What is this new device installed on traffic lights?

Across France, certain traffic lights have been adorned with new objects, similar to speakers. Although it intrigues more than one passer-by, this device is, in reality, much more useful than it seems.

Who said traffic lights are only for sighted people? In cities, mysterious boxes are appearing on traffic light poles for pedestrians. And these are… Sonic fires. These allow blind or visually impaired people to identify the right moment to cross the street, while remaining safe. In fact, this device translates, through an audible signal, the light signals intended for pedestrians. When the “pedestrian” figure changes from red to green or vice versa, an audible signal sounds to alert the blind or visually impaired person.

To each his own melody

Voice, beep… The sound signals of traffic lights exist in all forms and diverge throughout the world. In Japan, for example, they are similar to traditional music. The basic system remains the same: an electronic card is associated with a radio receiver to enable its triggering, and with a speaker for sound broadcasting. This device can be directly integrated inside the “pedestrian” figurine, or be part of an external box attached to the traffic light mast.

a late arrival in France

Today, in France, more than 200,000 traffic lights are equipped with audible lights meeting the AFNOR NF S32-002 standard. We have to go back to the 1990s to discover that the system began to appear in the country. And France was far from being avant-garde, since long before it, Japan and the United States had already adopted the device on many of their traffic lights.

However, their system posed a problem for blind or visually impaired users: it required the search for a button to activate on the mast, to obtain information on the color of the light. So, a few years after the arrival of sound lights in France, a company called EO GUIDAGE imagined a more suitable system: a sound light controlled remotely by a remote control. In this way, users no longer have to look for the traffic light, since it announces the name of the street in which it is located, and the color of the light, after using the remote control.

In 2002, audible lights took on a new dimension in France, since AFNOR implemented the NF S32-002 standard. According to this, sound repeaters must meet technical characteristics, use a precise radio frequency and broadcast very specific messages. For example, when the traffic light displays the red “pedestrian” figure, the audible light must announce “Pedestrian Red”, then the name of the street. And when the traffic light is on the green phase, it emits a bell sound continuously.

Technology has found its place in the market for audible lights: today, it is possible to trigger them using just your phone.