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Old Crank

(5,151 posts)
Mon Jan 6, 2025, 07:40 AM Jan 6

White traffic lights, adding a fourth colour.

I hadn't heard of this concept before.
Since AV can communicate wtih themselves there needs to be a way for them to communicate with human drivers.
The white light will mean follow the car infront.

https://www.traffictechnologytoday.com/news/intersections/researchers-propose-fourth-light-on-traffic-signals-white-for-avs.html

Three-colour traffic signals have been in use for over 100 years with little change to their functionality, but now researchers at North Carolina State University believe the time may have come for a change – they propose a fourth ‘white light’ to signal to human drivers when it is time to let autonomous vehicles dictate traffic flow.

The proposed new system would enable autonomous vehicles to help control traffic flow – and let human drivers know what’s going on. In computational simulations, the new approach significantly improves travel time through intersections and reduces fuel consumption.

“This concept we’re proposing for traffic intersections, which we call a ‘white phase,’ taps into the computing power of autonomous vehicles (AVs) themselves,” says Ali Hajbabaie, corresponding author of the paper and an associate professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering at NC State. “The white phase concept also incorporates a new traffic signal, so that human drivers know what they are supposed to do. Red lights will still mean stop. Green lights will still mean go. And white lights will tell human drivers to simply follow the car in front of them.”

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Old Crank

(5,151 posts)
1. My issues with this are about pedestrians and cyclists
Mon Jan 6, 2025, 07:42 AM
Jan 6

This sounds like an effort to further marginalize active transportation since road usage will be geared towards some kind of automobile.

Renew Deal

(83,394 posts)
3. How are they effectively different than green lights?
Mon Jan 6, 2025, 07:50 AM
Jan 6

Wouldn’t the white light be more of a signal to non-human drivers by simplifying their calculation? And how does human nature factor into the practicality?

sop

(12,180 posts)
6. Sean Duffy, Trump's nominee for transportation secretary, will award Musk contracts to upgrade traffic lights.
Mon Jan 6, 2025, 08:00 AM
Jan 6

Renew Deal

(83,394 posts)
8. Teslas are not the only self-driving cars
Mon Jan 6, 2025, 09:50 PM
Jan 6

There's the Waymos, and there's other major car companies trying to get there.

Renew Deal

(83,394 posts)
10. Society is going to completely change when self-driving cars become reliable
Mon Jan 6, 2025, 09:58 PM
Jan 6
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20211126-how-driverless-cars-will-change-our-world

And the research that was cited was published in a scientific journal. It's not some corporate press release. Also, cities and roads changed significantly through the years as transportation changed, with innovations like traffic circles, parking rules, and yes, even traffic lights.

I'm skeptical about the white light theory, but I haven't read the paper. How do they control for human nature? What is the mix of human driven cars vs. driverless cars that is required for this idea to be effective?

Think. Again.

(20,752 posts)
5. But how do humans communicate back to the AI in order to say...
Mon Jan 6, 2025, 07:57 AM
Jan 6

"Please Sir, may I have another?"

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