Which department manages the traffic lights on the highway?

With the rapid development of highway industry, the problem of traffic lights, which was not very obvious in highway traffic management, has gradually become prominent. At present, because of the large traffic flow, the road level crossings in many places urgently need to set up traffic lights, but the law does not clearly stipulate which department should be responsible for the management of traffic lights.

Some people believe that the “highway service facilities” stipulated in paragraph 2 of Article 43 and the “highway ancillary facilities” stipulated in Article 52 of the highway law should include highway traffic lights. Others believe that according to the provisions of Articles 5 and 25 of the road traffic safety law, the public security department is responsible for the management of road traffic safety. To eliminate ambiguity, we must clarify the setting and management of road traffic lights in legislation according to the nature of traffic lights and the division of responsibilities of relevant departments.

Article 25 of the road traffic safety law stipulates that “unified road traffic signals are implemented throughout the country. Traffic signals include traffic lights, traffic signs, traffic markings and the command of traffic police.” Article 26 stipulates: “traffic lights are composed of red lights, green lights and yellow lights. Red lights mean no passage, green lights mean permission, and yellow lights mean warning.” Article 29 of the regulations for the implementation of the road traffic safety law of the people’s Republic of China stipulates that “traffic lights are divided into motor vehicle lights, non motor vehicle lights, crosswalk lights, Lane lights, direction indicator lights, flashing warning lights, and road and railway intersection lights.”

It can be seen that traffic lights are a kind of traffic signals, but different from traffic signs and traffic markings, traffic lights are a means for managers to dynamically manage traffic order, which is similar to the command of traffic police. Traffic lights play the role of “acting for the police” and traffic rules, and belong to the traffic command system together with the command of the traffic police. Therefore, in terms of nature, the setting and management responsibilities of highway traffic lights should belong to the Department responsible for traffic command and maintaining traffic order.