Are You Ready For New Traffic Signals?

Red, yellow and green. Some things are so ingrained in our culture that we couldn’t think of them ever changing. But although it’s not on the immediate horizon, researchers are already considering the need for another color on our traffic control signals.

Why is a New Color Even Necessary?

The new color, which right now is being considered to be white but could eventually be any color, is needed as more and more self-driving cars hit our roadways. The reason is because of the way these autonomous cars are expected to interact with traffic lights.

We think that self-driving cars just “see” and react to traffic lights the way that we do, and that may be the case early on, when these cars start to hit the roadways en masse. But to be truly autonomous and self driving, vehicles need to do more than just read and obey what a traffic light says, they need to be able to communicate with traffic control signals, and vice versa.

The two way communication between car and signal will keep intersections safe, and traffic flowing through them, and will also give signals and cars the ability to alter speed, and stops through intersections, based on traffic or road conditions.

When the vehicles are under the control of the traffic lights, the anticipated new color is expected to come into play. The new color will both alert the operators of the self-driving car, as well as other cars on the roadway (some of which may not be self driving), that the self-driving cars are under the control of the traffic light.

This lets the car’s operator know that the traffic signal is controlling the vehicle and its speed and direction. The operator then knows not to take control of the vehicle (which human operators will still be able to do, even on autonomous vehicles).

We know all of this is true, because AI has been used to simulate intersections, and has demonstrated that the new color moved traffic quicker and safer.

When Will This Happen?

We’re a long way off from this happening, so why is it being discussed now?

It’s because of the massive number of traffic control signals there are in the United States. As you’ve noticed if you’ve traveled by car, all traffic control signals are generally identical –for example, red always means stop no matter where you go, or a green left arrow means the left turn has the right of way, no matter where you are.

Changing every single traffic light in America is an enormous (and expensive) undertaking. And governments can’t start early, because until more autonomous vehicles are on the road, all the new colors will cause confusion.

Public information campaigns will be needed to tell the public about the new lights, but obviously there is no “learning curve”; once the new lights are installed, everybody has to know what they mean, immediately.

Contact our Rhode Island personal injury lawyers at Robert E. Craven & Associates at 401-453-2700 today for help after your car accident.

Sources:

studyfinds.org/4th-traffic-light-self-driving-car/

popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a42804174/fourth-color-traffic-light-white/