Traffic signals could be screwing you over because even stoplights can't do math

Those stoplight cameras that catch us committing the tiniest traffic infractions might not be as accurate as we've been led to believe, according to a very persistent Oregon resident whose nearly four-year battle against the system was recently profiled by Wired. It's not the cameras themselves, it's the math controlling the timing of stoplight signals that's the alleged root of the problem, forcing drivers to make a split-second decision when caught in a yellow light. 

Mats Järlström started his fight against traffic signals after his wife Laurie was slapped with a ticket for turning right through a red stoplight back in 2013. The Swedish-born former electrical engineer claims the timing system that controls the signals is fundamentally flawed and unfair, not giving drivers enough time to react to the changing yellow light. He contends the flaw should make the penalty given to his wife — and therefore, similar tickets given to thousands of other drivers across the country — null and void.   Read more...