Audi's Newest Cars Will Talk To Traffic Lights Thanks To Impatient Drivers

Automotive News reports that Audi will install V to I technology, short for vehicle to infrastructure, in its cars to lessen the stress of driving. The system is a piece of tech that allows a car and surrounding traffic infrastructure to talk to each other to share information and eliminate the unpredictability of driving.

While it has the potential to be used for autonomous cars and safety systems, Audi will use the technology as a comfort and convenience feature. Equipped cars will gather information from stop lights and display a countdown timer on the dashboard to tell the driver how much time is left before a light turns green. Hopefully, Audi's RS models get the treatment to make stoplight drag racing more fun. A few seconds before the light goes green, the timer vanishes to herd the driver's attention back to the road. Adding to the countdown feature will be algorithms that determine if a car is approaching a yellow light with no time to make it across before it turns red. In this case, the computer will flash a warning to the driver to allow them to stop in time.

For now, the system will only roll out in five to seven US cities, although the Volkswagen subsidiary didn't make mention of which cities would get the V to I treatment. Despite the relatively minor role of the technology, Audi is dipping its foot into a world of potential. Future refinements of V to I tech could make help make engine stop-start systems more efficient and less annoying while allowing navigation systems to pick quicker routes. Similarly, the technology makes V to V (vehicle to vehicle) communication viable, which could one day make crashes a thing of the past. On the other hand, let's make sure that the technology won't be reversed and be used against drivers by doling out speeding tickets signed by an automated big brother.