New red light avoidance tech to make daily commute much easier

New technology promises to take the anxiety out of this common road gripe but it could come at the expense of other road users.

Audi has developed a technology so you see nothing but green lights.

Drivers can now avoid that anxious moment — deciding whether to speed up or pull up when they see the yellow light.

Called Green Light Optimised Speed Advisory (GLOSA), the tech can tell the driver what speed they need to travel to reach the next traffic light at the right time to avoid the red. However, that speed could be well below the speed limit which would no doubt infuriate other motorists.

The tech communicates with the local traffic light infrastructure and uses the car’s speed and local speed limits along with position data to recommend the correct speed.

Audi has rolled out the technology in 13 cities in America with further expansion possible in the future.

Audi’s Green Light Optimised Speed Advisory technology advises you what speed to drive to avoid the next red light.

Audi’s US boss Mark Del Rosso believes the green light technology is critical to the future of driverless cars.

“Audi is committed to moving America in many ways, including through the development of industry-leading connectivity and mobility solutions,” says Del Rosso.

“Not only do vehicle-to-infrastructure technologies like GLOSA benefit drivers today, they’re also the critical steps needed as we continue toward an automated future.”

Volkswagen has been working on similar tech.

The automotive giant, in partnership with German tech company Siemens, is developing connected car technology in its home city of Wolfsburg.

The technology being trialled in live traffic conditions would communicate with traffic management services to work out when all the traffic lights ahead are green and alert the driver so as to avoid unnecessary braking or acceleration.

Eventually VW imagines that this kind of technology would be controlled by autonomous vehicles.

Red lights could be a thing of the past.

As Audi and Volkswagen plan to help bust congestion by efficient management of traffic flow, Ford has been trialling tech to allow cars to run red lights and roll past stop signs.

Called Intersection Priority Management, it is more advanced than the Audi tech. Ford’s traffic busting set-up would enable cars to slip through intersections without stopping, by changing speed to avoid other cars in the process — just as humans do when walking through crowds.

Ford’s test vehicles use a range of communication gear and sensors to broadcast the vehicle’s location, direction and speed to work out the optimum pace to avoid coming to a halt at an intersection. However, all other cars would need to be equipped with this tech for it to work properly.

Originally published as New red light avoidance tech to make daily commute much easier