MANY motorists are unaware that the traffic lights at the cross junction of Jalan 16/6 and Jalan 17/1 in Petaling Jaya, Selangor are operated by a sensor, leading to unnecessarily long queues.

The sensor is designed to detect the presence of a car that stops at the white line there. If no car is detected, the traffic light system will bypass the green light turn.

Concerned Section 16 resident Patrick Wong told StarMetro: “Not many people know this and quite often, the first car will stop too far behind the white line and out of range of the sensor.

“This results in a long waiting time as the lights will not turn green.

“Often, the driver, after waiting a long time, assumes the traffic lights are faulty and makes a risky dash across the junction. Luckily, no accident has been reported so far.”

He said many times he had been in the queue and had to inform the motorist in the front car to inch forward towards the white line.

“This sensor is installed at only one of the four roads leading to the cross junction,” he said, adding that there was no signage informing motorists about it.

The sensor is installed at the cross junction of Jalan 16/6 heading to Section 17.

He said the sensor seemed like a sensible design to “intelligently” speed up the rotation of the green light.

Another resident who wished to be known only as Mashitah said her husband also had to alight from his car to inform the driver in front to move forward.

“The authorities need to put up a clear sign informing motorists of the sensor,” she said.

Section 16 resident Ramli Ibrahim thought the lights were faulty after waiting for a long while at the cross junction.

“Then the green light suddenly came on,” he said.

A spokesperson from Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) corporate communications department did not respond to the problem at hand.

He, however, said the sensor had once been damaged after pipe laying work but was now repaired.

“MBPJ ordered Air Selangor to repair the damage to the sensor after the premix overlay of the road was completed on Dec 9,” added the spokesperson.