We see autonomous vehicles in every depiction of the future in science fiction series, movies, games, and books. As a matter of fact, these depictions began to take place slowly. It is obvious that we will have more autonomous cars in the near future.
Researchers from the University of North Carolina have made a suggestion that the traffic lights we have are adapting accordingly, as this phenomenon is getting better and will be more common in the future.
In the future, traffic lights should have 4 colors, not 3
Researchers propose an additional white traffic light that will signal drivers that autonomous vehicles are intelligently managing oncoming traffic flow. The idea behind the proposal is to reduce both congestion levels and overall fuel consumption.
Autonomous cars and trucks won’t need to ‘look’ at the white traffic light like we humans do because they’ll be communicating with it wirelessly. However, it will also serve as a signal to human drivers and passengers that they should follow driverless vehicles passing through the intersection.
The researchers’ proposal will work like this: Autonomous vehicles will communicate with each other and with traffic lights at intersections within a certain distance. This will allow traffic flow to be coordinated more efficiently and intelligently.
For example, this white traffic light, to which autonomous vehicles are connected, will give priority to converging roads with more vehicles and recommend optimum speeds.
Any human driver in the lane will be instructed to follow the vehicle in front of them by means of a white light: Stop if it stops, continue if it continues. When the number of autonomous vehicles in an intersection drops below a certain threshold, the traffic lights will revert to normal red, yellow and green.
Do you think this system can provide coordination between fully autonomous vehicles and vehicles driven by human drivers? What are you thinking? Please do not forget to share your thoughts with us in the comments.
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