Stoplight Design Shows How Long Until Green

While this design isn’t likely to hit highways anytime in the near future, it provides some food for thought. The stoplight concept envisioned by designer Damjan Stanković places the traditional red light within a progress circle that shows the progress being made toward green, much the way a progress bar shows how far along the download of your porn business presentation is.

Apparently, the light was designed to save fuel by providing a way of knowing how much time is left. If it’s a while, the driver can shut off the engine and save fuel.

While I doubt that much fuel would be saved by turning the engine on and off–especially at short stoplights–a light like this would help eliminate the tedious stare down at that boiling kettle waiting for it to turn green. It would also have the unfortunate side effect of serving as a countdown for illegal drag racing.

It’s an interesting thought, but probably not enough advantage to inspire many public authorities to begin swapping out traditional stoplights. [via Yanko Design]