Fantasy driving question: How much would it be worth to you to get ...

Kestrel

Flashaholic
Joined
Oct 31, 2007
Messages
7,355
Location
Willamette Valley, OR
... green traffic lights, for the rest of your life ? :)

I've asked a few friends this question and have gotten anything from a confused 'does not compute' look to "many thousands of dollars".

IMO - just pulling a number out of thin air - maybe $5000 for me.

Let's make some very arbitrary low-ball assumptions from my perspective:

  • Perhaps 30 traffic lights in an average day, maybe 10 of them red.
  • 5 cents to eliminate each of the red ones, that sounds cheap yes ?
  • $180 a year. I hope to be driving for another 45 years or so.
That's $8000 right there, and I don't even live in a real city. :thinking:

Edit: Follow-up question:
As we age, does your 'number' go up or down?
Although we get less value (i.e. buying fewer 'reds'), we have less time to live so our time should become even more valuable.
Plus, on average, as we age our amount of disposable income increases so making a larger one-time payment shouldn't be as prohibitive.

Ever run a yellow/red light and got a ticket? (Only once for me but it was $250.)
Ever get rear-ended while being stopped at a red light - perhaps getting injuries, even chronic ones?

I can see this being worth $10,000 easy ...
 
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smokinbasser

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 19, 2003
Messages
1,193
Location
East Texas
It used to be in Orlando Florida if you caught a green light and maintained a steady legal speed you could go through town on green lights nonstop.
 

NoNotAgain

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 25, 2014
Messages
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Location
Blue Ridge Mountains, VA
... green traffic lights, for the rest of your life ? :)

I've asked a few friends this question and have gotten anything from a confused 'does not compute' look to "many thousands of dollars".
About 10 years back, there was a company in Minnesota called FAC (Federal Armament Corporation) that sold the units that are mounted to a lot of fire trucks and ambulance units. They would change the light to green for the vehicle with the transmitter.

I think the unit was under $300.

I procrastinated and FAC went out of business.

So I guess the answer is/was $300, if legal.
 

Str8stroke

Flashlight Enthusiast
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Nov 27, 2013
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On The Black Pearl
If it went everywhere I went?? I would easily pay $100K. Then I would buy a ambulance and put the local company out of business. lol
 

MrJino

Enlightened
Joined
May 15, 2015
Messages
298
When I lived in Los angeles, i would of payed money, easily 5000.

Now I live in a more deserty city and not really bothered by lights.
 

LGT

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 10, 2011
Messages
789
Location
Massachusetts
While a string of three, four, five or six green lights in a row is rare, and can be cause for a little inner celebration, I would be weary of paying a price for forever green lights. The proposal just sounds like a deal with the devil, as in the first lighted intersection you drive through, another motorist with the same deal crashes into you.
 

Stress_Test

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 18, 2008
Messages
1,334
$10,000 was the number that popped in my head when I read the first line. That would make the daily commute SO much more enjoyable.

Though, I would pay even more for some device that could guarantee that no other car could cross the center line and hit me, since yesterday I came close to having a head-on collision with some idiot in a big SUV who drifted completely into my lane on a two-lane road. Luckily there was enough of a shoulder I could move out of the way. I hope the friggin' text message he was sending was REALLY important!! :rolleyes:
 

yoyoman

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 15, 2012
Messages
2,345
Location
Switzerland/Scarsdale
In Switzerland (and a lot of Europe) we have circles rather than traffic lights. Works great when there is no traffic. But a pain when there is traffic. (E.g. Morning rush hour) I would pay to get through the traffic .
 

Launch Mini

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 28, 2009
Messages
1,549
Location
Vancouver, BC
Traffic lights I can handle, it is the grid lock on the freeways that drive me bonkers. No reason to stop, just keep going.
I would pay for EVERY divided highway to put a curtain between the 2 sides so lookyloos don't slow down to look at the cars stopped on the other side.
 
Joined
Mar 12, 2010
Messages
10,208
Location
Pacific N.W.
I spent the better part of 30 years doing multi-stop delivery work in Tacoma, WA. :hairpull: An average month was about 3,000 miles logged. Back then it would have been worth a great deal. Now, I'm usually home before 4pm, and almost always drive two to three miles per hour under the posted limit, traffic providing. For me, traffic lights are the silence between notes of music. It's all good.

~ Chance
 
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