Final answer:
The installation of traffic signals is essential for managing vehicle speeding, enhancing pedestrian safety, and reducing the occurrence of traffic accidents. With new developments and changes in traffic patterns, traffic signals can help impose order and minimize congestion. Emergency situations, while exceptional, also highlight the significance of traffic rules and their discretionary application.
Step-by-step explanation:
Importance of Installing Traffic Signals
The necessity of installing traffic signals at intersections can be attributed to various safety concerns and developments within a community. In areas where vehicle speeding is prevalent, the introduction of traffic signals is a measure aimed at ensuring vehicles adhere to the posted speed limit, potentially reducing the likelihood of accidents occurring. Besides regulating speed, traffic signals play a crucial role in safeguarding pedestrian safety, particularly in busy areas such as school campuses, where students and others must navigate through traffic to cross streets. In such situations, traffic signals are instrumental in providing designated crossing times, thereby enhancing pedestrian protection.
Another significant reason for the installation of traffic lights is the alarming rise in traffic accidents. An increase in the frequency of collisions, some resulting in fatalities, underscores the urgency for traffic control measures. Additionally, developments like the construction of new businesses or changes in traffic routing for events can greatly increase the volume of traffic through an intersection, further necessitating traffic signals which can impose order and reduce congestion.
Finally, emergency situations, such as when a person in labor needs to be quickly transported to a hospital, might warrant the need for a different approach to usual traffic rules. However, such instances are exceptional and should be approached with great caution; the general rule remains to stop at a red traffic light.