Traffic Lights: Every day, billions of people around the world follow the same simple traffic rules. Stop at red light, move at green light and get ready at yellow light. These colors have become such a natural part of modern life that most people never stop to think why they were chosen. Let us know what is the answer to this question.

Color signals were first introduced

Modern traffic signaling can be traced back to British railway companies in the 1830s and 1840s. Early railways needed a reliable system to communicate with train drivers and prevent collisions on busy tracks. One of the key people involved in developing these signaling ideas was Henry Booth. He was an engineer associated with the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. At that time three colors were used for railway signaling. Red meant danger or stop, green meant caution, white meant safe or move ahead.

The early use of white as a proceed signal ultimately created a dangerous confusion for train drivers at night. Railway operators found that in the dark the white signal lights could easily be mistaken for stars or other distant lights. In a major incident, the red glass lens installed on a railway signal reportedly broke and fell, exposing the white lamp behind it. The train driver mistakenly thought the white light was a signal that the track was clear and it was safe to proceed. Due to this misunderstanding the trains collided. After this accident, the railway officials removed the white color and chose green. Also yellow color became the new caution signal.

World’s first traffic light

This system, which started with the train, became the foundation of traffic lights. The first road traffic signal in history was installed outside the Houses of Parliament in London on 10 December 1868. This system was designed by John Pick Knight. He adopted the concept of railway signaling for road traffic management. Initially its gas version was prepared and only red and green lamps were used. A police officer used to operate these signals by hand to control horse carriages and pedestrians.

electric traffic light

The next major breakthrough came in 1912 when Lester Wire built the first electric traffic light in the United States. Later in 1920, William Potts, another American police officer, officially introduced the modern three-color traffic light system by adding a yellow or amber signal between the red and green.

Why was red color chosen for stopping?

There was a scientific reason for choosing red color for stop signals. Red light has the longest wavelength in the visible color spectrum. It is approximately between 620 to 740 nanometers. Due to this longer wavelength, red light scatters less in dust, fog, smoke and rain. Psychologically too, humans naturally associate the color red with danger, caution and emergency.

Why does green mean moving forward?

Green was chosen because the human eye is very sensitive to green wavelengths. It is approximately between 500 to 565 nanometers. This sensitivity helps people quickly identify the green signal both during the day and at night.

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First Traffic Signal: Traffic lights are a natural part of modern life. It silently controls millions of vehicles every day. But the idea of ​​regulating road traffic with signals is much older than most people realize. The world’s first traffic signal came in the 19th century and it did not look at all like today’s light.

Birth of the first traffic signal

The world’s first traffic signal was installed outside the British Parliament at Westminster in London on 9 December 1868. It was designed by John Peake Knight. He was a railway signal engineer who adopted the train signaling concept to manage the increasing road congestion caused by horse-drawn carriages.

gas powered signal

Unlike today’s electric traffic lights, the first signals were gas powered. At night it used red and green gas lamps to give instructions. There were no bulbs, wiring or automated timers. Only gas flames worked. Because of this this system was quite dangerous.

operated manually

The signal was not automatic. A police officer stood next to it and operated it manually using a lever. This meant that traffic control was entirely dependent on human judgment and physical effort.

Semaphore arms for time of day

During the day the system depended on semaphore arms, like railway signals. When the metal arms were kept horizontal it meant wait. When it was lowered at an angle of 45 degrees, it signaled caution. This visual language was familiar to railway passengers but quite new to road traffic.

there was no yellow light

Modern traffic lights have three colors: red, yellow and green. But earlier the signal had only two colors. Red color indicated to stop while green color indicated caution or to go. At that time no concept of yellow light existed.

a dangerous end

This experiment soon ended. On January 2, 1869, just a few weeks after installation, the signal exploded due to a gas leak. Because of this, the police officer operating it got seriously injured. After this incident, the system was removed and the idea of ​​traffic signals was shelved for decades.

first electric traffic signal

Traffic signaling did not make a safe comeback until 1914. The world’s first electric traffic signal was installed in Cleveland, America. This system laid the foundation for the automated color coded traffic lights used around the world today.

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