One good traffic idea from China/Taiwan

I notice they do this in China as well (which may very well be the ONLY good idea that they use when it comes to traffic management). I don't really understand why we don't have countdowns at most traffic lights here in North America. It makes perfect sense. As the link does point out however, the countdown should be on the green (or on the crosswalk) rather than than the red. They do it on the red in HK, and with the way the cabs drive there at night, it's sort of like what I would imagine sitting in the passenger seat of a race car might be like - something definitely to be experienced.

What perhaps irks me the most is how most people seem totally unprepared when the light turns green. They don't even care to anticipate it. I notice that the lag to response time is definitely longer where I live in Canada versus a place like New York or Boston. A little impatience and consideration for the time of all the people behind you isn't such a bad thing.

Of course another way of dealing with things (including China where they put these cameras up all over the place). I've always suspected that it's more about revenues than it is about safety.