Products · Pattern or everyday thing
Traffic lights
Raised as a usability problem by 11 people on Hacker News over 15 years (2010–2024), in 11 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads in the last 5 years.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Lights sit overhead at the stop line, so drivers must crane to seeUnreviewed
20102026- Old bulb traffic lights are hard to see when the sun is low behind you2017-03-15
- Lights sit directly overhead at the stop line, so drivers must crane to see them2013-04-09
- Lights make drivers wait at intersections where no cross traffic is present2010-11-20
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 11 complaints
- Lights stay red for 60-120 seconds even with no cross traffic2024-01-21
- Cyclists must stop and press buttons, making lights slow and awkward to trigger2022-10-16
- Pedestrians wait 2-3 minutes at red with only 20-30 seconds of green2020-01-02
- Drivers cannot turn left on green, so left turns require waiting for a separate arrow phase2019-10-21
- Some signals won't change for cyclists, forcing long waits when no cars are present2019-06-03
- Drivers wait at unsynced signals on an otherwise efficient interchange2017-09-23
- Bluish LED green lights are hard to tell apart from other lights at night2017-09-15
- Old bulb traffic lights are hard to see when the sun is low behind you2017-03-15
- Sensors fail to detect cars and bikes, forcing people to get out and press crosswalk buttons2014-08-12
- Lights sit directly overhead at the stop line, so drivers must crane to see them2013-04-09
- Lights make drivers wait at intersections where no cross traffic is present2010-11-20