The Effect of Countdown Timer on Red-Light-Running

Red-light running occurs when a driver enters an intersection after the traffic signal has turned red. This situation then resolves to minor accidents and even lost of life. Due to this critical problem, countdown timer is installed at the traffic light with a hope to reduce the number of red light violations. However, the effect of this countdown timer to the red light running in Malaysia is never been studied. This paper evaluated the case in detail and clarifies the findings. Two intersections are chosen which are with and without countdown timer that represent an upstream and a downstream intersection, respectively. Three stations in Ipoh city centre are identified, namely Station 1, Station 2 and Station 3. Traffic survey was conducted by using video camera to capture the traffic movements at the intersection. The levels of service (LOS) of all the intersections involved in the traffic survey were analyzed using aaSIDRA software. The analysis on the number of violations shows that countdown timer does affect the red-light running cases. The percentages of road user who violate the red light and cross the intersection during amber were remarkably lower at intersection with countdown timer. Results obtained showed that the installation of countdown timer at the signalized intersection able to reduce the number of red light running violation.