Interesting idea, and also interesting how many people are objecting to it as if there is an inherent right to speed, as long as they don't get caught. Even the headline is that making people stop is punishment, rather than a traffic control measure. This attitude is common on the road - how many people will tailgate or engage in some other aggressive behavior if you do anything that slows them down? This attitude seems to me another symptom of our inability to teach how to be a part of a community.
Stoplight to punish suburban speeders / Pleasanton finds a way to slow impatient drivers.
Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, April 7, 2004: Pleasanton is about to turn the fast into the furious. In a move unprecedented in the Bay Area, the city's traffic engineers have created a traffic signal with attitude. It senses when a speeder is approaching and metes out swift punishment. It doesn't write a ticket. It immediately turns from green to yellow to red.
[...]
"It's depriving you of another one of your liberties -- going fast," Pattee said. "If they implement it everywhere, there will be nothing but red lights. Nobody does the speed limit."
[...]
"The punitive nature of the signal on Vineyard...."



