(c)Ford

Technology that will enable drivers to give red lights a miss is being trialled in the UK with Ford and the UK Autodrive project.

Two Mondeo Hybrids are trying out the tech, which feeds information to cars about traffic and traffic light change timings. The car will display the optimal speed at which to drive for those behind the wheel to hit only green lights.

The thinking behind this is that it will ease traffic congestion and have benefits for fuel consumption and carbon monoxide emissions.

“There’s not much worse after a long day than hitting one read light after another on the drive home, and being forced to stop and start again at every junction,” said Christian Ress, Ford’s driver assist technologies expert.

Existing tech

The team also pointed out that similar tech already works in Copenhagen and Amsterdam to help cyclists avoid red lights, and there are sensors that synchronise lights on traffic lights to improve traffic lights across Europe.

Other forms of connected car technology are also being trialled at the UK Autodrive project, including testing out an advanced warning system for when a vehicle up ahead brakes hard, even if the driver can’t see it.

And from next year it will look at tech that warns drivers when another vehicle is blocking the junction ahead, as  well as tech that will tell drivers when an emergency vehicle is approaching and prioritise cars arriving at intersections without traffic signs or lights.

These trials are taking place on private and public roads round Milton Keynes and Coventry over the next two years, Ford said.