The traffic light, an invention dating back to 1868, first appeared in London at Parliament Square to manage horse carriages and pedestrians. Just weeks later, the gas-lit signal tragically exploded, killing a police officer, according to the Town of Huntersville records.
As automobiles became more common, the need for a safer traffic system grew. In 1914, the first electric traffic light with red and green signals was installed in Cleveland, Ohio. By 1920, yellow was added between red and green, creating the three-color system we know today. Paris followed in 1922 with its first electric traffic light, and other major European cities like Berlin and Barcelona soon adopted the system, according to the town of Huntersville's historical overview.
The standardization of these signals emerged from the necessity of international road safety and coherence, which materialized in the form of the Geneva Convention on the Unification of Road Signals on March 30, 1931. This treaty, which defined the majority of road signs used today, established the three-color traffic lights as the international standard.
In 1935, when Huntersville installed its first traffic light at Gilead and Old Statesville Rd, drivers initially resisted and ignored it. Police Chief Cross had to verbally enforce the new signals, shouting at drivers to stop.
