There are inventions that take a while to see their usefulness, but there are also ones that we will never understand. In Wuhan City, China, turnstiles have been installed that “prohibit” pedestrians from crossing streets outside the lane or while the signal is closed.

Wuhan has more than 10 million inhabitants and becomes a real chaos at peak times. It is at these times that most people ignore road signs and cross streets even at prohibited times. The installed turnstiles promise to avoid this chaos, releasing the passage only when the traffic light is green for pedestrians.

As turnstiles have a very low height, there are people questioning the effectiveness of the project; after all, just bypassing the roulette wheel or even jumping on it will keep walking and breaking the laws naturally. According to the authorities, intersections that already have this system also have surveillance cameras; so the smart guys will have their faces exposed on monitors as a way of embarrassing them.

Nothing prevents people from skirting or jumping around the turnstiles.

If the bizarre idea works, the turnstiles will be installed throughout the city. In China, traffic lights are up to 90 seconds open for cars to pass - in other parts of the world, the maximum time is 1 minute. This causes pedestrian offenses to grow along with population inflation itself. Some say disrespect is a matter of habit, others argue that it is the fault of the authorities. In the meantime, a lot of people risk their lives crossing out of lane and / or with the free signal only for vehicles.

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