Genius. And a prime example of the internet doing something worthwhile for a change. That sums up a new initiative in Nanjing which somewhat successfully addresses the problem of blind spots behind large vehicles for others as they approach traffic lights.
Yesterday, 3 August, saw the back of a bus serving Nanjing’s Jiangxin Zhou hit the headlines. Not literally, or for its advertising, but for its LED display of the timing information for traffic lights at the intersection ahead.
It’s a common problem for drivers. The vehicle ahead, be it a bus or a high-sided truck, obscures the view of traffic lights for drivers behind it. The fact these vehicles are also long in nature also therefore makes mistakenly running a red light a common occurrence.
So that’s a big thumbs up to the initiative being trialled on Nanjing’s bus #486.
It works thanks to a black box, about the size of a human palm and situated facing forward on the bus dashboard. The box interacts with the traffic lights ahead to then project onto the LED screens on the bus’ rear windshield the timing of lights directly ahead.
As per the accompanying photograph, the LEDs show there are 38 seconds remaining on the red light ahead for straight on, while just 11 seconds of green light remain for vehicles turning left.
The Yangtze Evening News report of the trial quickly went viral, with many readers immediately liking and reposting it. Some praised the initiative as, “Great; worthy of national promotion”.
Oddly though, the driver of the bus himself was oblivious to the fame of the vehicle in his care. “Two waves of people came to take pictures this morning”, he said. “To be honest, I only found out after watching an online video yesterday. Now our bus route is an internet celebrity.”
Despite all the advantages of the initiative, Nanjing Police still wish to caution drivers to pay attention to maintaining distance between vehicles and the speed of those ahead, especially when passing an intersection. Do not follow a vehicle too closely. If a large vehicle brakes suddenly, the prediction capability of the driver behind is likely to be insufficient and a rear-end collision the result.
