A woman is racking up thousands of views on social media after showing a car that can predict when the traffic light will turn green.
In the clip, you can see the owners of a Bentley stopped at a red light. When the woman points the camera at the dashboard, an icon appears indicating the light is red, along with a countdown next to it. Turning the camera to the street, you can see that the traffic light is indeed red.
Surprisingly, when the countdown ends on the car’s dashboard, the light turns green immediately, leaving the vehicle owners completely stunned by the car’s ability to predict the closing and opening of the light.
Reacting to the clip, content creator Steven, who refers to himself as a traffic light expert, appeared opening the traffic light controller cabinet to explain the phenomenon.
“If you’re like me, you’re probably watching this video wondering: ‘How does this vehicle know it’s going to get a green light at an intersection?’” he began, before showing the central system that controls the traffic lights at intersections.
“This system here is connected to all the lights in the field, to this controller, and even to this little thermostat up here that controls the fan in this signal controller cabinet.”
According to him, the cabinet has GPS technology and a connection to a cell phone antenna, which allows the traffic control system to communicate with vehicles on the road (vehicle-infrastructure communication).
This connectivity enables equipped vehicles to receive real-time information about traffic light timing. But beyond just calming impatient drivers, the GPS system is used to provide priority signals for emergency vehicles.
“It also uses this GPS system to allow fire trucks, police, and ambulances to get green lights at intersections,” Steven explained in the clip, which has already accumulated over 960,000 views.
“How about installing a timer on the traffic light itself? That way, all cars would benefit!” suggested one commenter. “If there’s a red light on the dashboard, it’s because of the engine, not the traffic light,” joked another.
“Where I come from, we just watch the pedestrian crossing timer. Some of them even talk to us, for the blind,” shared a third user. “Or… you could just pay attention to the lights instead of staring at your phone,” quipped another.
Photo and video: Facebook. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
