Second Opinions : Engineer Bill Could Still Help Motorists See Red, and Green : The host of ‘50s TV show had a way of teaching traffic safety that was easy to swallow. It might work today, instead of installing expensive cameras to monitor motorists.

I have an excellent solution to the problem of red-light running, without the unnecessary expense of installing cameras at major intersections.

Actually, I should give credit where it is due. You see, Engineer Bill, host of the old-time TV kids show, taught me about stopping at red lights. He did so in an effective and nonthreatening way. All I needed was a glass of milk. Oh sure, cameras were used then, but the cameras were focused on Engineer Bill, not on me, and I never got a ticket.

News of a Los Angeles Police Department proposal to use $50,000 high-tech surveillance cameras (the price does not include installation) around the city prompted me to consider the childhood lessons I learned from Engineer Bill’s 1950s show.

Bill’s best-known bit was “Red Light / Green Light,” a game in which you drink a glass of milk per the engineer’s instructions: Green means GO, drink your milk until the light turns yellow, which means SLOW DOWN and await the red, which means STOP! It was a fun game played in many a home by growing boys and girls. No one cheated and everyone was a winner.

Maybe the reason so many people are not stopping today at red lights is that they never saw Engineer Bill. Which gives me an idea: We could talk a cable purveyor of old TV shows into showing reruns of Engineer Bill. For not too much money (certainly less than 50 grand per intersection) we could also put monitors around town showing Bill’s “Red Light / Green Light” game. A prime place could be Starbucks. Milk isn’t that popular anymore, but lattes . . . .

Imagine people “Red Light / Green Light”-drinking with the added benefit of reducing traffic fatalities.

If shown regularly during morning rush-hour, mid-morning coffee break and afternoon tea, we might cut down red-light running by as much as 75% after the first six months. Taught in driver education classes, our youth would be indoctrinated early on, and they would get something nourishing as well.

Those wishing to renew their driver’s license would need to play at least five games with no cheating at DMV Milk Bars, which could also generate sorely needed funds for rebuilding roads and general street maintenance.

Awards could be given to those who, year after year, successfully played the “Red Light / Green Light” game. Instead of issuing traffic tickets, safe drinking / drivers might become recipients of Engineer Bill Hero awards. Watching Engineer Bill could make it unpopular to cheat; after all, drinking (not stopping) when the light is red is cheating. And drinking too fast can cause choking and spilling, which would teach participants about speeding in an indirect, yet safer manner. Just think of the savings of millions of dollars to taxpayers and insurance companies, and the return to morality and decency!

And talk about revenue-generating. There could be a huge market for Engineer Bill glasses and mugs, new “Red Light / Green Light” health drinks, and, of course, the trademark Engineer Bill cap, overalls and other related clothing.

The “Red Light / Green Light” game could become a national sport, and, if popular enough . . . the Olympics? But maybe I’m getting ahead of myself.

Lessons learned from watching Engineer Bill would be a lot easier to take than being watched by Big Brother and earning a $104 fine.

Playing the “Red Light / Green Light” game might even save some lives at the crossroads, which is what we are ultimately after, isn’t it?