The Reason Traffic Lights Are Red,

Yellow, and Green

 
Red symbolizes danger in many cultures, which makes sense, considering it has
the longest wavelength of any color on the colour spectrum, meaning you can see it from the
greatest distance. Red has meant stop long before cars existed. First it was used as train
signals' dating back to the days when people used red flags to indicate whether the rail ahead
was clear. As such red became associated1 with danger and having to stop when told.

Green's role in traffic lights has actually changed dramatically2 over time. Its wavelength is
next to yellow on the colour spectrum, meaning it's still easier to see than any color other than
red and yellow. Back in the early days of railway lights, green originally meant "caution," while
the "all-clear/safe" light was white. Trains, of course, take a long time to stop, and legend has
it that several collisions3 happened after train drivers mistook stars in the night horizon for an
all-clear. Thus, green became "go," and for a long time, railways used only green and red to
signal trains.

From the earliest days of motoring up until the mid-1900s, not all stop signs were red, many
were yellow because at night it was all but impossible to see a red stop sign in a badly lit
area. As materials and technologies evolved4, the ability to produce highly reflective5 signs
meant that red could resume its natural spot as stop, leaving the still-highly-visible yellow to
become "caution." That's why school zones and buses, crosswalks, and other important
warnings are yellow today.

Questions

1
Another way of saying linked with
2
Another way of saying a lot
3
Another word for crash
4
Another way of saying got better
5
Reflective means shines light back on you
1 Why does yellow now mean ‘caution’ and red ‘stop?
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2 What was ‘red’ used for before becoming ‘stop’ on a traffic light?
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3 Why do people think ‘green’ became ‘go’ on railways?

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4 What colour is the longest on the ‘colour spectrum’?

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5 Why was yellow more common as a stop sign in the past?

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6 What did green originally mean on railway lights?

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7 What examples are given of things painted or marked yellow?

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