Toronto, Ontario – A new paper from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) suggests that adding a fourth white light on traffic lights may help integrate autonomous vehicles (AVs) into real-world streets, with human drivers.
According to an article by Jalopnik, IEEE researchers ran a simulation where traffic lights featured a white light, signalling to human drivers that AVs were now being controlled and that they should follow the vehicle in front of them.
Other colours retained their traditional meanings, such as green telling drivers to go and red signalling drivers to halt.
When too many human drivers approached the intersection, the traffic light would revert to the conventional green-yellow-red signal pattern.
These simulations discovered that the installation of a white light phase improved traffic flow and cost less in terms of fuel and emissions, scaling up with the number of AVs introduced.
“It is important to incorporate the white light concept at intersections because it tells human drivers what’s going on, so that they know what they are supposed to do as they approach the intersection.,” said Ali Hajbabaie, associate professor of civil, construction, and environmental engineering at North Carolina State University.
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