According to new red light law in Virginia, bicyclists must obey all traffic signs, including lights and markings, except: 

Under certain circumstances bicyclists, motorcycles, and mopeds may proceed through a intelligent traffic signal controller red light at an intersection.  A driver or rider may proceed through the intersection on a steady red light only if the driver or rider complies with all five provisions listed below:

    1. Comes to a full and complete stop at the intersection for two complete cycles of the traffic light or for two minutes, whichever is shorter

    2. Exercises due care as provided by law

    3. Otherwise treats the traffic control device as a stop sign

    4. Determines that it is safe to proceed

    5. Yields the right of way to the driver of any vehicle approaching on such other highway from either direction.

I searched for the same exception for automobiles, but I couldn’t find anything that stated a car could do the same as a bicyclist. So no matter vehicle or bicycle you are on, please pay attention to LED arrow light at anytime to keep you away from punishment. 

 In modern society, many different kinds of high-tech products are used for maintaining the order of traffic flow. Most people may take traffic signal light as an example, but besides, pedestrian signals are also important in adjusting traffic situation.

There are two classes of pedestrian signals: joint traffic and dedicated pedestrian crossing. Joint traffic pedestrian signals are typically found at intersections. LED traffic signals are used to control the vehicle traffic and pedestrian signals are used to ensure pedestrians are able to cross the road safely. In this scenario, both the vehicles and the pedestrians have dedicated signals.

The traffic signal lights for vehicles have red, yellow, and green lights. One light is shown at a time, and they are changed on a timer. The lights for each street are coordinated, so that traffic is only moving one way through the intersection at a time. There are minor variations in traffic lights module, but the colors are universal. The red signal means stop, yellow is yield, and green is to proceed.

Pedestrian signals in an intersection are also coordinated with the traffic signal lights, but are a completely different set of signals. The most common pedestrian signals are pictographs. An image of a person walking is used to indicate the road is safe to cross, and an upturned hand is used to indicate the road is unsafe. In the United States, some signals use the English words "Don't Walk" and "Walk" instead of pictographs. However, this type of signal is being slowly replaced with the more universal pictographs.

In many countries, additional features are added to the traffic signal lights to provide more information to the pedestrian. For example, a walk signal may change into a flashing hand five seconds before the signal changes. In other locations, a countdown from ten to zero is used to indicate the amount of time remaining before the signal changes. The purpose of these two enhancements is to let pedestrians know how much time remains so he or she can decide if there is enough time to cross the road safely. All in all, pedestrian signals are also significant in ensuring the safety of pedestrian, especially at the busy intersections.

Every time we talk about LED technology, we often think about LED TVs or bulbs. In fact, LED products are around us everywhere. Take LED traffic light as an example, there are many kinds of traffic signal lights for sale. Cities around the world have been systematically replacing their older incandescent bulb-based traffic signals with the more energy efficient LEDs since the mid-1990s. These traffic signals have several advantages over incandescent models, but the three main advantages are improved visibility, longer shelf life, and lower energy costs.

The development of commercially feasible LED traffic lights was originally hampered by the limitation of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDS). LEDs generate light as a result of electrical current running through certain gases. At first, LEDs could only produce the color red, which limited their use to monochromatic devices such as alarm clock displays or calculators. Further refinements in the technology have now produced the three colors used for traffic signalling: red, amber and green.

One major advantage of these traffic lights is increased visibility. Incandescent bulbs were often covered by color filters, reflectors, and glass lenses, which could affect how much light actually reached drivers' eyes. LED arrow lights use an array of bright LEDs that do not require additional filters or amplification. If a single incandescent bulb burns out, the entire light sequence is disturbed. Several LEDs can fail in these lights without causing a noticeable disruption. A catastrophic failure involving all of the LEDs in a panel would be rare indeed.

Another advantage is lower maintenance costs. Almost all of the cost of LED traffic lights is upfront — LEDs are expensive, and the signals themselves require more labor to produce. These expenses are usually offset by lower maintenance costs. If an incandescent bulb burns out, which happens three times a year on average, a trained city employee must replace the bulb while traffic is diverted. LED lights, on the other hand, may only require a yearly cleaning of the protective lenses. But generally speaking, LED traffic lights have brought many changes to our life and make our daily life more convenient.

Bolingbrook have decided to sponsor engineering work the will help installation of solar traffic signal controller at intersections of highways and busy roads.

Mayor Roger Claar said he normally does not like putting in more traffic signal lights in town.

But the amount of traffic is increasing on both northbound and southbound Territorial Drive, where a variety of industrial businesses operate, including WeatherTech, which recently expanded in the area, Claar said at the July 16 Village Board meeting.

As such, "a bit of a congestion problem without traffic signal lights" has arisen, he said. Trustees approved paying $32,200 to Chicago-based Knight Engineers and Architects for signal analysis and design.

Public Works Director Lucas Rickelman said the town will likely put out bids for the solar power traffic light construction in the fall and that it would cost between $250,000 and $300,000.

"It's going to be very straightforward but still expensive," Claar said.

The light will remain green on Remington after work hours, Claar said, and will only change when traffic approaches from Territorial.

The board also authorized the police department to purchase a vehicle for $31,364 using drug seizure funds.

The best price was received from Advantage Chevrolet in Bolingbrook, Claar said.

"I'm glad it's from Bolingbrook," he said.

Claar also warned of the long, uncertain fight against the emerald ash borer, which has been decimating area ash trees. The board signed off on a plan to treat up to 3,000 ash trees at a cost of up to $250,000.

New traffic signals were installed along the on-ramps of the Beltline Wednesday, aimed at reducing delays during heavy traffic hours.

On Wednesday, new generation of traffic signal lights were put into use along the ramp of the Beltline, intended to reduce congestion during rush hours.

Oregon Department of Transportation engineers say that areas using "ramp meter" traffic signals with traffic lights module see a decline in traffic bottlenecks and crashes.

Cars stop at the signals in two lanes, each with a red light. Alternating between the left and right lane the signals will turn green, allowing cars to shuffle into traffic along the Beltline. 

Julie Infante is one of the ODOT engineers that installed the traffic signal lights on the westbound Beltline on-ramp from Green Acres Road.

“Breaking up these groups of vehicles helps ease congestion and that also helps reduce crashes,” Infante said.

The $2 million signal system project is funded by the 2009 Oregon Transportation Act, ODOT planner Savannah Crawford said. At present, the most necessary thing is to start identifying short term improvements, low cost improvements that we can start helping manage the traffic flow with traffic signal module on the Beltline, to improve safety and operations.