Originally Posted by ijgordon

I mean, I'm not a pilot or airfield designer, but how difficult would it be to have literal traffic lights at every runway intersection - right before ATC gives TO clearance, they press a button and the crossway lights turn red (or somehow make it more automatic/failsafe, sensors as soon as the departing plane turns onto the end of the runway). When the aircraft passes over the end of the runway, they revert to green (could be automatic).