14 DAY TRIAL // Apparently, the city of Dresden in Germany is the place where red traffic lights go to live, well, forever. No pesky green or yellow lights to silence them, be it only temporarily, and no angry commuters giving them the eye for slowing them down.
No, really, there is this one traffic light in this corner of the world that's been lit up red since 1987. That's 28 years for those of you who don't want to rack your brains attempting math.
The forever-red light sits at the junction of four streets and stops motorists from crossing the intersection and moving from Ziegelstrasse forward on Gerokstraße. Drivers can turn right on Güntzustraße, they just can't go forth, local authorities explain.
“Because on Ziegelstraße one is only allowed to turn right, in accordance with regulation 27 section 37 of the transport regulations, we can do without using the traffic signal’s green light,” they say.
The light can show other colors, it just won't
What's really weird about this traffic light in Dresden, Germany, is that it can show other colors. It's just that officials over at the Research Institute for Street Transportation won't let it.
Thus, The Local tells us that the traffic light is fitted with green and yellow bulbs that are regularly changed to make sure that they are fully operational. The fact that they are never switched on is of little importance.
The annual costs of maintaining and repairing the light now amount to around €5,500 (nearly $6,200). This means that, since it was installed in 1987, the light has cost the city of Dresden some €150,000 ($169,000).
As for why authorities in Dresden don't just remove it and replace it with a stop sign, this is because Research Institute for Street Transportation directives clearly requite a traffic light in that spot.
“Stop signs do not correspond to traffic light systems and do not fulfill the same set of regulations,” folks at the Research Institute for Street Transportation insist.