I was sitting at a traffic light the other day waiting for it to change. There was not another car in sight, yet, I had to sit there and wait, car idling, gas burning. So I said to myself, “this is stupid and wasteful”. If I had been wanting to turn right, I would have been on my way by now. And if I had been waiting at a stop sign, I would have made my stop, checked the traffic and proceeded right, left or straight through. But since I was waiting at a traffic light, I had to wait for the light to change even though there was not another car in sight.

In my opinion, traffic lights should function like stop signs that move from one side of the intersection to the other on a regular basis. In this manner, the green light would guarantee the right of way because the red light, just like the stop sign, has halted the interfering traffic. And, just like the stop sign, if the intersection is clear, you can proceed, even though you have a red light.

Think of the gas, pollution and congestion this would save. The problem is that the law enforcement folks are probably totally opposed to such an idea. After all, according to them, the safest intersection is a 4 way stop. While this is probably true, I can counter that the safest road is the one with no cars on it. So, if I am waiting at a traffic light and the only car on that road, that road is less safe. But, if I can get off of that road by going through an empty intersection, that road becomes safe once again.

Think about it.