I was in Istanbul a few months ago and the traffic was the craziest I've ever seen. It didn't really seem like anyone paid attention to the traffic signals anyway. I don't see how a new design would help fix that.
I just wanted to post exactly the same. I haven't yet seen any other city with a traffic as bad as in Istanbul: Drivers typically don't care about traffic lights and drive without braking and just honking over pedestrian crossings, even though they have a red light and there are pedestrians on the street. In case of traffic jams drivers just continue driving on the sidewalk. I saw deadlock situations on crossings multiple times a day, because drivers just continued to drive into crossings, even though they had a red light and/or the crossing was blocked. Police does not seem to care at all.
I don't see how new traffic lights would change this.
I think you are talking about somewhere in India or Thailand or something, I drive in Istanbul for the last umm, 12 years and never missed a red light intentionally and saw maybe ten or fifteen idiots that does not care about the red light.
Btw did you visit Istanbul in the end of 80's I believe it was the only time The city was packed enough and that situation maybe seen because I can remember those times, now its different though many of the traffic lights have cameras that trigger with a red light pass, even there were accidents the first few months cameras were installed people were braking harder than usual to make sure they stop :)
As for deadlocks, Istanbul transport authority changed thousands of streets to one way or changed the rules of many areas to stop that in the last 5 years, when were you last in Istanbul seriously :) ?
And police does care, if you are involved in a red light violation and police is around you are not screwed but definitely get a ticket.
I've lived in Istanbul for 11 years and you must have had your eyes shut mate. 3 lanes of traffic becomes 5; it's all about nosing in and cutting up; red lights are often rushed through for a few seconds after they change (if not more), pedestrian crossings are of no use whatsoever.
As for traffic violations and police stops, don't make me laugh. Driving in Istanbul is carefree - do whatever you want whenever you want (which is why there are so many road deaths... I don't think I know a single Turk who doesn't know of someone relatively close who has been lost in a traffic accident). You'll rarely if ever be stopped by the police. The only time I've been stopped or seen people stopped is by late night alcohol checks or trafik polis running spot checks - both of which you can always pay your way out of (and I have).
I know Turks are generally nationalistic and proud, but please learn to have some introspection, look inwardly, critcise and laugh. Too many subjects on the internet concerning Turkey or Turks get mobbed and trolled by Turks trying to put a positive spin, just because they don't want to see their country portrayed in any bad light internationally.
I was there in 2008 when I attended a conference near Taksim square. However, this was during Ramazan - so maybe traffic during Ramazan is worse then during the remainder of the year.
When I was there most crossings looked somewhat like this (warning: terrible video quality): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cYdHUmG100 (I had a green light when I passed this crossing as a pedestrian).
I lived in Istanbul for long time. I agree that traffic and some drivers are terrible, It is correct that they don't care about zebra crossings, but drivers obeys traffic lights in general. The main issue is density, too much vehicles, too little roads and everybody is in a hurry.
Istanbul is about 3000 years old and built on 7 (some very steep, think San Fransisco steep) hills. It was never designed (if designed is a word you can use at all here) for either tall buildings or vehicles.
Over the past 10 years something weird happened, people started buying cars, and some people would buy more than one but as most people live in apartments in Istanbul it appears as though there are more cars on the road than there are parking spaces in some areas (I know this is the case where my in-laws live near Nisantasi).
In my experience Istanbul drivers will mostly adhere to traffic lights, but not necessarily to things like zebra crossings and road markings. The worst drivers tend to come from the countryside as they don't necessarily know the road layout and drive as though they're in a village or open countryside.
I've been told quite a few times that the only reason the fatality rate from car crashes is not as high as it should be is because for most of Istanbul it's hard to drive faster than 50kmh for any period of time.
Of course, if you really want to see what 'driving by inshallah' is like, then you need to go to Saudi Arabia. When god determines whether or not you live or die, there's no point in driving properly.
Is it necessary to mention Saudi Arabia here? Atheists dont drive better in Istanbul. Istanbul is an old, huge and unorginized jungle. Most of the bridges and connections are not designed to handle today's traffic volume. I remember spending 3hrs just to arrive work and get back at home (And there are only 10km btw the two -- avg I spend at least 2 hrs). There is not a proper railway or metro system. Even though sea transportation is fair enough, most people drive and they drive alone. Population is estimated to be 20M with tourists. There are tens of thousands cars crossing the bridges that are making the Europe-Asia connection with only 7 lines in total.
Given these circumstances, just imagine the stress on the drivers.
But the best part: I live in Asia and work in Europe. My 2hrs is an intercontinental journey.
I think it is necessary to mention Saudia Arabia because it's much worse in Saudi Arabia. I'm sorry if there was a misconception that I was implying that all Turks drive 'by inshallah', which of course isn't true, they just tend to drive badly - those in Istanbul drive aggressively (or insanely, by the standards of some other places) out of necessity. Those out in dogu anadolu drive as though they're still out in the villages.
As an aside - I don't know anyone who cycles in Istanbul. Is there a cycling commuter community there?
Interestingly Istanbul-drivers are not liked at all in other parts of Turkey as well. When asked they say they have to otherwise they will not make it.
I spent a week there, and truthfully it didn't seem any worse than Houston or New York. Not really all that much traffic, and what seem like drivers who are used to the locale. Down near the harbor, I never saw a car run a light in all the times I walked from there back up to my hotel in the old town.
Honestly, it's not that bad. It takes you a while to get used to it but if you look around, everyone is paying a lot of attention and it isn't actually dangerous at all - hectic, but not dangerous.
