Finland To Introduce 'Green Wave' Automated System For Emergency Vehicles (yle.fi)
- Reference: 0180722072
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/02/02/1836226/finland-to-introduce-green-wave-automated-system-for-emergency-vehicles
- Source link: https://yle.fi/a/74-20207808
> Fintraffic's national traffic priority system, which is set to be introduced this summer, will recognize the location of an emergency vehicle and [2]automatically change the lights to green to facilitate its passage.
>
> (Why isn't everyone doing this already?)
[1] https://slashdot.org/~alternative_right
[2] https://yle.fi/a/74-20207808
Why isn't everyone doing this already? (Score:3)
When I was in college someone told me you could flip a traffic light green by flashing your headlights on and off. I found out instead it was a great way to get pulled over, especially if there was a police car nearby.
Re: (Score:3)
> When I was in college someone told me you could flip a traffic light green by flashing your headlights on and off. I found out instead it was a great way to get pulled over, especially if there was a police car nearby.
If you have the right kind of strobe light, there are some traffic systems that'll turn green for you. You are correct that the police won't find it amusing.
Re: (Score:3)
[1]You were doing it wrong. [strobesnmore.com] OK, to be accurate, there are multiple systems, some of which operate in the visible spectrum, some in the infrared, etc. This myth stems from the fact that some systems operate in the visible spectrum and use a binary code, so the idea is that if you did it just right it might work on older systems, though those systems are almost certainly out of service in 2026.
[1] https://strobesnmore.com/products/nova-strobe-preemption-dash-light
We do this in America (Score:2)
The white flashing light on top of ambulances and it flashes in binary with a code that tells the lights to change. Not sure if the whole country does that but quite a few states at least.
Re: (Score:3)
Yes, we've used the same system here in Canada since... well at least since the 90's and probably earlier.
Re: (Score:2)
Not really "binary" - just a flash rate: 10Hz is "low priority" 14Hz is "high priority." Yes, it has been hacked, but very easy to find out who is hacking it.
Not new (Score:2)
This is known as "traffic signal preemption" or "emergency vehicle preemption" and has been in place in a number of countries for years.
Re: (Score:2)
> This is known as "traffic signal preemption" or "emergency vehicle preemption" and has been in place in a number of countries for years.
As I recall, while in some locations it used an IR signal (which some people tried to spoof, until they got caught, and got a very very large fine), most places have migrated to an encoded RF signal, and others use GPS information to a more integrated traffic grid. And some places (NYC was a poster child; I don't think it has changed) it is not used due to the complexity of managing that cities traffic.
Re: Not new (Score:2)
Without reading the article I assume this is more advanced.
It uses route information and sets the greens sooner than line of sight.
This means the route will be green and clear.
Re: (Score:2)
But there are many reasons an emergency vehicle might deviate from a prescribed route, and the strobe or transponder systems are much better at adapting to that. Not to mention if you clear the whole planned path immediately, in most US cities, will cause traffic congestion that could take hours to recover from. A system that follows the emergency vehicles and continually adjusts their next couple of blocks allows for much better traffic flow overall.
Been in place for over 35 years in the US (Score:2)
it's called Priority Green (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_signal_preemption) , and was pretty common before the early 1990. 10Hz IR beacon is "low priority" 14Hz is "high priority."
Re: Been in place for over 35 years in the US (Score:2)
That's great. Maybe the United States should prioritise driver awareness of hazard lights then. In this video the original obstruction vehicles does not use them (perhaps due to damage) followed by dozens of other drivers not using them. Quite bizarre to see. [1]https://youtu.be/-9yqXzZ16ns?s... [youtu.be]
[1] https://youtu.be/-9yqXzZ16ns?si=Uqtk5J4y-3Y7Rg9f
"Green Wave" new name for old thing (Score:2)
Isn't Green Wave just what's always been called a donut run?
Not viable (Score:2)
In metropolitan areas, aka cities, traffic is chaotic. A green light won't make room for emergency vehicles when moving through heavy traffic. Signal Horns are there for a reason. And besides: [1]https://www.wired.com/story/ha... [wired.com]
[1] https://www.wired.com/story/hacking-traffic-lights-netherlands/
Been here for a while now (Score:2)
In fact I once read an article some years back about people getting caught building black boxes to flip the lights and then getting caught doing it. I wonder if The Woz ever looked into that?
looked into it (Score:2)
I was pretty sure we already have the standard green wave stuff like busses getting priority. You can literally see the white diode start to blink on traffic lights when a bus approaches and such. So I went to take a look at details.
This is the official announcement from the relevant government bureau:
[1]https://www.fintraffic.fi/fi/u... [fintraffic.fi]
It's exceptionally light on details of the implementation (likely intentionally to reduce hacking and hijacking of the system). However it does note that "data moves in the off
[1] https://www.fintraffic.fi/fi/uutiset/halytysajoneuvot-saavat-vihrean-valon-koko-suomessa-apu-perille-nopeammin-ja-turvallisemmin
Why isnt it already being done? (Score:2)
Why isnt it already being done is a good question...
NZ already has it in place for public transport in most major cities, and the emergency services are switching over from a legacy system to using the same priority system for emergency vehicles as is currently used for public transport.
[1]https://www.scats.nsw.gov.au/h... [nsw.gov.au]
[1] https://www.scats.nsw.gov.au/home
Is anyone already doing this? (Score:2)
one of those things that seem obvious in hindsight
Re: (Score:1)
yes. the US and Canada (at least) have been doing this for a decade or more. rather than just sucking down the obvious bait in the article you could have given it a quick google, but nahhh lets just come here and repeat the same stupid bullshit.
Re: Is anyone already doing this? (Score:2)
So there is an optical system from the emergency vehicle to sensors on the traffic light? And this is installed widely across United States?
Re: (Score:2)
TFS asks:
> (Why isn't everyone doing this already?)
The step up in complexity (and cost) from a light on a local timer (often with the local preemption via IR or visible strobe) to a centralized management is significant and the advantages are probably relatively limited in all but the most congested places.
They definitely do it in Macross and Evangelion though.
Re: (Score:2)
Not really. Basically emergency vehicles are faster, if they cross red lights and/or cars actually make room. A fire truck crossing a red light has less traffic in front of it and can move faster afterwards. Until the next red light. There's a reason they are so noisy.
Re: (Score:2)
It's been happening since the 1980s. I remember when Fargo, ND installed emergency vehicle priority in like 1984, and used flashing strobes on emergency vehicles to turn lights green for as far the strobe could be seen.
Re: (Score:2)
Because it's amazingly obvious and decades old. 3m Opticom is one of the popular systems.