Honda says new driving-monitoring system cuts traffic jams, boosts fuel economy

[TheOtherDave™]

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, MPG, Honda


Many of us have seen the bumper sticker featuring a gun-toting Yosemite Sam and the words "Back Off." Turns out Honda wants to make them obsolete.

The Japanese automaker said it has developed the first-ever vehicle communications system geared to cut both traffic jams and fuel use by monitoring a driver's acceleration and braking habits and providing information that Honda says will encourage smoother driving.

Honda, along with the University of Tokyo's Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, has developed on-board terminals that connect to cloud-based computing systems that allow communications between cars on the same road and provide information designed to encourage the driver to maintain a relatively constant driving distance between the vehicles in front. In other words, tail-gating is bad for both traffic and fuel economy, and Honda's system discourages it. Honda will conduct the first public-road tests of the product in Italy and Indonesia starting next month.

The system differs from traffic monitoring systems that have been part of other vehicles' communication systems in that it provides color-coded displays to indicate whether the driver needs to drive smoother and make his or her acceleration and deceleration more gradual. Honda says its system, when tested in a group of cars, boosted average speed by 23 percent and increased fuel economy of trailing vehicles by eight percent. Not bad for some cloud computing.Continue reading Honda says new driving-monitoring system cuts traffic jams, boosts fuel economy
Honda says new driving-monitoring system cuts traffic jams, boosts fuel economy originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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