Colour-blind people make up to 10% of the population – something that surprised me. They have difficulty distinguishing between red and green, particularly when confronted by new LED traffic lights. Professor Ochiai of Kyushu Sangyo University in Japan has been working on the problem since 2003. He is now testing traffic lights in which people who are colour-blind can see a pink X within the red signal.
Is this something that we should encourage the UK government to consider? Can people with colour blindness clearly see the position of the illuminated light at night? The red light is at the top but at night you may not be able to see where that light is in relation to the amber and green lights which are temporarily off! What is the experience of drivers who have colour blindness?
I have e-mailed the government at [email protected] to ask them if they are considering this issue and whether they have any statistics on causes of accidents at traffic lights involving motorists who are colour-blind.

I am thankful to the Government for replying in the following terms:
‘There is no evidence to suggest that colour blindness causes a danger for motorists. It is not necessary for road users to differentiate between colours, for example, at traffic lights or level crossings, as the sequence of lights would alert the driver of the actions required.
Information regarding accidents where colour blindness was stated as contributing to the cause of the accident is not available. The police officers do not record colour blindness as a contributory factor to an accident.’