With the development of man-made color changing Alexandrite gems it is now possible to reduce the amount of lights required for controlling traffic to one light for every three we now use. This will greatly reduce maintenance costs and, who knows, might even be cost effective after a few hundred years.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Dec 31 2008

Alexandrite http://www.google.c...CA288&q=alexandrite
Dear Santa, next year ... [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Dec 31 2008]

It would also steadily remove the gene for red-green colourblindness from the population.
-- nineteenthly, Dec 31 2008


Yes, that would be bad.
Hmmmm maybe the worlds most expensive Christmas lights then? Leave the Jones's in the dust.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Dec 31 2008


There exist stoplight lights made of LEDs. There exist LEDs capable of changing between 3 colors. Easily bakeable without need of Alexandrite, if people so wanted.
-- Spacecoyote, Jan 01 2009


So I take it UB didn't vote for this idea?
-- Canuck, Jan 05 2009


the three light system is effective because the light changes color (something that the peripheral vision might not pick up) and MOVES (something the peripheral vision is very good at picking up). This speeds up reaction time considerably. A system of lights that change color but not position would work less. I'm voting against it simply because it fails to recognize a functional mechanism in the system it is trying to change. For a reference look at train crossing signs. Any sign that calls for immediate attention from a driver uses movement or flashing to get the driver's attention.
-- WcW, Jan 15 2009



random, halfbakery