Here is a crazy one: Energy-saving traffic lights blamed in crashes.
MILWAUKEE - Cities around the country that have installed energy-efficient traffic lights are discovering a hazardous downside: The bulbs don't burn hot enough to melt snow and can become crusted over in a storm — a problem blamed for dozens of accidents and at least one death.
Wisconsin, which has put LED bulbs at hundreds of intersections, saves about $750,000 per year in energy costs,
Several states are testing possible solutions, including installing weather shields, adding heating elements like those used in airport runway lights, or coating the lights with water-repellent substances. Exactly how much a technological fix will cost is unclear, but it will surely cut into the savings and the energy efficiency many cities are enjoying.
You can read the complete story at LED Traffic Lights
Posts
2 comments:
I saw this story on the news a few weeks back. They were saying that even though someone has to manually check and occasionally scrape these clean during a storm, they still save a mammoth amount of money.
Not sure how that will relate in cases where the cities may have to begin to pay wrongful death cases to families who have lost a loved one due to this energy saving.
Of course you would treat the intersection as if the power was out and you had to stop... however, in a storm with blinding, blowing snow, (the type that would stick to these lights and cause this type of problem) you may not be aware that the intersection has an automated stoplight until it is too late.
I never thought of that. Obviously, no one else did, either. I'm usually not out in bad weather, but sometimes you have to be. I'd rather depend on a heating element for the lenses of traffic lights than some people driving around and scraping them off. (And what about signals suspended over intersections and lanes?) I also heat my windshield, with hot air form the defroster, instead of reaching around with my ice scraper as I drive (except when I owned VWs back in the day).
Post a Comment