Can anyone identify these objects on posts?

[kerbstone]

Good evening. I'm new.

I have noticed these things - bowl-shaped objects attached to poles at traffic light junctions.
This one is at the traffic light junction A358/A378 3 miles SW of Taunton https://goo.gl/maps/4zutAhRMRaFJUs988
This one is at the traffic light junction A358/A30 in Chard https://goo.gl/maps/5Xy4AWkFoiyRxX4m7

I've gone through the galleries and posts but cannot find an example. Can anyone tell me what they are?
Many thanks

[avtur]

They are CCTV camera housings, they are not road specific, they are everywhere ...

[kerbstone]

OK thanks. Does that mean that in these cases (at major traffic light controlled junctions) they are for traffic surveillance to assess traffic levels? If they are A358 and A358/A30 then would they be Highways England major trunk road surveillance??

[M4Simon]

OK thanks. Does that mean that in these cases (at major traffic light controlled junctions) they are for traffic surveillance to assess traffic levels? If they are A358 and A358/A30 then would they be Highways England major trunk road surveillance??

They won't be to assess traffic volumes as such (they don't do traffic counts), but to monitor for incidents and congestion. Neither of these junctions are on Highways England's network so they won't be Highways England cameras.

This is a map of Highways England's network: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... gement.pdf

Cheers,

Simon

[FlyingBolt]

All the new traffic light junctions in Yeovil have these dome cameras on them too. Seems to be a thing Somerset Council do nowadays. Must be large video wall of the output from these cameras in some building somewhere

[kerbstone]

OK thanks everyone. I did some more searching and concluded too that they are Somerset County Council cameras.

If anyone is using the A358 southwest of Taunton, watch it at the junction with A378 at the top of Mattock's Tree Hill. There are traffic lights there but approached on dual carriageways on the A358 in either direction within a 70mph limit. The amber is not long enough, even if approaching at a more sensible 60, so unless you do a crash stop immediately it turns amber, the chances are that you will run a red light. Lorries do it all the time. There really ought to be a short 50mph limit there.

Thanks again.

[Chris Bertram]

OK thanks everyone. I did some more searching and concluded too that they are Somerset County Council cameras.

If anyone is using the A358 southwest of Taunton, watch it at the junction with A378 at the top of Mattock's Tree Hill. There are traffic lights there but approached on dual carriageways on the A358 in either direction within a 70mph limit. The amber is not long enough, even if approaching at a more sensible 60, so unless you do a crash stop immediately it turns amber, the chances are that you will run a red light. Lorries do it all the time. There really ought to be a short 50mph limit there.

Thanks again.

The issue there is that the leaving amber (the amber on its own) *must* show for exactly 3 seconds by law, and cannot be varied depending on the speed limit, as happens in some other countries. For this reason, the approaches to traffic lights have in many places been reduced from NSL (60 or 70) to 50, but examples still at NSL can be found occasionally. Signals engineers will know whether the intergreen is increased instead, leaving a longer all-red duration, but this still won't stop drivers running the red due to the short amber time.

[kerbstone]

Thanks Chris, that is very interesting. I have been driving for 50 years and never realised that the amber is always a fixed 3 second duration. You are absolutely correct. Being a pedant I looked it up - it is not just a guideline, it is in law http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016 ... le/14/made. "The duration of the period when the amber light signal is illuminated on its own must be 3 seconds."

I will treat always ambers as if they were red from now on, and just hope that I don't have an artic inches behind me.

[PhilC]

"The duration of the period when the amber light signal is illuminated on its own must be 3 seconds."

As a child in the 1960s I used to buy the I-Spy series of books. In I-Spy In The Street I remember it saying that 3 seconds was the usual duration of the amber light. I didn't realise it was laid down in law.

[Chris Bertram]

"The duration of the period when the amber light signal is illuminated on its own must be 3 seconds."

As a child in the 1960s I used to buy the I-Spy series of books. In I-Spy In The Street I remember it saying that 3 seconds was the usual duration of the amber light. I didn't realise it was laid down in law.

Whereas across the pond, the recommended duration for the yellow light is 1 second per 10mph of the limit, so in a 50 limit it would show for 5 seconds. I don't think they have any 10 mph limits, or at least none with signals, and 20 limits that warrant signals are probably rare too.

[Fenlander]

"The duration of the period when the amber light signal is illuminated on its own must be 3 seconds."

As a child in the 1960s I used to buy the I-Spy series of books. In I-Spy In The Street I remember it saying that 3 seconds was the usual duration of the amber light. I didn't realise it was laid down in law.

Whereas across the pond, the recommended duration for the yellow light is 1 second per 10mph of the limit, so in a 50 limit it would show for 5 seconds. I don't think they have any 10 mph limits, or at least none with signals, and 20 limits that warrant signals are probably rare too.

A much better idea.