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Show First Traffic Lights Abolished By Cleveland In 1914 As Unnecessary Traffic signs and signals have become such a necessity in mod-, mod-, ern life that the National Safety Safe-ty Council is conducting- a "Signs of Life" campaign in August to promote better public pub-lic understanding of them. But only 36 years ago an electric traffic signal was a curiosity, cur-iosity, not a necessity. The first electric traffic lights were placed in operation in August, 1914, in Cleveland, O. The red and green lights were operated by a policeman in a booth on the corner. After a short time, however, the signals were removed re-moved because they were unnecessary. un-necessary. The next step in traffic signals sig-nals consisted of towers in the middle of Fifth avenue, New Yrk City, and in Detroit. The lights were not used to guide vehicles directly, but to relay instructions to other towers. The colored lights had different meanings, too. In New York, red stopped all traffic, green meant stop for north-south traffic, traf-fic, and amber meant go for north-soutla traffic. The first electrically interlocked inter-locked signal system was installed in-stalled in Houston, Tex., in 1922. Nine intersections were controlled from a central point. The red and green lights finally fin-ally used in controlling street traffic wore adopted from the signals already in use by the railroads. |
