Opinion ID: 1671607
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: History of the Signal Light

Text: Plaintiff's counsel asserted several theories of recovery, all of which were based on the DOTD's alleged violations, in several ways, of its duty to provide a signal-controlled intersection that did not present an unreasonable risk of harm for motorists and for pedestrians. This opinion focuses on that duty and on the specific breach [4] found by the trier of fact, namely, the DOTD's failure to set the timing of the traffic signal so as to allow pedestrians sufficient time to complete the forty-eight-foot crossing [5] of the highway in which the median was not of sufficient width to provide a safe haven. The traffic signal, which was first installed at the intersection in 1969, initially operated on an eighty-second cycle, with sixteen seconds for vehicular traffic on Howard to proceed (12.8 seconds of green and 3.2 seconds of amber) while the light was red for highway traffic. Subsequent developments led to a change in the timing cycle. First, legislation adopted in 1982 permitted a right turn on red, and a large percentage of Howard traffic no longer needed a green signal to turn right from the right lane. Additionally, the DOTD received frequent complaints about highway motorists' having to stop for a red signal at the intersection when there was no crossing traffic from Howard. Based on these factors, the DOTD determined that an actuated signal would eliminate unnecessary stops for the 24,000 vehicles on the highway at that intersection daily and accordingly would reduce the risks of collisions with unnecessarily stopped vehicles. [6] With the actuated signal, the light remained green for highway traffic as long as there were no vehicles on Howard. When a vehicle approached on Howard to cross the intersection (not to turn right from the right turn lane), the light turned red (if the minimum time for the green signal for highway traffic had elapsed) for highway traffic for a period varying between 10.9 and 20 seconds. [7] Thus the new timing cycle changed the time for pedestrian crossings protected by a red highway signal from sixteen seconds to eleven to twenty-one seconds. The DOTD did not install a push-button for crossing pedestrians to push to activate the side street green light because studies revealed no significant pedestrian activity at that intersection and no previous pedestrian accidents. [8] The purpose of the DOTD's reducing the time of the red signal for highway traffic was to reduce the significant risk of collisions by highway motorists with stopped vehicles by reducing the number of stops of highway traffic. The DOTD did not consider the reduced time for pedestrian crossing protected by a red highway signal to present an unreasonable risk of harm for pedestrians, since some pedestrians crossed at intersections without traffic lights all along the highway in that area, and there had never been a pedestrian accident or a complaint about difficulty for pedestrians to cross at this particular intersection.