How One Man Is Fighting for Longer Yellow Lights
Photo: grendelkhan
Many drivers are familiar with intersections, where the light turns yellow for a frustratingly short amount of time. However, thanks in part to Sweden-born engineer Mats Järlström, yellow lights could soon last for a longer amount of time.
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What Järlström has done thus far
Back in 2013, Järlström’s wife received a red-light ticket. After viewing the footage of the incident, Järlström attempted to fight the ticket, noting that the yellow light was too short while in court.
At that time, his city, Beaverton, Oregon, mandated that yellow lights last for only 3.5 seconds. Other cities, like Nashville, Chattanooga, and Dallas have previously been called out for shortening the duration of their yellow lights. Chicago has also already lost a lawsuit for having a large amount of red-light cameras as well as shortened yellow lights from 2011 and 2015.
Before moving to Oregon, Järlström was an electrical engineer in Sweden. As he dedicated his time to writing inquiries about yellow lights and conducting research, the governing body of licensed engineers in Oregon fined him because he referred to himself as an engineer. However, Järlström then sued them, won, and returned to his research on yellow lights.
Now, he is consulting with the members of The Institute of Transportation Engineers, which agrees that the current yellow-light calculus needs to be fixed. While short yellow light durations, in general, are a problem, Järlström specifically wants to push to have long enough yellow lights for drivers making left turns.
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Hopefully, all of Järlström’s work pays off and yellow lights become longer and help keep drivers safe at intersections.
News Source: Popular Mechanics
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