Could More Green Lights Be the Key To Slowing Drivers Down?

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Few things on the road are as infuriating as waiting at a red light. Especially when it happens after waiting at the previous traffic light, and the one before that, and the one before that, and so on.

It turns out, some cities are actually turning that frustration into a reason to slow down. A traffic signal strategy called “rest in red” gives drivers who follow the speed limit a better chance of reaching green lights, while faster drivers are more likely to have to stop.

Learn how rest in red works, why cities think more green lights could encourage slower driving, which cities are leading the trend, and if this strategy could be adopted everywhere in the United States.

How Rest in Red Traffic Lights Reward Drivers Who Follow the Speed Limit

With rest in red, a traffic light stays red when no vehicles are approaching. Sensors detect an approaching vehicle and can trigger the light to turn green.

“Traffic signals with ‘rest in red’ technology can display red lights in all directions during late night and early morning hours when traffic volume is light rather than cycling through green, yellow, and red the way they do normally during the day,” according to the Portland, Oregon Bureau of Transportation’s website.

Some cities also use speed sensors. Drivers traveling at or below the set speed can get a green light early enough to continue through the intersection.

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, the signal already rests on red. Drivers traveling at an acceptable speed can trigger an earlier green light.

“If you come to Albuquerque right now and you’re driving that corridor, you will learn pretty quickly that if you are speeding, you stop,” Jennifer Turner, Albuquerque’s director of municipal development, told Jeff McMurray of the Associated Press.

Albuquerque uses the system along Lead and Coal Avenues as part of a broader effort to improve traffic safety.

“The City has already implemented several safety improvements—such as Rest in Red technologies, Automated Speed Enforcement devices and traffic signal coordination at 30 MPH—that have contributed to calmer traffic and increased safety,” according to the City of Albuquerque, New Mexico’s survey announcement.

Portland has also tested rest in red on Southeast Powell Boulevard during late-night and early-morning hours. The city says reducing speeds can also make crashes less severe when they happen.

“As people travel faster, the risk of death or serious injury rises dramatically,” according to Portland, Oregon Bureau of Transportation’s website. “For example, a pedestrian struck by a person driving 40 mph is eight times more likely to die than a pedestrian struck at 20 mph. Safe speeds lower the risk of crashes. And when crashes do occur, safe speeds make it less likely that people will be seriously injured or killed.”

The approach differs from the familiar “green wave,” which times several traffic lights so drivers traveling at a certain speed can move through them. Rest in red starts with a red light and uses the promise of an earlier green to encourage drivers to slow down.

Cities don’t always need speed sensors, either. The North Carolina Department of Transportation has studied a simpler version that keeps signals red until an approaching vehicle is detected.

Will Rest in Red Traffic Lights Work on Every Road?

Rest in red works best in certain traffic conditions. Portland mainly uses the system when traffic is light and open roads can make speeding more likely. A busy intersection during daytime traffic may need a different signal setup to keep vehicles moving.

Some intersections may also need newer vehicle detectors or signal equipment before cities can use the system.

Researchers are still studying possible downsides, including whether drivers who repeatedly encounter red lights become more likely to run them. Cities will likely need more testing before rest in red becomes a common traffic safety tool across the United States.

The idea for drivers remains straightforward: staying near the speed limit could make it easier to reach the next green light instead of racing toward another red one.