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Emergency Greens
All green traffic lights and navigation assistance for emergency vehicles. | |
When a 911 call is made and an emergency vehicle is dispatched, just a few seconds can make a big difference. With the assistance of GPS, the vehicle dispatcher can ensure that traffic lights are changed to green for each intersection as the emergency vehicle approaches. Each traffic light would change
in advance of the emergency vehicle actually getting there to clear out any stationary traffic.
There are preemptive systems in use which do something similar but they are controlled by the vehicle itself, which may not provide the best results. However, a dispatcher in constant communication with the driver of the vehicle can provide navigation assistance, traffic avoidance, and control the lights accordingly. The dispatcher can also see other emergency vehicles in the vicinity and assist to avoid collisions between two or more responding units.
Another disadvantage with preemptive systems is that tech savvy people can build their own "all green lights" device to make their own vehicle appear as though it were an emergency vehicle. Municipalities have hopefully recognized this and passed laws to penalize those caught manipulating the traffic light system in a such a way.
MIRT, 3M Opticom®, and Tomar Strobecom® traffic signal preemption
http://www.themirt.com/faq.html [Klaatu, Feb 11 2008]
Traffic signal preemption
http://en.wikipedia...c_signal_preemption [Klaatu, Feb 11 2008]
Mobile GPS benefits everyone, not just emergency services.
http://www.calccit....raffic-Sensors.html [coprocephalous, Feb 11 2008]
[DrCurry], this one?
Emergency_20Light_20Remote [theleopard, Feb 13 2008]
Or this one?
Emergency_20Trafficlight_20Switch [theleopard, Feb 13 2008]
[link]
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What do these gps traffic light controllers do in between emergencies? |
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I know that London already has a traffic control centre and traffic light management. Maybe they have this exact system in place. |
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"Help! Help! We need more sprouts over here!..." |
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Don't know where you hail from, [mostoasty], but these have been well baked for years. <link? |
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Such a system, when not needed for
emergencies, could have other more
artistic uses. |
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Imagine flying into Heathrow at night and
seeing the ghostly image of Concorde
traced out in green-on-red in the
spillover-light from a million traffic lights.. |
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//What do these gps traffic light controllers do in between emergencies?// They're put on a lower priority queue? |
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Some traffic light systems developed under the EU funded ROMANSE scheme incorporated a system called Greenwave used by the Fire Service (in Southampton anyway). The crew triggered a button on the key route from the station to the 'shout' as they took the fire call off the dispatching printer. This was then sequenced so that they shouldn't meet a red light on the key route selected. |
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[Consul]..what about some spinach? |
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"Garr, this is the life. Sittin on deck out at sea, got a rod over the port bow waiting for a bite, passing the time with my watercolours. I love the waves and the sky, all those wonderful blues, garr indeed. Little Jimmy, up in the crows nest, must be sound asleep, there's nowt around to see for miles." |
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"Blast! A tropical island! Cursed currents! Where be my emergency greens?!" |
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Someone else just suggested this very thing on the Halfbakery. |
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[boysparks] I think "someone" is more likely to be "something", but anyway see my link. |
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Right you are. So which one was [DrCurry] talking about? |
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