This enigmatic light raises questions and causes a frenzy of speculation about its purpose and meaning.
Imagine driving peacefully through the streets of your city when, suddenly, something unusual catches your eye: a traffic light with a bright fourth light and a totally unfamiliar color!
North Carolina State University is indeed conducting experiments to evaluate the effectiveness of four-color traffic lights: green, yellow, red, and now, white. The first three colors retain their traditional meanings, while the color white instructs drivers to “follow the vehicle ahead”, to minimize traffic delays. You’re a little lost ? We explain this new feature to you.
It all starts with self-driving electric cars, also known as autonomous vehicles. They are essentially motorized computers that can coordinate with each other. Thus they do not need a traffic light, each autonomous vehicle “talks” with the others around it so that everyone can pass at a crossing. The white light would be aimed at human-driven vehicles and signal to them that the autonomous vehicles at the intersection are coordinating their movements to optimize the flow of traffic and that, to save time, it would be more efficient for them to follow these vehicles. How will this system work?
The rules are clear: autonomous vehicles would communicate with each other and with traffic lights at intersections, within a certain limit. This would allow them to coordinate traffic flow more efficiently and intelligently, improving traffic flow on roads with more vehicles and advising on ideal speeds.
Any human driver in the area following the vehicle in front of them will be informed by the white light: STOP if it goes out, CONTINUE if it stays on. When the number of autonomous vehicles at an intersection drops below a certain limit, the traffic lights will revert to the normal option of red, yellow and green.
What would be the advantages of the fourth color on traffic lights?
