There was a time not too very long ago when things like seat belts and right side rear view mirrors were optional on cars. Now days it seems like every feature any engineer can think up gets put in, with a corresponding price hike, of course. For example, some vehicles have sensors that will set of an alarm if it's about to back into an object. Some have TV screens where the driver can see what's back there. Some have both. Then there's the device that uses radar to detect whether another car is too close and sets off an alarm, or it might even put its own foot on the brakes.
It's all well and good that we arrive safely, but what we need is some technology to make the trip go a little quicker. Add the time a typical traffic light is yellow and red, and that time will exceed the time it will be green, so the odds are that at any random time more often than not a traffic light won't be green. Many a driver has encountered a frustrating red light at each lighted intersection between the starting point and the destination making a short trip seem like an eternity.
A traffic light that is oblivious to the traffic is a waste of time and energy. Now wouldn't it be nice if the traffic light system could sense the traffic flow and adjust accordingly? And who among us hasn't experienced a situation in which we face a red light, but there is no cross traffic? Like the conscientious, law abiding people we are, we just sit at that red light simply because it's red. A smart system might change the red light to a green light in that situation.
The "green movement" should be all over this. Instead of exotics like windmills, solar systems, and electric vehicles, they should focus on more efficient ways to get from here to there.
Here in Midland, Texas, fossil fuel is our life blood. But the citizens still like to save at the gas pump. And most don't like wasting time because of a poorly timed traffic light system. Our city leaders are planning to raise our taxes just like they do every year around this time. And all the city department heads are probably eagerly awaiting that new money so they can grow their departments, buy new hardware and build new buildings. It's probably too much to hope for, but it certainly would be nice if they could take a few steps to help the traffic flow a little bit smoother.
But there's hope elsewhere. Kurzweilai.net tells us about an ambitious program being tested in Michigan which lets vehicles communicate not only with the traffic lights but with each other to avoid accidents. If it works, full implementation will cost a lot of money and take years.
A much simpler program could work traffic lights for a better traffic flow now.
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