France’s quickest traffic lights stay green for just 6-8 seconds
One light only lets a couple of cars through at a time - and some say it is dangerous
The traffic light’s red light lasts one minute and 10 seconds, versus just eight seconds for the green
Andrew Chisholm/Shutterstock
A traffic light in Toulouse is attracting attention for all the wrong reasons after drivers complained that it stays on ‘green’ for just eight seconds - one of the shortest durations in France.
Reporters for TF1 found that drivers were quickly becoming frustrated by having to stop again so soon after the light went green. The light typically only lets one or two cars through the Haute-Garonne (Occitanie) junction before returning to red.
The green light lasts just eight seconds, but the red light lasts for one minute and 10 seconds - almost nine times’ longer.
“I'm flabbergasted that it turns red so quickly,” said one driver. His passenger added: “Honestly, I've seen some fast lights, but this is extreme! [It only lets] one car through.. We would not have gone this way had we known.”
“You have to move fast, because there's a lot of honking behind you,” said another driver.
‘Complex junction’
The city authorities say that the light set-up is necessary because “it's a complex junction”.
“There are four entrances and four exits,” said Maxime Boyer, deputy mayor of Toulouse in charge of transport. “There are trams, bicycles, pedestrians...
“So we have to try to organise, synchronise, [and] make it safe,” she said.
Ironically, Toulouse was also one of the first cities to test a traffic light system that uses AI in a bid to reduce waiting times at lights.
Read more: Toulouse tests using AI to reduce driver wait at traffic lights
Read also: New type of traffic light aims to improve cyclist safety in France
‘It’s dangerous’
One local has suggested that the fast-changing light could be leading to more incidents of ‘road rage’, and increasing the risk of accidents, rather than making the junction safer.
Frédéric Ducros, manager of a tabac shop opposite the lights, said: “[Drivers] run [the red light], they shout at each other. There are pedestrians who are almost ignored. It's dangerous,” he said.
Some drivers speed up to get through the light before it changes, while others continue to drive even on an amber light - and, sometimes - the red.
And yet, the light is legal. The minimum duration for a green light in France is six seconds. The mairie has said that it is considering changing the layout, but no changes - if any - will come into force until at least next year.
