Amber lights to stay at four seconds

It looks like Winnipeg traffic lights are going to stay as-is, after a City study found that current amber light times meet engineering standards.

Winnipeg’s Public Service staff has recommended leaving amber lights on for four seconds and adopting a formula to calculate the time all lights stay red, saying it will provide a safer scenario than having a longer amber light time.

After an anti-photo radar lobby group, WiseUp Winnipeg, raised questions about Winnipeg’s red light cameras, the Executive Policy Committee directed the Public Service to review current legislation back in September, which requires amber lights at signalized intersections to be timed to United States federal engineering standards, plus one additional second. They were also asked to look at any other relevant studies or legislation regarding the effect of longer yellow lights on intersection safety.

“After reviewing State of Georgia legislation and City data, we have found that there is no demonstrated benefit to increasing amber light times by one second,” Luis Escobar, the City’s Manager of Transportation, said in a recent news release.

“If we were to use the same method for calculating amber times as they do in Georgia, it could actually result in some intersections having shorter amber durations than the four seconds we currently use.”

“While motorists running red lights can be an indication that amber durations are too short, data from Winnipeg’s photo enforced intersections has shown that there is a very low percentage of motorists being ticketed at these intersections,” Escobar added.

The report found that amber light times of four seconds are suitable for Winnipeg roads with speeds up to and including 80 km per hour, and are within acceptable engineering practices. It also found that the duration of amber intervals alone isn’t always enough to help reduce collisions.

In Winnipeg, additional time is provided based on engineering judgment to improve the safe operation of a signalized intersection through the use of a zero- to three-second “all-red interval” to prevent motorists on side streets from entering an intersection when a motorist on the main road may still be inside the intersection.

Public Service staff has decided that, while these studies are informative, they don’t provide any “useful information” to suggest there is a need to modify amber intervals in Winnipeg.