Which came first in the world, traffic lights or cars?
4 Answers
Traffic lights came first. The invention of traffic lights: Traffic lights were invented in 1868. The invention of traffic lights predates cars by 17 years. However, when traffic lights were first invented, they were intended for the passage of carriages and had nothing to do with cars. The invention of cars: The earliest cars appeared no later than 1885. In 1885, German engineer Karl Benz built a three-wheeled car in Mannheim. This car was equipped with a two-stroke single-cylinder 0.9-horsepower gasoline engine. It was called the world's first modern car because it incorporated some basic features of modern automobiles, such as spark ignition, water cooling cycle, steel tube frame, leaf spring suspension, rear-wheel drive with front-wheel steering, and brake handles.
I'm particularly fascinated by transportation history, and this is quite an interesting question. Traffic lights actually predate automobiles—the world's first traffic light was installed on a London street in 1868. At that time, the area outside the UK Parliament in London was frequently congested with horse-drawn carriages. A railway engineer came up with the idea to adapt the red-and-green gas signal lamps used at train stations for road use, manually operated by police officers. However, automobiles didn't officially appear until 1886 when Karl Benz built the first patented car. That's a gap of nearly twenty years, showing that human ingenuity in solving traffic problems had already sprouted long before. Today, we drivers take automatic traffic lights for granted, but the original signals were actually designed to regulate horse-drawn carriages and pedestrians. It's quite remarkable to think that those who used gas lamps to direct traffic two centuries ago probably couldn't have imagined today's self-driving vehicles.
Speaking of this, I remember seeing materials at the London Transport Museum when I was young. Traffic lights definitely came first, as they were born long before cars became popular. In the mid-19th century, European cities were crowded with horse-drawn carriages, and London streets were in complete chaos. Engineers then adapted the railway signaling system for road use. Those things had to be illuminated by gas lamps at night, but operating them was extremely dangerous, and they even exploded a few times later on. When I was driving a taxi, I often heard passengers chatting about these interesting anecdotes. Thinking back now, road rules are even more important than the vehicles themselves. Imagine how terrifying it would be if cars were allowed to run wild on the streets without traffic lights being invented first. So, traffic rules always stay one step ahead of the times.
According to traffic history records, the traffic light was invented on December 10, 1868, at the intersection of Bridge Street in London. The designer, J.P. Knight, was a railway signal engineer who created a rotating signal light using gas lamps with red and green glass panels. The first internal combustion engine automobile wasn't introduced until 1886 by Benz & Cie. This means traffic lights predate modern cars by a full eighteen years. This actually makes perfect sense - before any new transportation technology emerges, people always consider management regulations first. Just as autonomous vehicles haven't become widespread yet, countries are already researching corresponding traffic laws. History proves that safety mechanisms always precede technological innovation.
