He installed automatic four-way, three-colour traffic lights in 15 towers across Detroit in 1921. Potts was Superintendent of Signals for the Police Department of Detroit. The first four-way, three-colour traffic light was created by William Potts in Detroit, Michigan in 1920. It was installed by the American Traffic Signal Company on the corner of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1912, the first electric traffic light was developed by Lester Wire, a policeman in Salt Lake City, Utah. In many cases, it was controlled by a traffic officer who would blow a whistle before changing the commands on this signal to help alert travellers of the change. In the first two decades of the 20th century, semaphore traffic signals like the one in London were in use all over the United States with each state having its own design of the device. The first system of traffic signals was installed as a way to replace police officer control of vehicular traffic outside the Houses of Parliament in London on 9 December 1868. The system is also used for other purposes, for example, to control pedestrian movements, variable lane control (such as tidal flow systems or smart motorways), and railway level crossings.
Since then, electricity and computerised control has advanced traffic light technology and increased intersection capacity. The method was first introduced in December 1868 on Parliament Square in London to reduce the need for police officers to control traffic. Although this is internationally standardised, variations exist on national and local scales as to traffic light sequences and laws. The regular traffic light colours are red, yellow (also known as amber), and green arranged vertically or horizontally in that order. Traffic lights consist normally of three signals, transmitting meaningful information to road users through colours and symbols including arrows and bicycles. Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – also known as robots in South Africa and Namibia – are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control the flow of traffic. For other uses, see Stoplight (disambiguation).Īn LED 50- watt traffic light in Portsmouth, United Kingdom
