WASHINGTON — Imagine looking at a screen in your car and seeing the speed limit, High Occupancy Vehicle rules and other critical traffic information displayed right in front of you.
That is the goal of researchers at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.
They are trying to give new meaning to the term “smart car” by using a newly developed, in-vehicle app.
“Testing apps like this can save money because it can eliminate the need for large message signs along roadways, since the information can be communicated inside the vehicle,” said Kayla Sykes, a Virginia Tech graduate student working on the app.
The technology uses radio communication between vehicles and equipment along roadways to deliver real time information, including lane closures, directly to drivers.
Researchers are still testing the app, which they claim was designed to “minimize distraction” for those who are using it.
According to the experts behind the technology, the app would make drivers safer and make their trips more efficient.
