To remove the risk to people walking, some traffic signals do not allow permissive left-turning vehicles when a walk button is pushed. But what if the walk button was pushed yet the crosswalk is actually clear? Left-turning vehicles still have to wait out the rest of the cycle. A new LiDAR sensor detects pedestrians and, if no pedestrian is present, lets vehicles resume turning. It's a way of increasing efficiency and throughput while prioritizing safety. Check it out:
https://trec.pdx.edu/news/new-lidar-system-pinpoints-pedestrian-behavior-improve-efficiency-and-safety-intersections
@TRECpdx Interesting, there is a similar problem in Sydney where we want longer green pedestrian times, preferably for the whole parallel car phase, but we can't/shouldn't have red turning arrows for that whole time, but some people want them at least for some of the phase to protect pedestrians. It could potentially be a technological solution... but seems difficult to bring everywhere.
