Traffic lights are a necessity since at the moment, pretty much all vehicles are driven by humans, and sometimes even humans need a little help in being told when to stop and let others go. However what if there was a future in which the need for traffic lights was no longer needed? How would traffic function in that case?
The folks at MIT have recently conducted a study (via The Next Web) in which they tested a road network that had no traffic lights at all. It’s an interesting idea but in order for this idea to work, it would require that more cars on the road be connected. How it works is that traffic flow will be managed by a network that is built into surrounding buildings.
This network will be able to sense nearby traffic, in which it will let the cars know when there is a space for it to move forward, so in a way it’s like you are being driven instead of you doing the driving. We envision that such a system could allow for less traffic jams since people will be traveling at uniform speeds and there won’t be any cutting or inconsiderate drivers.
However like we said, this system is predicated on the notion that all cars in the future will be connected. Right now we are certainly headed in that direction and before we get too ahead of ourselves, let’s not forget a recent FBI warning which suggested that connected cars these days are becoming increasingly vulnerable to hacks.
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