Technology & Innovation — September 22, 2014

This Clever Traffic Light Makes The City Safer For Pedestrians By… Dancing

Waiting at a traffic light to cross the street is boring and annoying, especially when there are no cars and you’re in a rush. This is why a lot of people (yourself included, probably) often run it, even though, crossing at a red light is really dangerous.

A clever traffic light, created by the Smart company, shows how simple hacks that take into consideration human psychology and are designed to be fun, can drastically increase the safety of our cities. The company built and installed a “dancing traffic light” at an intersection in Lisbon, Portugal. The traffic light projected the silhouettes of passersby dancing in real time in a specially designed booth, and was so entertaining that it reduced red-light crossing by 81%!

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Smart’s entire campaign #WhatAreYouFOR is aimed at making our cities safer. The company is asking citizens to submit ideas about how to make our cities more livable, safer, and more enjoyable to live in.

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7 min

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with

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