Eko Traffic Light
The Eko Light, from designer Damjan Stankovic, promises to curb pollution, reduce fuel consumption, reduce stress, and improve safety – bold claims for a traffic light.
The concept incorporates a progress bar in the familiar red-light, so drivers will know how long they need to wait for green. Presumably, drivers could turn off the engine if they knew they had to wait a long time, cutting down on pollution and fuel use.
I suspect that most drivers would love to know how long they’d wait, but I doubt many would turn off the engine. There would be fear of wear-and-tear, and would the small gasoline savings really make up for the effort of stopping and re-starting the car? Perhaps it would help at lights longer than a minute, but those tend to be pretty rare (in my area at least.) And if you buy a hybrid, this is taken care of automatically.
I’m not sure about the environmental benefits of this design, but I like its simplicity. It provides a key piece of information to drivers that transcends language barriers and communicates without distraction. The “stress lowering” and safety aspects of the lights would be well worth the additional cost.
Just think, you wouldn’t have to wait at a green light because the person in front of you was sending a text message or digging through his bag.
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