Lagos Camara, in their infinite wisdom, have introduced a traffic-calming measure that is highly likely to kill or maim someone if extreme care is not taken. The multiple traffic lights which control pedestrian crossings along the length of the Avenida- the waterfront road-now turn red for traffic at regular intervals without pedestrians pushing the button to turn on the little green man which indicates when it's safe to cross; uninformed motorists, seeing a red light and assuming that, if it's red for them, it must be green for the pedestrian,beckon pedestrians to cross but the lights change again after about ten seconds, leaving the unfortunate pedestrians part way across a four carriageway road with traffic from both directions seeing green lights.For your own safety, cross only when the green man shows. For those who choose otherwise, the good news is that the hospital is only a very short distance from the Avenida.
I've seen lights like these on the road from Huelva to Ayamonte, I think the idea is to slow the traffic down and they may have been radar controlled or at least timed. So if you approach at the right speed they will change before you get to them but if you are speeding you'll get a red. And I've seen a set in Germany that do the same with a built in crossing and causes the same risk!
The lights you're referring to, Steve, are normally found on the approach to smaller rural villages and are purely a traffic calming measure,and an effective one at that, but the ones on the Avenida in Lagos are all associated with light-controlled pedestrian crossings and pose a serious danger to anyone crossing when the green man's not showing.
We have a set of these 'traffic calming' lights here in Pateo, at at crossing They often go red when no-one has pressed the button and are totallly ignored by 90% of drivers unless they see someone waiting to cross.
There are at least two other sets nearby and these are likewise ignored when red. They even go red when I cycle up to them!
As Sagres says, be careful when crossing, as the green man often means 'it is slightly less dangerous to cross than when the red man was showing' as at a crossroads etc traffic can be allowed to make a turn 'against the lights'.
There are at least two other sets nearby and these are likewise ignored when red. They even go red when I cycle up to them!
As Sagres says, be careful when crossing, as the green man often means 'it is slightly less dangerous to cross than when the red man was showing' as at a crossroads etc traffic can be allowed to make a turn 'against the lights'.
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