【なぜ】「横断歩道の青信号が短い」子どもはぎりぎり　調べてみました【ケンミン特捜班】

This is the "Kenmin Special Investigation Team." FBS investigates your everyday surprises, questions, frustrations, and anger. This time, as a special edition, we have information sent in by FBS staff. Read the article for this video https://news.ntv.co.jp/n/fbs/category... "There are places where the green light at a pedestrian crossing is clearly too short." Just how short is it? Why is it set that way? The Kenmin Special Investigation Team investigates the background. The Kenmin Special Investigation Team headed to the "Ropponmatsu Nishi Intersection" in Ropponmatsu, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka City. The "Ropponmatsu Nishi Intersection" is located where National Route 202, which runs east-west, and the Aburayama Tourist Road, which runs north-south, connect. The traffic light where the complaint about the "short green light" has been raised is the one used to cross National Route 202. The pedestrian signal in question changed from red to green. There's an elementary school nearby, and children begin crossing the crosswalk. The road is approximately 15 meters wide. Assuming a child walks at a speed of 1 meter per second, it should take 15 seconds to cross. ■Reporter Kentaro Araki: "The elementary school children are walking in a line, and the children at the back are cutting it very close." The Kenmin Special Investigation Team measured the green light duration, and it was approximately 21 seconds. For children who need 15 seconds to cross, this is almost no time to spare. Furthermore, the short green light duration is causing traffic congestion due to cars waiting to turn right. In contrast, the east-west crosswalk on National Route 202 takes approximately 1 minute and 21 seconds to cross. That's nearly four times the difference. How do users feel about this? ■User "It's a bit short, isn't it? It would be better if the pedestrian crossing time was a little longer." "It's a bit short, isn't it? The time on the other side (east-west direction) is longer." "I try not to cross when the lights are flashing. I wish that time was a little longer." Why is there such a difference? We asked the Fukuoka Prefectural Police Traffic Regulation Division for the reason. ■Fukuoka Prefectural Police Traffic Regulation Division, Yasuaki Hanawa, Assistant Section Chief "National Route 202, which runs east-west, has a very high volume of traffic, and the tourist road running north-south has a low volume of traffic. Therefore, we allocate a large portion of the time to National Route 202. We hope you understand that there may be differences in crossing times from the perspective of ensuring road traffic environment and traffic safety and smooth flow." While it's to ensure safe and smooth traffic, what should users do? ■ Assistant Section Chief Hanawa "First and foremost, it's essential that you follow basic traffic rules. However, if the light turns blue while you're crossing, please make sure to finish crossing quickly, or if you're not confident in your physical strength, return to where you were." To protect yourself from accidents, it's important to act with caution, such as "don't try to cross if you can't." *Broadcast on FBS Fukuoka Broadcasting's Mentai Wide on May 7, 2026, shortly after 5 PM For the latest news, please visit https://news.ntv.co.jp/n/fbs. Also available on X FBS Fukuoka Broadcasting News (@FBS_NEWS5). https://x.com/FBS_NEWS5