Calculating and Enforcing Traffic Signal Yellow Change Interval Times

In 1959, Robert Herman, a researcher at the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, received a ticket for running a red light. Herman felt that the yellow signal time was "too short," causing him to violate the law, and that the ticket was unfair. He enlisted the help of two o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:ITE journal 2022-03, Vol.92 (3), p.44-50
Main Authors: Nash, David, Beeber, Jay, Yauch, Pete
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Kinematics
Speed limits
Traffic
Traffic control
Traffic flow
Traffic intersections
Traffic signals
Vehicles
Velocity
Workflow
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Summary:In 1959, Robert Herman, a researcher at the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, received a ticket for running a red light. Herman felt that the yellow signal time was "too short," causing him to violate the law, and that the ticket was unfair. He enlisted the help of two of his colleagues at the Technical Center, Denos Gazis and Alexei A. Maradudin, in analyzing the following problem: What is the minimum yellow interval necessary to ensure that a driver, approaching a signalized intersection, does not encounter a "dilemma zone," where a driver could neither STOP safely and comfortably, nor GO without the need to violate the red or accelerate into the intersection? The Traffic Signal Change and Clearance Interval Pooled Fund Study will presumably bring further clarity into the appropriateness of the current practices and their related assumptions. However, this study will be a work in progress for an extended period.
ISSN:0162-8178