This is what a major intersection with no traffic lights looks like. How they are able to avoid accidents is quite remarkable. In this time lapse video we see the intersection at Meskel Square, the nerve center of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. While the square is a primary site for the city’s large festivals and celebrations, it is also a chaotic crossroad for thousands of vehicles daily. This is organized confusion at its finest. Pedestrians, walk with care! Look at the pedestrians in the lower right.
That is an extraordinary display of individual assertiveness intertwined with co-operation. I guess if you learned to drive in that, it would come rather naturally, but it would be pretty freaky, I think, if you were used to more regulated traffic. I remember driving in Acapulco 35 or so years ago. It was pretty wild, but nothing like that. And I was young, dumb, and full of … testosterone, so it was no problem.
I’d like to see the video when an accident happens or a person is killed. Well not a video of people getting hurt, but what the intersection looks like when something goes wrong. I know where I drive, a single minor accident at an intersection of two four lanes suburban roads can delay traffic for over an hour.
Its interesting to watch but it would be wrong to conclude this is a successful way to handle traffic. First its only a brief moment in the life of this intersection and the video is sped up significantly such that it looks far more impressive than it really is.
I would be curious to see what the accident rate is at the intersection and how that compares to a similar intersection with similar volume controlled by an automated traffic light. I’m guessing this intersection would not fare well in such an analysis. Also interesting would be an analysis of intersection efficiency. On the one hand cars have to travel more slowly through an unregulated intersection but on the other hand no one is sitting at a red light for 5 minutes at three in the morning when the intersection is deserted.
Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, isn't a great destination for orderly-traffic fetishists. Generally, it's chaos. But, if you happen to be a much more exciting giant robot fetishist, it's a great place, all thanks to inventor Isaie Therese and her 8-foot tall traffic control robots.N
Kinshasa has had severe traffic-congestion and management issues for years, and a large part of the problem had to do with people ignoring the usual traffic lights or even human traffic police officers. But nobody — nobody — ignores an 8-foot robot.N
The robots are solar-powered, which allows them to run all day (and night, via solar-charged batteries), directing traffic with the tireless determination only a robot can provide. Therese designed the robots to be humanoid and reasonably friendly-looking, though they still have a fairly authoritative look.
I'd like to see the video when an accident happens or a person is killed. Well not a video of people getting hurt, but what the intersection looks like when something goes wrong. I know where I drive, a single minor accident at an intersection of two four lanes suburban roads can delay traffic for over an hour.
I have a feeling they'd drive right around an accident and maybe over any casualties.
Lois
Its interesting to watch but it would be wrong to conclude this is a successful way to handle traffic. First its only a brief moment in the life of this intersection and the video is sped up significantly such that it looks far more impressive than it really is.
Exactly.
Americans are much better: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvZ3DBI1tO8. Look close to the end, at 4:20.
