Drivers in certain areas of Florida like Gainesville, Fort Myers, Orlando, and Collier County, have begun noticing odd little blue lights mounted on the top of some traffic signals. What are they there for? In spite of what you or your passengers may have speculated, they have nothing to do with red light cameras. However, like traffic cameras, they play a role in catching drivers who run red lights.
These little blue lights are called confirmation lights, and they are designed to help law enforcement officers to see from any direction which lights are red. For example, if a driver is going south, but the cop is facing in another direction, the officer wouldn’t be able to see whether the driver’s light was red when they entered the intersection. This is because a blue confirmation light, which is only illuminated when the signal below it is red, can be seen from any direction.
There are a few potential benefits to installing these lights. For one thing, only one officer is needed to monitor an intersection instead of two. Additionally, it’s less dangerous for police officers, since they can monitor entire intersections from a safe vantage point. Most importantly, it’s hoped that an initial increase in citations will be a deterrent for drivers running red lights going forward.
Are The Blue Lights Working?
…