Signal Control

The City and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation receive traffic signal requests each year, often made in response to a tragic accident. Traffic signals cannot prevent fatal accidents or eliminate accidents caused by distracted drivers and pedestrians.

Traffic signals improve the safety of an intersection. They often reduce the number of right angle or pedestrian accidents.

Properly synchronized traffic signals also increase the capacity of intersections, adding to the efficiency of pedestrian and vehicular traffic routes.

Before LADOT can install a traffic signal at an intersection, it must apply standards to identify locations that need signal control.

		The Department considers a minimum of the following criteria:
		Amount of vehicular and pedestrian traffic from all approaches Interruptions to traffic flow for side street vehicles and pedestrians Special conditions such as cross-traffic visibility, hills and curves Accident history of the intersection Nearby schools The side street’s function to serve local traffic flow

However, the installation of traffic signals can also cause more rear-end collisions. This is normally an acceptable trade-off.

But when there is no existing pedestrian or vehicle accident pattern in a light traffic area, signal control is not needed.

		Installing unnecessary traffic signals can:
		Increase accident frequency Cause too much delay for motorists Divert traffic to residential streets Create an unwanted concentration of traffic

Every effort is made to install alternative traffic control measures where traffic signal control is not justified.