Jim on Light is written by Jim Hutchison, Chief Design Consultant of 
Yeah, okay, I remember being one of those impatient drivers in a hurry – tapping my feet, saying “come on, come ON” at the stoplight, as if the stupid thing could hear me. Those times are gone now, just in time for the Eko traffic light to get unveiled:
Eko is an idea dealing with the very un-ecological environment of traffic and travel. The Eko has a visual countdown on the circumference of the signal itself, giving travelers an idea as to when the traffic light will change. Frankly, I think that people should just calm the hell down, but as I have learned, not all of my ideas are good.
Damjan Stankovic is the inventor of the Eko idea. From the designer’s website about the product:
Eko light is a simple yet, highly practical concept for traffic lights that not only helps preserve the environment by reducing pollution but promotes safer driving as well. Eko can be easily installed onto existing traffic light systems without much effort while significantly improving overall traffic dynamics.
There are many benefits of the Eko light, the main ones being:
Less pollution.
Drivers can turn their engines off and cut carbon emissions while waiting for the green light.Less fuel consumption
Turning off your vehicle while waiting on the traffic light can lower fuel consumption in the long run.Less stress
Since you know exactly how long you have to wait you can sit back and clear your head for a while. No need to keep your foot on the gas. Relax.Safer driving.
With the Eko light both drivers and pedestrians can be fully aware of how much time they have left before the light changes and that way reduce the chance for potential traffic accidents.
Well, I think it’s cool. I still think we all need to calm down a bit, though. What I hope is that this idea would actually make people turn off their engines at a stoplight. I think that might be a far-fetched idea, at least in the United States – but I think that if we could embrace such change, it could be pretty excellent. Cool design, Damjan.
Check out Damjan’s portfolio site also – he’s got some interesting designs there!
This will be great for street drag races. It is just like a light tree on a drag strip.
Personally I find this a really bad idea.
I hear you – but why do you think it is a bad idea?
I believe this will cause a lot of accidents.
Right now, you have no idea when the light is going to change from red to green, so there is no way to anticipate the change and jump the change. If I know the light is about to change, I believe a lot of people will either anticipate it and take their feet off the break, or even not slow down as they approach a stoplight.
Another thing this does is takes your eyes off the road and keeps them on the light. I tend to notice movement and/or changes. If my attention is being attracted to the light, I might not notice the kid that just ran out in front of my car. As I have learned, we are attracted to the brights object in a space, whether it is in theater or a photograph or driving down the street.
Not sure if I explained it well, but I could already see the warnings that will be added. Just like the Caution: Hot on a cup of hot coffee, we will now have signs that say, “The stop light countdown may cause you to anticipate the green light which could cause injury or death. The countdown is only for reference and should not be used as a safety device.”
I think there should be country wide replacement with these.
It would do wonders just for my personal patience levels, which is reason enough.
Its a good point about the drag racing tho’
Imagine all of the people that have trouble starting up their engine again after turning it off at the light…that’ll just cause more road rage!