Innovation: Audi Traffic Light Assist

Image courtesy of Yahoo! Autos

It is rare that new driver assist technology catches my attention these days as I find much of it extraneous and believe that it has a tendency to promote laziness and poor driving habits. However, at CES this year, Audi introduced a new piece of technology that not only has my interest, but just might be something that I would actually use myself. Called Audi Traffic Light Assist, the technology showcases the ability for Audi's cars to receive information about the upcoming traffic lights along the current path and have a countdown display in the center gauge cluster, helping the driver determine how long before the current light will change. Ostensibly, this means that with just a little forethought, this could help a driver make every green light along their route, allowing them to optimize their travel time.

As a side benefit, this technology could help alleviate some traffic jams as well as help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the amount of time that cars spend idling at stoplights. Display the information on a head-up display in cars or via a helmet, like the upcoming Skully AR-1, for motorcyclists and it could become one of the most useful pieces of automotive technology to have been introduced since in-car GPS.

This is one piece of driver assist technology that I not only hope makes it from concept into production, but I hope spreads itself throughout all manufacturers as it would have some genuine benefits and could be something that makes driving a little more enjoyable and a little more predictable.


Read more about this innovation here.

Tags: Audi, automotive, CES, driver assist technology, innovation, technology, traffic