This morning, it happened again: stuck in traffic on the ring road, waiting at a red traffic light. Not unusual for a Thursday, but as a cyclist I had still hoped otherwise. But no, a long line of cyclists stood patiently in front of me, waiting for the light to turn green.
While waiting, I realized how remarkable it actually is that we all move or stop based on the color of a small light. And not only in the Netherlands, all over the world, this system has been used successfully for almost 100 years.
A brief history of traffic lights
Early 20th century – Police officers in action
However, this wasn’t always the case. Let me take you back to the early 20th century, when cars were becoming increasingly popular. To prevent unsafe situations, police officers were deployed to manage traffic. They did so by using hand signals or semaphores (borrowed from railway traffic). This was an expensive and labor‑intensive system.
1920 – The three‑color, four‑way traffic light and many variations
To address this, police officer William L. Potts introduced a successful design for a three‑color, four‑way traffic light in 1920. Inspired by this, many developers followed with their own traffic light designs. Traffic lights not only began to look different, but in some cases entirely different color combinations were used. As a result, the diversity of traffic light systems caused confusion and frustration among motorists.
1935 – First uniform standards
This led the U.S. Federal Highway Administration to publish the first edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices in 1935. This manual introduced uniform standards for traffic control equipment, including traffic lights, and is still in use today.
1968 – Vienna Convention
As technology advanced and the world became more international, the importance of uniformity became increasingly clear. In 1968, the international Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals was signed in Vienna by more than 70 countries.
Today – The power of traffic lights
Since then, we have known traffic lights to use the colors red, amber, and green. Not only in the Netherlands, but also in neighboring countries, these colors are consistently applied. The strength of traffic lights lies in their simplicity and uniformity: everyone knows what they mean.
Why are standards also important in business?
Do you also want to prevent your organization from coming to a red light due to unclear procedures or unmanageable processes? Get in touch with us so we can simplify and better safeguard your processes together. On to the green wave!
P.S. Did you know that in the 1920s, traffic lights were developed that turned green when drivers honked their horn? We’re quite glad those didn’t make it into the standards…
Kind regards, Floor Stefess
floor.stefess@eluxis.com
LinkedIn: Floor Stefess
