Remotely Controlled Traffic Lights That Halt Drivers’ Engines
The company recently submitted a patent application for “A System and Method for Controlling Vehicle Engine Running State at Busy Intersections for Increased Fuel Consumption Efficiency” which essentially prevents cars from running red lights by remotely stopping vehicle engines.
By receiving data from vehicles waiting at traffic lights, the system can send “stop-engine” notifications to cars waiting for longer than a specified amount of time. The patent explains further:
“The method may comprise..responding to a proceed status indicated by the traffic signal, further comprising: sending a start-engine notification to a first vehicle in the queue; calculating an optimal time for an engine of a second vehicle in the queue to start when the first vehicle starts moving; and sending the start-engine notification to the second vehicle in the queue at the optimal time.”
