Example 1 - safety. A vehicle has skidded on a slippery surface on a blind bend and is hanging half in a ditch, at right-angles to the flow of traffic. It is now unable to move unassisted. Other vehicles are swiftly approaching the obstruction but their drivers are unable to see it. With the new communication technology, the stranded vehicle will transmit a warning signal which - thanks to the network established with the vehicle's on-board navigation system - also indicates the location of the hazard. A corresponding warning simultaneously appears on the navigation screens of the approaching vehicles, indicating the location of the accident - the risk of a collision is thus substantially reduced.


Example 2 - traffic flow. Lines of vehicles are moving between sets of traffic lights on a multi-lane arterial road. The cars accelerate, only to have to brake again when the lights turn red. Such a driving style is not only fatiguing for the individual driver, but also means that thousands of litres of fuel are wasted along every kilometre of such roads in the long term, by the traffic as a whole; it furthermore significantly inflates exhaust emissions in conurbations.


Car-to-car technology means that the cars are not only able to establish a network with each other, but also pick up information from static transmitters such as the traffic lights' control systems.


The phases of each set of traffic lights can thus be transmitted, giving drivers an opportunity to anticipate more accurately how much acceleration is necessary or appropriate. The same applies to impending congestion: using data from cars further ahead, the systems can recommend what speeds drivers should adopt in order to keep the traffic flowing.


Example 3 - service. When driving through a city centre, a driver has selected the local shopping centre as the destination for the navigation system. There is a chronic shortage of parking spaces around that destination. Here too, the new technology is able to help: the mobile system uses the coordinates for the destination to link up with the parking spaces management system for the area around the destination. If a nearby vacant parking space is reported by static facilities, such as at a multi-storey car park, the navigation system can automatically take this into account and simultaneously reserve the space in that car park. The driver is guided to their destination by the shortest and most convenient route, instead of having to drive round in circles endlessly hunting for that elusive parking space.


The number of variations on these examples is almost limitless, illustrating the huge potential of the new technology in promoting safety, flexibility and efficiency as the volume of traffic on our roads increases.

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