Are Traffic Lights Causing Crashes?

Huntington Beach City Council members want city engineers to review the use of a controversial type of traffic signal that guides motorists at several of Orange County’s most dangerous intersections.

The officials said in interviews Thursday that they fear the “protected-permissive” signals could be contributing to the large number of injury accidents that occurred at the intersections over the last five years.

“It appears that there could be a connection between those signals and accidents, and therefore we ought to study that,” Councilman Dave Sullivan said.

The reaction comes four days after a Times analysis of state accident data found that the protected-permissive signals are used at six of the eight intersections with the most injury or fatal accidents in Huntington Beach. The analysis also found that the city was home to eight of the 20 most dangerous intersections in the county, accounting for more than 100 accidents.

“We’ve got to do some things to increase safety at those intersections,” said Councilman Ralph H. Bauer, adding that he would support more traditional left-turn signals at the intersections if they would make them less hazardous.

The signals, distinguished by their five-bulb designs, allow motorists to make left turns on green lights against oncoming traffic. They are favored by some traffic engineers because they cause fewer delays than traditional left-turn signals, which only allow turns when oncoming traffic is stopped.

The signals are hazardous because motorists often misjudge the speed of oncoming traffic and fail to “shoot the gap” between cars, other officials said. Some cities, including Irvine, Orange and Westminster, have either removed the lights or banned them.

Huntington Beach began installing the signals about 10 years ago and now is one of county’s top users. Twenty-seven of the city’s 114 signals are protected-permissive.

In recent months, however, the city has begun scaling back their use at problem intersections. A city study earlier this year determined that the signals were contributing to the relatively high number of left-turn accidents.

Two of the seven most dangerous intersections have already been converted to traditional signals and another is currently being modified. Officials also have requested federal funds to change four other protected-permissive signals on the list, including the one at the Warner Avenue-Newland Street junction, the most dangerous in the city.

“We’re trying to make the conditions as safe as we can in the city,” said Tom Brohard, the city’s traffic engineer. He said his office periodically reviews accident rates at all of the intersections.

The cost to modify the signals ranges from $10,000 to $100,000, Brohard said.

Brohard said he sees no need to prohibit the signals. In cities that use the signals, officials have employed various methods to improve safety, including narrowing medians and changing the signals’ designs.

In Fountain Valley, where the signals constitute one-quarter of all traffic lights, median strips have been narrowed from 4 feet to 1 foot. Doing so provides left-turning motorists a better view of oncoming traffic, according to experts.

Officials believe the median modifications have led to the successful use of protected-permissive signals in Fountain Valley. None of the city’s intersections using the signals were on The Times list of the 20 most dangerous.

“One of the keys to success is sight distance. A motorist must be able to see oncoming traffic,” said Mark Lewis, the traffic engineer in Fountain Valley.

Brohard said that no medians have been narrowed in Huntington Beach but that he will consider the option as a way to improve safety.