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Istanbul Isiklarius traffic lights

artlebedev.com

31–40 of 72 posts

Re: Istanbul Isiklarius traffic lights

#31
post #20

I was in Istanbul a few months ago and the traffic was the craziest I've ever seen. It didn't really seem like anyone paid attention to the traffic signals anyway. I don't see how a new design would help fix that.

I just wanted to post exactly the same. I haven't yet seen any other city with a traffic as bad as in Istanbul: Drivers typically don't care about traffic lights and drive without braking and just honking over pedestrian crossings, even though they have a red light and there are pedestrians on the street. In case of traffic jams drivers just continue driving on the sidewalk. I saw deadlock situations on crossings mul…

I lived in Istanbul for long time. I agree that traffic and some drivers are terrible, It is correct that they don't care about zebra crossings, but drivers obeys traffic lights in general. The main issue is density, too much vehicles, too little roads and everybody is in a hurry.

Also Cairo is definitely worse than Istanbul.

Re: Istanbul Isiklarius traffic lights

#32
As a passenger of a Dolmus(Turkish taxi bus), scared by their driving style, I heard a joke a while ago: "In France, traffic lights are mandatory. In Italy they are optional. In Turkey they are decorative". It looks they took it seriously.

Re: Istanbul Isiklarius traffic lights

#33
post #20

I was in Istanbul a few months ago and the traffic was the craziest I've ever seen. It didn't really seem like anyone paid attention to the traffic signals anyway. I don't see how a new design would help fix that.

I just wanted to post exactly the same. I haven't yet seen any other city with a traffic as bad as in Istanbul: Drivers typically don't care about traffic lights and drive without braking and just honking over pedestrian crossings, even though they have a red light and there are pedestrians on the street. In case of traffic jams drivers just continue driving on the sidewalk. I saw deadlock situations on crossings mul…

I think you are talking about somewhere in India or Thailand or something, I drive in Istanbul for the last umm, 12 years and never missed a red light intentionally and saw maybe ten or fifteen idiots that does not care about the red light.

Btw did you visit Istanbul in the end of 80's I believe it was the only time The city was packed enough and that situation maybe seen because I can remember those times, now its different though many of the traffic lights have cameras that trigger with a red light pass, even there were accidents the first few months cameras were installed people were braking harder than usual to make sure they stop :)

As for deadlocks, Istanbul transport authority changed thousands of streets to one way or changed the rules of many areas to stop that in the last 5 years, when were you last in Istanbul seriously :) ?

And police does care, if you are involved in a red light violation and police is around you are not screwed but definitely get a ticket.

Re: Istanbul Isiklarius traffic lights

#34

I was in Istanbul a few months ago and the traffic was the craziest I've ever seen. It didn't really seem like anyone paid attention to the traffic signals anyway. I don't see how a new design would help fix that.

Once a book on chaos theory started the topic by describing the traffic in Istanbul.

If you are able to drive in Istanbul, you can drive in everywhere.

Re: Istanbul Isiklarius traffic lights

#35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stockholm has had LED traffic lights for over 20 years and no problem with snow buildup whatsoever. We get a wee bit more snow than Istanbul...

Actually, Istanbul can get a fair amount of snow precipitation during short periods of time, which is the main concern for obscuring traffic lights.

Well, last year not an inch of snow dropped in city. That short periods of snow times had long passed since the population of the city doubled in last 20 years.

Re: Istanbul Isiklarius traffic lights

#36
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just wanted to post exactly the same. I haven't yet seen any other city with a traffic as bad as in Istanbul: Drivers typically don't care about traffic lights and drive without braking and just honking over pedestrian crossings, even though they have a red light and there are pedestrians on the street. In case of traffic jams drivers just continue driving on the sidewalk. I saw deadlock situations on crossings mul…

I think you are talking about somewhere in India or Thailand or something, I drive in Istanbul for the last umm, 12 years and never missed a red light intentionally and saw maybe ten or fifteen idiots that does not care about the red light. Btw did you visit Istanbul in the end of 80's I believe it was the only time The city was packed enough and that situation maybe seen because I can remember those times, now its d…

I was there in 2008 when I attended a conference near Taksim square. However, this was during Ramazan - so maybe traffic during Ramazan is worse then during the remainder of the year.

When I was there most crossings looked somewhat like this (warning: terrible video quality): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cYdHUmG100 (I had a green light when I passed this crossing as a pedestrian).

Re: Istanbul Isiklarius traffic lights

#38
post #14

never liked anything from that studio. but then, i don't like Dyson too... but this proves my point about art lebedev. they got an assignment to redo traffic lights, and just made then square. ...oh, and use the newest led tech buzzword! don't forget the latest led tech buzzword.

If you read their earlier post on it, the squareness is far from a quirk and actually a very well thought out design decision. Obviously design is a matter of taste, but like them or no, their method is a lot more than just being quirky or using buzzwords.

Re: Istanbul Isiklarius traffic lights

#39

I was in Istanbul a few months ago and the traffic was the craziest I've ever seen. It didn't really seem like anyone paid attention to the traffic signals anyway. I don't see how a new design would help fix that.

Honestly, it's not that bad. It takes you a while to get used to it but if you look around, everyone is paying a lot of attention and it isn't actually dangerous at all - hectic, but not dangerous.

Re: Istanbul Isiklarius traffic lights

#40
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There must be cheaper ways to get rid of snow than incandescent lightbulbs .

This doesn't seem immediately obvious to me. Care to explain? Incandescent lightbulbs are a time-proven technology with economies of scale behind them. They generate heat and light, which is what's required here. Seems ideal for the application.

You can use a regular resistive heating coil. You can design a heating coil that will never burn out. LEDs themselves can last over 10 years. Thus the combination of led plus heating coil will last you more than ten years. Incadescents on the other hand burn out all the time especially when they need to be turned on and off very often, as in traffic lights. For an American city the upkeep of traffic lights is more expensive than the hardware. Also traffic lights that burn out will cause dangerous co fictions and may cause accidents.
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