Who invented the traffic light system of red, green and amber?

Answer 1

In 1920 Police Officer William Potts addressed the chaotic traffic of Detroit, Michigan, by co-opting the red, amber, and green automatic traffic light system used on railroads.

Originally it was red for stop and green for caution.

Answer 2

The first four-way, three-color traffic light was created by police officer William Potts in Detroit in 1920. In 1923, Garrett Morgan patented a traffic signal device, although it did not directly impact the evolution of the modern traffic light.

Answer 3

On 10 December 1868, the first traffic lights were installed outside the British Houses of Parliament in London, by the railway engineer J.P. Knight. They resembled railway signals of the time, with semaphore arms and red and green gas lamps for night use. The gas lantern was turned with a lever at its base so that the appropriate light faced traffic. Unfortunately, it exploded on 2 January 1869, injuring the policeman who was operating it.

On Potsdamer Platz, Berlin Germany, it is widely claimed (though this is subject to some disagreement), that the world's first electric street lights were installed there in 1882. What is not refuted is that Europe's first traffic lights were erected there in 1924 in an attempt to control the sheer volume of traffic passing through. These lights were mounted on a five-sided 8.5 metre high tower, at the top of which a policeman sat in a small cabin and switched the lights manually, though they were automated after a few years (a replica of this tower was erected in the late 1990s close to its original location).

The modern electric traffic light is an American invention.[4] As early as 1912 in Salt Lake City, Utah, policeman Lester Wire set up the first red-green electric traffic lights. On 5 August 1914, the American Traffic Signal Company installed a traffic signal system on the corner of 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio. Based on the design of James Hoge, it had two colors, red and green, and a buzzer to provide a warning for color changes. The first four-way, three-color traffic light was created by police officer William Potts in Detroit in 1920.[1] In 1923, Garrett Morgan patented a traffic signal device, although it did not directly impact the evolution of the modern traffic light [5].

The first interconnected traffic signal system was installed in Salt Lake City in 1917, with six connected intersections controlled simultaneously from a manual switch. Automatic control of interconnected traffic lights was introduced March 1922 in Houston, Texas [6]. The first automatic experimental traffic lights in England were deployed in Wolverhampton in 1927. [7]

The first automated traffic light was introduced in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in the 1950s.[citation needed]Ampelmännchen pedestrian traffic signals have come to be seen as a nostalgic sign for the former German Democratic Republic.

Answer 4

William Potts is the credited inventor, but the patent was held by Garrett Morgan. Morgan reportedly sold the patent to GE, and GE was the main manufacturer of traffic signals throughout the 20th century. Two light signal were used prior to the modern three light signals as early as the 1880's.

Answer 5

The Transport Department.

or Road Traffic Department.

or could have been Traffic Cops

Answer 6

Green still means caution!

Answer 7

some controlling idiot

Answer 8

...someone who wasn't colour blind!!!