Stop lights Cambodian style

Stop lights in Cambodia are a decoration; about 3/4of the people stop at them, of the other quarter some slow down but most just ignore them. There is a very nice feature that I would like to see in other countries countdown timers that show how much time is left before the light changes.

In Phnom Penh sitting at a stop light, most of the motos turn off the engine if there is more than 30 seconds to wait. When the light counts down to 5 it is like a Le Mans start, engines start and motos start heading for the intersection.

The photos in this post are from the intersection near home. The lights in the photo are color coded correctly. There is another light that no matter if the main signal light is red or green the countdown number is green. That has caught me more than once, looking up and thinking the light is green and then seeing traffic going across the intersection.