The Origins of Traffic Lights

The podcast explores the origins of traffic lights and their impact on road safety. It discusses how the first traffic lights were installed in London in 1868, based on a design adapted from railway signaling systems. It also highlights other early innovators, such as John Peake Knight and Lester Wire, who contributed to the development of traffic lights. The podcast explains the introduction of automatic timers and the standardization of traffic light systems across the United States. It concludes by discussing the overall improvement in road safety, measured by the decrease in fatalities per vehicle, as a result of the implementation of traffic lights.