Photo: Eliobed Suarez | Unsplash
In Brossard, Canada, a new traffic light called “feu de ralentissement éducatif” (educational traffic-calming light), or FRED, has been installed in a school zone. This traffic light is red by default and only turns green when a speed camera detects a safe driver driving under the speed limit. FRED is still undergoing a 90-day trial since the government has not officially approved it yet. However, similar technology has been in use across Europe to help control speeding for years. According to mayor Doreen Assad, before the traffic light was installed, the average speed of vehicles was 40 km/h (25mph). Now, average speeds have decreased to 29 km/h (18mph) in the past week. “Fines might be effective, but it’s effective after-the-fact,” says Mayor Assaad. “The beauty of FRED is we reward good behavior, and it’s immediate. It doesn’t record any private information, it just detects that the vehicle is coming and measures its speed. So it’s a carrot instead of a stick.”
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