Florida Driver Education
Driving Safe on Florida Roads
From the Miami Herald
With no power at many major intersections the city of Coral Springs Florida found a solution - solar traffic lights. So far solar traffic lights have been installed at four major intersections and are working perfectly. The police are thrilled as it relieves officers from manual traffic direction.
The solar powered traffic lights store the suns energy in batteries that hold up to four days of power - so they work at night and after a few cloudy days. As power is restored to intersections the city plans to move the solar powered traffic lights to where they are needed. The traffic lights are made by IST International in Cincinnati, OH.
Many traffic signals in Broward County are still not functioning because they were destroyed or have no power. Officials are working to restore them but it may take until mid December to get them all repaired. Until then drivers must be patient and treat all intersections as a four way stop.
You may have noticed that in many intersections the traffic lights are no longer hanging from a wire. Instead cities around Florida have started installing a steel arm that extends out and holds traffic lights. In the hurricanes of 2004 and 2004 these new traffic light masts held up extremely well when compared with the old systems. Cities all over Florida are installing them.