Ford’s Smart Traffic Sign Can Communicate With Cars

A technology developed by Ford could allow cars to be connected to smart traffic lights with the intention of opening the way for ambulances, rescue vehicles, firefighters, and police, as well as intelligently controlling traffic, reducing consumption, and increasing safety in cities. The system has been in testing since 2020 in Aachen, Germany.

The idea is to make traffic more efficient and safer, avoiding accidents during the passage of vehicles at busy intersections. Soon after the car passes, the traffic lights return to normal operation, passing through yellow and returning to red, if so programmed.

The C-V2X was tested on two sections with three consecutive traffic lights. A Ford Kuga vehicle equipped with on-board units (to communicate with the infrastructure) and rapid control prototyping hardware (to run the prototype software in the vehicle) was used, acting as an ambulance and passenger vehicle for the different test scenarios.