4-Color Traffic Lights Will Soon Be a Reality Everywhere

4-COLOR TRAFFIC LIGHTS WILL SOON BE UNIVERSAL IN THE WORLD, AND I’M CONFLICTED

The future keeps arriving at an ever-increasing pace. The latest iteration of this developmental sprint is the news that soon the world will share a new reality, one where 4-color traffic lights are everywhere. My initial reaction was resigned boredom. But the more I think about the details, the more I look with fondness at a simpler, more recognizable past we all share. The world has enjoyed a universal 3-color traffic light system since an international convention established the norm back in 1968. That surprises me, as I assumed many more than 55 years had passed with this universal system.

THE NEW, 4TH, WHITE TRAFFIC LIGHT COLOR WILL BE A SIGNAL FOR AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

But time has passed, and new technology and many (MANY) more people drive on the world’s roads today. With more coming with every tomorrow. But part of that new technology means the recent advent of AV’s, or autonomous vehicles. And that’s where the new, 4^th color comes into play. As you already know, red means stop, amber means slow (or speed up, before red), and green means go. The new, 4^th color will be white. And the white means that there are enough AV’s approaching the intersection for it to come on as a signal to human drivers to just follow the cars in front of them.

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A NEW 4-COLOR TRAFFIC LIGHT SYSTEM MAKES ME FEEL LIKE A DINOSAUR BEFORE IT’S EVEN ARRIVED

I’m not keen on this development, purely from an age perspective and having to develop new reflexes to stay alive while trying to get where I need to go. As it is, simply driving in Canada is confusing enough. If you haven’t been there, many parts of Canada have traffic light systems with very different rules than Americans are familiar with. It’s always an adjustment, though much easier than reversing all the angles when driving, say, in England. So be warned! 4-color traffic lights will soon be the norm. And I can only imagine what this means as a step even closer to traffic filled with cars driven by AI, and not human beings.

Because that’s coming, too.