The inadequacies of traffic light controlled junctions was brought home to me in the most dramatic fashion, on not one, but two recent occasions.
At different junctions within weeks of each other I found myself having to perform a full emergency stop! On both occasions, I was proceeding straight across a junction well within the green phase of the traffic lights and at appropriate speed, only to be confronted by someone from the opposite direction turning right across my path and certain to be hit unless I could stop before we impacted! Fortunately on both occasions I did, but it was not an experience I wish to repeat - EVER!
The occurrence of one incident you could possibly put down to poor driving on the part of the other driver and dismiss as just 'one of those things', but two incidences at different junctions within weeks of each other led me to believe that there may be something inherently wrong with the way the junctions functioned.
I decided to study the way in which these junctions worked, and research accident statistics for these types of junction. I found that junctions of this type were one of the highest risks for road users and turning right was the riskiest manoeuvre. Blindingly obvious, perhaps, but why was it so risky?
The answer lay in the amount of information available to road users at these junctions. As you approach these junctions you will see a green traffic light that tells you you have priority, but it does not give you any idea of the priority given to oncoming traffic. Some junctions are bidirectional, others unidirectional, some change part way through the phase.
Junctions can have their phasing priorities changed simply by modifying the programming of the controlling systems, this means junctions can look exactly the same, but operate differently, even junctions you are familiar with can have their priorities changed without any obvious clues.
To my mind, this was a fundamental flaw in the signaling at junctions. It was far too easy for road users to be misled or confused by the normal traffic lights, and the latest road accident statistics suggest that an awful lot of road users get it WRONG!
What was needed was a method of giving road users some idea of the state of flow of oncoming traffic, and the priorities of that traffic.
My idea was to develop a new additional signaling system that provided vital information to road users, to enable them to make better informed decisions about their manoeuvres within junctions.
With a background in electronics and 20 years of industrial product development and marketing experience, I decided to proceed with trying to improve road safety by implementing the Safety Flowsignals system. With the government intent on improving road safety by 2010, it seemed an opportune moment to launch this product and reduce the unnecessarily high injury and death rate on our roads.
Having found a solution to the dangerous lack of information available to road junction users, it then seemed logical to look at other aspects of road safety where unnecessary accidents occurred through inadequate signs or information.
One way streets became an obvious subject for examination. Have you ever noticed how nearly all the signs on a one way street 'preach to the converted', yes they all tell you that you are going the RIGHT way, but what happens if you accidentally drive the WRONG way - NOTHING! The first likely indication of your mistake is someone from the opposite direction gesticulating and probably swearing at you, if you don't actually run into each other! An unnecessary situation that could easily be avoided with provision of proper information.
So how did you get into the one way street the wrong way? - simple, you missed the No Entry sign, the one that could only be seen from the side, 'edge on' and well above your normal eye line! Your average city one way street isn't likely to be too much of a problem if you accidentally drive down it the wrong way, apart from the risk of prosecution, but the exit slip road to a Motorway or major road is a whole different scene, prosecution would be the least of your worries, you would be lucky to survive the high speed multi-vehicle pile up! With such horrible consequences, there needs to be signs or signals that are MUCH harder to miss.
With the Safety Flowsignals system I believe that there is the potential to dramatically reduce the accident rate on our roads.