how do you like this logical conclusion:
Fact: "LEDs save millions of dollars in energy and maintenance cost, but don't produce enough heat to melt snow that sticks to the lens." So, it is therefore only logical to conclude that . . . Chinese products are junk. The human capacity for reasoning is absolutely amasing ...
was.lost.but.now.found
Enlightened
Re: You know I love this: LED traffic lights kill people
Yes, that is the rule in the states as well. If the other person who hit her did not see the light was red, then she did not see the light, and she was legally obligated to treat the intersection as a four way stop. Case closed.
Yes, that is the rule in the states as well. If the other person who hit her did not see the light was red, then she did not see the light, and she was legally obligated to treat the intersection as a four way stop. Case closed.
DM51
Flashaholic
Re: You know I love this: LED traffic lights kill people
There are 40,582 threads in the LED Flashlights section. It'll take me a while to close all of them. The 1,699 in the LED section shouldn't take quite so long.
LOL.
There are 40,582 threads in the LED Flashlights section. It'll take me a while to close all of them. The 1,699 in the LED section shouldn't take quite so long.
Apollo Cree
Enlightened
Re: You know I love this: LED traffic lights kill people
The mercury is not in the ballast, it's in the tube. Mercury is the source of light in a fluorescent lamp, so you can reduce the amount of mercury, but not eliminate it.
Maybe we should add a hidden incandescent bulb into each LED traffic light to generate heat and melt the snow off. :devil:
The mercury is not in the ballast, it's in the tube. Mercury is the source of light in a fluorescent lamp, so you can reduce the amount of mercury, but not eliminate it.
Maybe we should add a hidden incandescent bulb into each LED traffic light to generate heat and melt the snow off. :devil:
Re: You know I love this: LED traffic lights kill people
I've only seen a partly blocked LED traffic light once, and we get plenty of snow around here... I gues some cities are windier than others, but wouldn't a simple lens angled downward fix the problem?
I've only seen a partly blocked LED traffic light once, and we get plenty of snow around here... I gues some cities are windier than others, but wouldn't a simple lens angled downward fix the problem?
Hack On Wheels
Enlightened
Re: You know I love this: LED traffic lights kill people
I can't tell if this whole post is sarcastic or not... I think I need some coffee.
I can't tell if this whole post is sarcastic or not... I think I need some coffee.
baterija
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2008
- Messages
- 1,053
Re: You know I love this: LED traffic lights kill people
It's a design problem not an LED problem. Simply slapping LED's into similar designs does make the problem of lights being obscured worse. (I say worse not created a new problem because even with incans and their IR spewing filaments, I've experienced obscured traffic signals. In fact even with constantly on, higher power headlights I've experienced icing issues before.) Bad design doesn't make it solely an LED problem it's an LED implementation problem. Engineering can deal with the weakness. Maintenance labor costs and power are still the dominant cost in the system. Slightly higher fixed costs for a more complicated design can still be made up. Even if they used an active heating element during cold periods, and the resultant fixture used as much power as the incan it replaced, there would still be power savings (it's not always below freezing) and huge labor savings.
Ultimately there is a control in place for all of the reasons a traffic light fails. Whether it's a light obscured by ice and snow, an incan bulb that burned out before the next replacement cycle, or a loss of power, if you can't see the signal you stop.
It's a design problem not an LED problem. Simply slapping LED's into similar designs does make the problem of lights being obscured worse. (I say worse not created a new problem because even with incans and their IR spewing filaments, I've experienced obscured traffic signals. In fact even with constantly on, higher power headlights I've experienced icing issues before.) Bad design doesn't make it solely an LED problem it's an LED implementation problem. Engineering can deal with the weakness. Maintenance labor costs and power are still the dominant cost in the system. Slightly higher fixed costs for a more complicated design can still be made up. Even if they used an active heating element during cold periods, and the resultant fixture used as much power as the incan it replaced, there would still be power savings (it's not always below freezing) and huge labor savings.
Ultimately there is a control in place for all of the reasons a traffic light fails. Whether it's a light obscured by ice and snow, an incan bulb that burned out before the next replacement cycle, or a loss of power, if you can't see the signal you stop.
Re: You know I love this: LED traffic lights kill people
I happen to agree with this.
neal71
Newly Enlightened
Re: You know I love this: LED traffic lights kill people
I am not sure where you live, but when the power goes out here in dallas, our traffic lights blink red.
I am not sure where you live, but when the power goes out here in dallas, our traffic lights blink red.
was.lost.but.now.found
Enlightened
Re: You know I love this: LED traffic lights kill people
In most of greater St. Louis when the power goes out the traffic lights go out. When it comes back on, they sometimes then will blink red until they are manually brought back on line by someone from the traffic dept.
In most of greater St. Louis when the power goes out the traffic lights go out. When it comes back on, they sometimes then will blink red until they are manually brought back on line by someone from the traffic dept.
Sgt. LED
Flashaholic
Re: You know I love this: LED traffic lights kill people
When ours go out they are totally out. Incan or LED.
I don't give a flyin' crap if the traffic signal is a gerbil suspended above the road and holding colored flash cards, when you get your drivers license you take a test and to pass that test you have to know what to do when the signal is out. For those of you that can't remember anymore you are supposed to treat it as a 4 way stop.
Her ignorance killed her, not the traffic signal.
Why is this in the general flashlight section anyway?
When ours go out they are totally out. Incan or LED.
I don't give a flyin' crap if the traffic signal is a gerbil suspended above the road and holding colored flash cards, when you get your drivers license you take a test and to pass that test you have to know what to do when the signal is out. For those of you that can't remember anymore you are supposed to treat it as a 4 way stop.
Her ignorance killed her, not the traffic signal.
Why is this in the general flashlight section anyway?
