Ford recently conducted tests at its Arizona proving ground to determine how autonomous cars could navigate at night without headlights.
According to Ford, it’s an important development, in that it shows that even without cameras, which rely on light, Ford’s LiDAR, working with the car’s virtual driver software, is robust enough to steer around winding roads. While it’s ideal to have all three modes of sensors, radar, cameras and LiDAR, the latter can function independently on roads without stoplights.
Road tunnels are a particularly dangerous environment. Not only do fires burn more violently in enclosed environments, as happened in the 1999 Mont Blanc tunnel disaster, the low lighting and confined reaction space mean accidents are more likely to happen. Authorities must, therefore, be easily and quickly alerted to accidents, breakdowns and equipment must be working at all time.
New York’s bridges and tunnels may implement open road tolling (PRT) under a new plan unveiled by Mayor Andrew M. Cuomo. According to Newsday, the electronic toll system, which would be implemented starting in January, was one of many improvements announced by Cuomo for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s bridges and tunnels.
