
Audi detects when lights will turn red - robg
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/09/audi-puts-more.html
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denglish
My first thought was - yeah, that'll create a lot more speeders! But actually
on reflection I think there are a couple of very good side effects to come out
of this:

1\. The most dangerous time to speed / stop heavily is in or very near an
intersection. Giving drivers more warning may actually encourage them to use
the actual intersections more safely.

2\. Traffic is considerably congested by the stop start nature of
intersections. If this helps to more gently control cars passing through in
both directions, it may considerably speed up everyone's trips (even those
that slow rather than speed - keeping in mind they can then still hit the
green light at say 2/3 speed rather than zero.)

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gojomo
Rather than having the traffic lights sending invisible signals to special
receivers, they could just have digital countdown timers, visible from a
distance, on both red and green lights.

I've saw a bunch of these in China, but not yet in the USA. (The closest I've
seen commonly in the USA are the countdown timers, instead of blinking lights,
on more recent pedestrian crosswalk signals.)

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ars
So audi spent who knows how much on a complicated solution - when there
already is a perfectly workable simple one.

Reminds me of the pen vs pencil joke about nasa vs russia.

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skalpelis
The countdown counters are about the same size as one of the lights whereas to
be able to comfortably see the counter from a moving vehicle from at least 100
meters, the numbers on the counter should be humongous. After all, the main
idea behind this is knowing beforehand (long enough beforehand) what the light
will turn into and when so that you can accelerate just enough to make it
through just before the green ends, or decelerate enough to make it to the
intersection just as the green comes on so that there's no need for braking,
stopping and starting again.

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gojomo
I found them quite large and readable from long distances. Here's an image I
found online of a countdown traffic light in Shenzhen, China:

<http://bbeled.com/project/images/dongguan.JPG>

And even Thailand:

<http://bbeled.com/project/images/taiguo.JPG>

Come on, USA, let's get with the 21st century already!

(Photos in context at <http://bbeled.com/project.htm> , click the second
'Traffic signal light' tab.)

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trickjarrett
The Audi turning the light for you will never fly in large markets. Too much
of an opportunity for abuse.

And this dude made a William Hung reference? I don't know if I should laugh or
cry!

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jcl
How is it an abuse? Many lights already have sensors in the road that will
change the lights for you if there is no one waiting to cross.

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trickjarrett
It isn't an abuse currently. I meant allowing a censor controlled by a person
to provide input into a stop light is troublesome. Just like people who get
ahold of the light emergency vehicles can use in certain metro areas, having
another way to try and hack the light is likely to cause problems.

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pbnaidu
How about the traffic green light displaying seconds before it's going to turn
yellow? I think this is feasible because of LEDs usage in the traffic lights.

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jcromartie
I have had an idea like this for a long time now. The fuel savings from rarely
having to stop would be enormous.

