The traffic lights of the future: a fourth colour for autonomous cars?
Traffic lights have been an essential tool in the daily lives of millions of people around the world for more than 150 years. Since their invention, their technology has constantly evolved until today's LED traffic lights. However, a group of researchers at North Carolina State University (NC State) has proposed an idea to improve city traffic and reduce pollution: adding a fourth, white light to traffic lights, aimed at autonomous cars.
History of traffic lights
The first traffic light was installed in London in 1868 and there have been many technological advances in its design and operation since then. Today's traffic lights are increasingly efficient, with LED bulbs that use less energy and more modern designs.
The researchers' proposal
The NC State researchers have proposed a new phase in traffic lights, the "white phase", which would be activated when the first car to reach the light is an autonomous car. In that case the light would turn white and the driver of the vehicle behind the autonomous car should do exactly what the autonomous car does. This way, if the autonomous car goes through the light, the driver of the car behind can also go through. If instead the autonomous car stops, the driver of the car behind must also stop.
This new phase could improve traffic and reduce pollution.
Possible scenarios
The researchers have set out three possible scenarios for this new phase. The first is when all the cars at the junction are autonomous: in this case, the white light would be activated and the cars would connect to a central computer that would regulate traffic, passing one behind the other with total fluidity. The second scenario is when the first car to reach the light is driven by a conventional driver: in this case the white light would switch off and the red, amber and green colours would return. The third scenario is when the first car to reach the light is an autonomous car and there are some conventional cars behind it: in this case the white light would be activated and the driver of the car behind the autonomous car should follow its lead.
In this way, adding a fourth, white light to traffic lights could help improve traffic and reduce pollution. However, according to the researchers, for this to work at least 10% of the cars on the road would have to be autonomous.
The future of technologies linked to autonomous mobility promises new solutions that will help us improve our quality of life, reducing the number of accidents and the levels of pollution.
Perhaps this fourth light on traffic lights can help achieve it.
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