Anyone who’s every done a little ecodriving will know that the worst thing in the world is a stop light. Unlike a stop sign, they’re not predictable, and sometimes leaving you waiting indefinitely or slamming on the brakes to avoid running through. That’s why a lot of ecodrivers will invest a lot of energy into knowing their routes and trying to anticipate lights. However, Audi would like to change this with their new HUD.
How is this possible? Well, Audi has ingeniously developed an in car system that communicates with upcoming red lights to see how long it will be until the light turns green and what speed you need to drive at to make sure you don’t get there beforehand. This will prevent you from wasting gas and hopefully from getting annoyed with the tireless stop and go. Check out these images for a pictorial description:
Of course, you’ll have to realize that some drivers may not know what the hell is going on and get pissed off, but I’m hoping that most people are a little more patient than that and will be happy to see that they aren’t stopping for the light either. On that point, the Dailymail article makes an interesting point:
Kate Dixon of Audi UK said that if a minimum of ten per cent of cars in any given town were fitted with the technology, all road users would notice an improvement in traffic levels.
This is definitely an interesting point. While I wonder how many traffic lights are equipped with the necessarily technology across world markets, this is definitely an interesting technology that could do a lot to smooth out traffic and reduce fuel consumption.
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This is great! I’m constantly amazed at drivers who rush up to red lights only to wait for the green and then stomp on the gas. I often lag behind and catch the light as it goes green and then go ahead of them until they catch me again. I suspect they’re the same people who moan over the price of gas and how few mpg they get! They are the ones who will be truly annoyed when 10% of us get and use this technology.
I have alsways been skeptical on the necessity of all that electronic junk is a modern car. Ok, ABS makes sense, but else?
ESP? What if automakers build decent suspension setups – and drivers used on their brains?
Adaptive cruise control? If there’s too much traffic, you don’t use the cruise anyway.
Energency braking assist? Learn how to drive! And keep your Eyes on the road.
No need for all that, if you can drive an keep attention.
But this ASA (anti stoplight assist – hey, we need a cool abbreviation!) – that is doing something I as the driver cannot do. That is, I cannot do on unknown roads, and even on known roads don’t always get. (Of course I can coast towards a red light instead of racing there, but I won’t know when the light is going to shift, and I won’t know which speed to maintain in order to just “glide on the green wave”).
Now THAT is something I really would like to have.
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