1914: An Enlightening Milestone for Traffic Safety

August 5, 1914

What are widely regarded as the world’s first electric traffic lights made their debut at the intersection of Euclid Avenue and East 105^th Street in Cleveland, Ohio. Alfred A. Benesch (1879-1973), the city’s director of public safety, placed the lights in operation at 5:00 p.m. Those also on hand for that launch included other city officials; the press; officers of the local chamber of commerce; members of the Cleveland Automobile Club; and representatives from the railroad industry. 

These traffic signals, which were installed by the American Traffic Signal Company, consisted of four pairs of red and green lights that served as stop-go indicators on street-corner poles. The signals were wired to a manually operated switch inside a nearby roadside control booth. The traffic officer operating the signals from inside that booth also had access to a communications device in case he needed to contact the fire department or the police for emergency situations. (The accompanying photo, which appeared in the September 1915 issue of American City magazine, features an outline of how the lights were set up at that intersection in Cleveland.)

As designed and patented by Cleveland native James B. Hoge (1866-1926), that switch system was configured to prevent conflicting signals. There was also a buzzer to warn drivers when the lights were about to change colors. “This system is, perhaps, destined to revolutionize the handling of traffic in congested city streets and should be seriously considered by traffic committees for general adoption,” reported an article at that time in The Motorist (a publication of the Cleveland Automobile Club). 

In the years since the introduction of those electric traffic lights designed by Hoge, quite a few modified versions of that type of technology have been created. A notably innovative and influential version was developed by Garrett Morgan (1877-1963), another Cleveland resident. Morgan was granted a patent in 1923 for his traffic light, which contained atop a T-shaped pole not only “Stop” and “Go” signals but also an interim warning signal.

In order to help ensure an even safer and smoother flow of vehicles and pedestrians at busy intersections, the interim signal halted traffic in all directions before those other signals changed. Morgan’s device is the one that ultimately served as the model for the red, yellow, and green-light traffic signals used throughout the world today.

Photo Credit: Public Domain

For more information on the introduction of electric traffic lights in Cleveland in 1914, please check out https://www.clevelandpolicemuseum.org/historical/early-electric-traffic-signals/