Ford: Smart intersections could save us billions
A couple months back, I came across news that bikers might get to start legally running desolate red lights, and it occurred to me that we could all benefit from smarter intersections. Apparently, great minds think alike. And the great minds at Ford were thinking the same thing, only they backed up their musings with research and data, which requires actual work. Overachievers. Anyway, what they found is that not only do we waste tons of time at poorly-conceived intersections in the US, we waste literally billions of gallons of gas. According to Ford, if our cars could communicate with traffic signals, we could collectively avoid some of the wasteful congestion caused at intersections.
While I'm not quite convinced that it would work, Ford thinks that if your car received information (think countdown) from a light, fewer people would race through intersection trying to beat the red. In theory, that would translate into fewer accidents. Also, it might discourage those people who push their luck trying to get through a jammed up light and get caught out in the middle -- blocking everyone else. That burns me up.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-01-2008 @ 11:03PM
Rebecka said...
This idea can also be applied to ambulances and cop cars. Think about it a cop trying to catch a criminal who's going to speed through that red light even if there's cars going through the intersection, and the cop pushing a button causing the lights to change opening the intersection ultimately saving lives. Good news. Right?
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