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Lack Of Traffic Light Sequence Knowledge Among UK Drivers Putting Pedestrians At Risk
Thu, 27 May 2010

More than half of UK motorists are "colour blind" to red traffic lights, new research has revealed

A survey of 1,000 drivers by online used car retailer autoquake.com found that 52 per cent do not expect to see a red stop light coming when signals at junctions and pedestrian crossings are on amber.

It showed that 39 per cent of drivers expect to see a green light after amber, 7 per cent mistakenly think that green and amber lights will appear at the same time, and a further six per cent expect the red and amber signal to appear.

The survey found that drivers in Wales are the most "colour blind" to traffic light sequences with just 40 per cent knowing that a red light follows amber, while the most well-informed motorists were in the East Midlands region with 64 per cent of drivers answering correctly.

Overall just 48 per cent of those polled knew the correct answer to the question which is routinely asked in driving theory tests .

Dermot Halpin, chief executive of autoquake.com said the alarming findings could explain high accident rates at pedestrian crossings.

"It is amazing that so many think an amber signal is about to change to green when in fact it will change to red," he said.

"As pedestrians, we should be particularly worried that so many drivers expect to see a green and amber signal since this doesn't exist."

"Perhaps one of the reasons why there are so many accidents is that so few drivers know the correct traffic light sequences."

According to 2008 figures from the Department for Transport, a fifth of pedestrians hit by motorists whilst crossing the road that year were on a crossing and a further 12 per cent were within 50 metres of one.
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