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Ford Wants to Makes Your Life as Green as Possible

(Credit: © Ford)

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Ford Wants to Makes Your Life as Green as Possible

Ford testing green-light timing technology

Ford testing green-light timing technology (Credit: © Ford)

Ford is working on green cars in the U.K. I know, you’re likely thinking, “what’s new?” Well, I don’t mean green as in eco-friendly; instead, I mean ones that do all they can to assure drivers can “ride the green wave” (hit all green lights) on their daily commutes.

Ford is working on this technology alongside U.K. Autodrive, and it seems great on the surface. The system is essentially a functional vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication system that uses data from a roadside unit to determine what the optimal driving speed is to hit all green lights based on light timing and traffic conditions.

Despite its grandest efforts, like death and taxes, freaking red lights are a certainty in life. So, when this system does occasionally hit a red light, it lets the driver know when the light will turn back to green. Brilliant! Right?

Not so fast, as there are a few big issues that I see coming. First, once drivers “know” they will hit nothing but green lights, they are bound to get lazy and pay half attention to the lights. Put that driver on the same road as the person who knows the light turns green in 3..2..1.. and impatiently mashes the accelerator at the one-second mark, and well… you have the potential for a big collision between the two.

I am all for these sorts of technological advancements, but the roads today are already chock-full with lazy and distracted drivers, and I fear these systems could worsen this trend.

With that said, I am not totally down on this system, as there are a few true safety advancements in play. This system uses its vehicle-to-vehicle communications to alert the driver of a stopped car up to 500 meters ahead – even is the car is out of sight. It also alerts the driver of an upcoming emergency vehicle, and it’ll prioritize vehicles arriving at an intersection with no traffic signals or signs.

Sound off in the comments below and let us know what you think.

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