Think about how much time is lost at intersections folks, we slow down, we worry about what might be coming, and at intersection after intersection we’re adding precious minutes to our journey. Ok, so it’s perhaps not that bad, but Ford is conducting trials aimed specifically at making intersections better.
The way I read it, it’s about taking the caution away and replacing it with information.
It’s all about communication – not from the back seat driver, but from cars to other cars and from the road and transport infrastructure to cars.
This could mean your car is aware that the lights are going green, it may be in some autonomous mode and rather than using old school “look ahead it’s still red so I’ll slow” kind of thinking, it may already know when it will go green and adjust its speed accordingly. This could reduce accidents and save fuel too.
Likewise with other cars on the road, if cars could talk to each other – there would be fewer accidents.
Ford is specifically working on “Left Turn Assist” to exchange information vehicle to vehicle and alert drivers of oncoming traffic coming in the path of their turn.
Hopefully the trial in China also tests Right Turn Assist for those of us driving on the correct side of the road – the Left:)
