{"id":1635,"date":"2015-08-05T14:17:12","date_gmt":"2015-08-05T13:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/?p=1635"},"modified":"2015-08-05T14:17:12","modified_gmt":"2015-08-05T13:17:12","slug":"traffic-lights-robots-robocops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2015\/08\/05\/traffic-lights-robots-robocops\/","title":{"rendered":"Traffic lights…robots…robocops?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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101st Anniversary of the First Electric Traffic Signal System<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The early twentieth-century intersection was a strange scene. While the world\u2019s largest automobile manufacturer sold over 20,000 cars a month in 1914, horse-drawn wagons and carts still crowded the streets, and accidents became increasingly frequent. Intersections in major cities were congested, and traffic was directed by police officers who stood in the middle of chaotic highways waving their arms–an unenviable beat, to say the least, especially during a blustery winter in the Midwest.<\/em><\/p>\n

A solution to the problem was woefully overdue. Gas-lit stoplights appeared in England before the turn of the century, but these had a tendency to explode, and mechanically operated signs that displayed the words \u201cstop\u201d and \u201cmove\u201d still relied on traffic attendants. Enter the inspiration of today\u2019s Doodle, the electric traffic signal, which was first installed at the corner of 105th and Euclid in Cleveland, Ohio on August 5th, 1914.<\/em><\/p>\n

~ Google Doodle 5 August 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My morning started with the google doodle above, which led (as is usual for me) to a tweet:<\/p>\n

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#googledoodle<\/a> 101st anniversary of the traffic light – note: in South Africa these are called robots. Yes: ROBOTS. https:\/\/t.co\/3YAQTblnaT<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 sheree bekker (@shereebekker) August 5, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I have been wondering all day why I grew up (in South Africa) saying “turn left at the next robot<\/em>” – which has often led to strange looks and hilarious consequences now that I live in Australia!<\/p>\n

Wikipedia revealed that:<\/p>\n

The etymology of the word robot (traffic light) derives from a description of early traffic lights as robot policemen, which then got truncated with time<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While in South Africa this is simply a matter of semantics, it seems that another country in Africa has taken this likeness a step further.\u00a0This same google search for the traffic light\/robot connection led me to this recent article:\u00a0Robocops being used as traffic police in Democratic Republic of Congo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yes: large solar-powered ROBOCOPS!<\/p>\n