What do these traffic lights mean??

Goudy

I'm not sure how leaving a space between a queue of stationary vehicles at a junction helps someone approaching a junction see a painted arrow on the road, from above maybe?
If there's a car stopped over it or in front of it, you can't see it.

I guess if two cars were approaching the junction at the same time in the same lane and there were a gap in between, then yes it might be visible.
But what good would that do when the painted arrow is only a few meters from the junction and there's a car in front and next to you (in the lane you need).
You've hardly any time and no space to change lanes by the time you have possibly seen it.
Like I wrote, years ago maybe when traffic was much lighter.

Lets face it, it's done because it's cheap, cheaper than putting real signs up.
All this paint on the road is also a hazard in the wet for anyone on two wheels. So cheap and dangerous.

Sat Navs are handy but they can be a bit slow in large towns and cities when you have a lot of rights and lefts in quick succession. 

What are you left with then, (surprisingly to some) a load of angry and frustrated road users struggling to get where they need to be.

 

Okell

1.  What I find confusing about the positioning of the repeater lights for the left-hand lanes in the examples of both @user1977 and @SouthLondonUser (ie lights no. 3 in the latter example) is that they are positioned way over to the right - on the divider between the two opposite carriageways - in the middle of the road, and not to the left of the left-hand lane which is where I would expect to see them.

It strikes me that somebody in the Right Turn Only right-hand lane could be led to believe they could go straight on

Would there be a good reason for that in terms of road design?  I can't think of one but I don't drive in London and where I live junctions are relatively straightforward.  (Looking at streetview there appears to be ample room to have the lights where you'd expect them to be - on the left and not in the middle of the road... )


2.   So do these signs in the segregated cycle lane mean that cyclists must go straight on and cannot turn right or left, even though vehicles in the traffic lane outside them can turn left?

115 A3205 - Google Maps

Why wouldn't cyclists not be allowed to turn left but vehicles can?  (Apologies if the answer is obvious, but it isn't obvious to me and I'm curious)


3.  Regarding directional arrows painted on roads, my major complaint is that they never give you sufficient warning as to what lane you need to be in.  In really busy traffic, if you aren't familiar with a road, you can find yourself stuck in one lane for ages before suddenly realising you've been in the wrong lane all along and then have the hassle of changing lanes and hoping someone will let you in.

Okell

facade said:

(Notice that both cyclists appear to be pedalling, and therefore seem to have ignored red lights, I suppose the one with the yellow top could be exceptionally good at balancing with his feet on the pedals whilst stationary, but he can't possibly see his traffic light from that position.)

The cyclist with the yellow rucksack certainly looks as if he might be going through a red cycle light in the segregated cycle-lane, but I'm not sure the other cyclist has as he appears to be in the left-hand traffic lane and not the cycle-lane.

m0t490

Hi!
Maybe its off topic but I would appreciate for any infos what does this camera measure? Its at a pedestrian cross with a small antenna on it. ANPR or CCTV perhaps or additional sensor among the others?

facade

Okell said:

facade said:

(Notice that both cyclists appear to be pedalling, and therefore seem to have ignored red lights, I suppose the one with the yellow top could be exceptionally good at balancing with his feet on the pedals whilst stationary, but he can't possibly see his traffic light from that position.)

The cyclist with the yellow rucksack certainly looks as if he might be going through a red cycle light in the segregated cycle-lane, but I'm not sure the other cyclist has as he appears to be in the left-hand traffic lane and not the cycle-lane.

I said "seem to have ignored" as I don't know what the dark clothed cyclist did before the photo.

He could have been halted over the stopline when the lights turned red and started off again when it became safe, he could have gone straight on from the turn left lane following the direction of the "ahead" traffic light, or been in the right hand lane and changed lanes very sharply after he crossed the line on the green light. He could even have wheeled his cycle part-way across the road on the crossing then mounted it and ridden off whilst on the crossing.

He could somehow have come from the road on the right, but he would have taken an odd path to get where he is.

The yellow rucksack could be exceptionally good at balancing with both feet on the pedals and had stopped whilst straddling the line.

Rather an intriguing snap of the cyclists though ....

born_again

Goudy said:

I'm not sure how leaving a space between a queue of stationary vehicles at a junction helps someone approaching a junction see a painted arrow on the road, from above maybe?
If there's a car stopped over it or in front of it, you can't see it.


 

Take it you are responding to me & "Which is why you leave a space between you & the car in front so you can see any markings on the road."

Not when you are stopped, but when you are moving.🤦‍♀️

Very rare that there is only one.

Goudy

m0t490 said:

Hi!
Maybe its off topic but I would appreciate for any infos what does this camera measure? Its at a pedestrian cross with a small antenna on it. ANPR or CCTV perhaps or additional sensor among the others?

It's a sensor.
It detects the amount of traffic so it can alter the lights timings..

If it detects high traffic build up it might delay the lights going red for a while after the button is pushed.
Which is why you can sometimes walk up to a crossing, press the button and the lights change immediately and other times when there is a lot of traffic, push the button and they take a few minutes to change.

You also see them on other types of traffic lights, particularly on busy junctions. They alter the timings to keep the traffic flowing on major routes.
If they detect a high build up through a junction and nothing much across the junction it'll time the lights in favour of the high build up and vice versa.

Some lights do have CCTV cameras, but they usually aren't on the lights themselves, but on a pole a few yard further along the road. They tend to monitor problem areas rather then used for enforcement, but the footage would be pulled if there was something like an accident on the crossing.