They don’t–can’t–physically stop you. They don’t engage a barrier to prevent cars from going through the intersection, and lower that barrier when it’s time to drive. They won’t stop you from plowing into a hapless pedestrian at the intersection. No, they’re only a mechanical prop, a signifier of a social contract we’ve agreed to (and have written into law). They are a means of behavior change, and we (mostly) obey.
It is hard to think of a technology so widely adopted, so ubiquitous, so influential, and, yes, so well designed.
Source:
The Hidden Genius and Influence of the Traffic Light | Design | WIRED
Rights to all content (text, images, videos etc.) with post source. If you think these are wrongly attributed email us
