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IBM's Zombie Traffic Lights Could Control Your Car

by Caleb Johnson on May 26, 2010 at 04:52 PM

IBM Traffic light With hopes of preventing traffic accidents, IBM's latest patent could actually take control of your engine. As scary as that sounds, according to Engadget, the patent application is for a stoplight system that tells a car when to stop and go by sending remote signals to its engine. When you roll up to a red light, IBM would send a "stop-engine notification" to your vehicle. We're assuming there would be some override for emergencies, but the idea is that you can't go anywhere until IBM sends a "start-engine notification" to your vehicle. These green-light signals would be staggered over time, starting with the first car, then the second, and so on, to prevent fender benders.

While it's a neat idea, commuters don't exactly like the idea of somebody else controlling their cars, especially when there's the potential for hackers to exploit the system. Besides privacy and security concerns, many cities have a hard time keeping regular traffic lights in working order. We doubt many local governments will be keen on installing completely new, fancy, robotic lights at every intersection. [From: Engadget]

Tags: BadIdeas, car, cartech, engine, ibm, patent, top, Traffic, TrafficLight, transportation

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