Who Invented the Stoplight?
While the stoplight took on many forms over more than half a century, the current version we know today can largely be attributed to Garrett Morgan.
Written by Andrew Koole
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
Like most inventions in
car history
, it took a long time for the stoplight to become the contraption we drive under every day. Road congestion was already a thing back when horsepower was a literal term.The first thing resembling a traffic light was invented in the 1860s by a British railway manager named John Peake Knight. The gas-lit traffic controller was manually operated by a police officer. But an accidental explosion put an end to the idea.
Many other inventors tried to develop a safe and reliable alternative with varying degrees of success. But it wasn’t until 1923 that the three-toned light we know today was invented by Garrett Morgan.
Jerry
dug around to find what could be known about this important American.Who was Garrett Morgan?
Garrett Morgan was born in 1877 in Claysville,
Kentucky
. In 1895, he moved to Cleveland, Ohio and started work repairing sewing machines. He continued in that trade for 15 years, opening his own shop in 1907, but by 1910 he was more interested in inventing things than fixing them.The first African-American in Cleveland to own a car, Morgan witnessed a traffic accident in an intersection equipped with the most recent version of the traffic light, an automatic, two-colored light invented by
Detroit
Police Officer William Potts in 1920.Three years later, Morgan filed a patent for his traffic light concept, which added a third “warning” light between the change from “go” to “stop.” He eventually sold the rights to his invention to General Electric for $40,000.
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What else is Garrett Morgan responsible for besides his stoplight?
Most inventors would be happy with one history-making idea, but Garrett Morgan had more up his sleeve than that.
Before his traffic light, Morgan conceived the idea of a “smoke hood” that made it easier for people to breathe around smoke or other pollutants. The hood soon inspired the type of gas mask used in WWI.
Morgan also invented a sewing machine needle polish that kept it from burning clothes and a number of hair care products, including a hair-straightening cream, a curved-tooth straightening comb, and a type of hair dye.
Besides his inventions, he also co-founded the Cleveland Association of Colored Men, which eventually became part of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples (NAACP). The NAACP continues to fight for equality today.
MORE: 5 Most Innovative Car Parts in History
The impact of Morgan’s stoplight
Morgan’s traffic light has certainly saved many lives and helped prevent even more car accidents. The different iterations of the stoplight before and after his invention make it difficult to pinpoint the exact impact it had, but it’s clear that we should all thank him for his contribution.
That said, stoplights don’t make driving safe on their own. In fact, about 5% of the deaths caused by traffic accidents in the U.S. every year happen because drivers fail to stop at a traffic signal like a red light.
Other ways to protect yourself from car accidents
Safety features like seatbelts and airbags drop the risk of fatality during a car crash significantly, but they can’t protect you from the financial damage of an accident. For that, you need a good
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