The draft Ordinance on traffic organisation with traffic lights defines the conditions, order, location, method ofplacement and requirements for traffic lights when organising traffic on roads open for public use.

Draft Regulation on the organisation of road traffic with traffic lights

The draft Ordinance on traffic organisation with traffic lights defines the conditions, order, location, method ofplacement and requirements for traffic lights when organising traffic on roads open for public use, the types oflight signals used to regulate vehicular and pedestrian traffic, as well as the duration of intermediate times,transition intervals, permit signals and the traffic light cycle. The provisions of Regulation No 17 of 2001regulating the road traffic with light signals have been reviewed and analysed, on the basis of which some ofthe texts have been retained and new requirements have been added:

— define a uniform size and type of the three-section traffic light to regulate the movement of cyclists. Thesmaller diameter specified for traffic signal sections to regulate cyclist traffic will reduce opportunities for thevehicle drivers to be confused in their perception of the traffic signals;
— enable combined pedestrian and cyclist regulation to reduce the potential number of traffic lights used;
— introduce an additional light section with flashing yellow light to increase the attention of drivers when theyhave to let pass another traffic participant (when crossing tram, cycling and/or pedestrian infrastructure);
— introduce requirements that facilitate the use of crossing buttons in a given direction by people with visionimpairment, while enabling additional information to be provided through tactile signs and/or Braille text;
— define the installation height as well as the functionalities of pedestrian buttons; a ban on the use of greenand red colour of light emitted by buttons is included in order not to cause confusion for the traffic participants;
— require the acoustic signal accompanying the crossing clearance signal to have a different sound and/ordifferent duration of sound and/or break in different crossing directions, which will lead to a better orientation ofpersons with vision impairment when crossing a juncture;
— make it possible to improve the visibility of traffic light signals by allowing the ring strip of the contrast screento be coloured in yellow;
— define requirements for the technical means used to regulate traffic by means of light signals which ensurethe use of the latest technological improvements;
— introduce the possibility that the poles and consoles on which traffic lights are mounted as well as themeans used to fix them to be in yellow colour, which improves their visibility;
— regulate the possibility of controlling the traffic light controllers from specialised centralised control softwareimplemented in the recent years;
— update the criteria for introducing a separate phase to regulate pedestrian traffic in an intersection and tointroduce a pedestrian phase on demand. The expected effect is to increase the throughput of theintersections for all traffic participants;
— supplement with a new algorithm to determine the need to introduce a separate clearance signal to regulatethe traffic of road vehicles turning to the left. It sets out a clear criterion for the designers when deciding toseparate the left turns into a separate phase, based on road accident statistics and the ratio of the conflictflows at the respective intersection.