Traffic lights have been with us since 1868, when the first gas-powered set was switched on in London. These lights used a semaphore system similar to those used by the railways of the day and ...

Drivers often overlook the small black boxes near intersections. But the technology inside them is cleverly changing how traffic lights react to the road.

Before the advent of computers, traffic lights were a marvel of mechanical and electromechanical engineering, utilizing timers, relays, and human intervention to manage bustling city intersections.

The concept of the traffic light actually dates all the way back to the 1860s, where gas-lit signals were placed on the posh streets that lined the Houses of Parliament in London. Of course, back then ...