If you ever feel unsure about whether to stop or go when you see an amber traffic light, listen up! Traffic experts at North Carolina State University have proposed adding a fourth, white-colored traffic signal alongside the usual red, yellow, and green lights. Why? Well, they’ve found several good reasons. Through their experiments, they’ve discovered that adding this extra signal would make waiting times shorter for pedestrians and improve the flow of traffic for cars.
This new signal, called a “white phase,” would work especially well with the rise of autonomous vehicles (AVs). AVs can communicate with each other and with traffic signal computers wirelessly. When enough AVs approach an intersection, they would trigger the white light. This light would signal human drivers to simply follow the AV in front of them, indicating that the AVs are working together to keep traffic moving smoothly through the intersection.
(The main issue with driving in traffic today might be that we all tend to mindlessly follow the car in front of us, regardless of the traffic lights!)
(And at night, the white lights could also indicate that there’s a motorcycle approaching directly towards us!)