The idea here is to remove traffic lights from intersections and embed them on your windshield instead. As your car approaches an intersection, a virtual traffic light appears on your windshield telling you to stop, then turns green when it is your turn to go. If there are no other cars approaching the intersection, you roll on through without having to slow down.

Click the link and watch the video to get a sense of how this might work.

The efficiency here is obvious. With the traditional traffic light system, one direction always has a red light, even if no cars are coming in the other direction. Virtual traffic lights can mirror the existing system, but will eliminate the frustration of waiting at a red light when it is obvious there is no competing traffic in the cross street.

The hazards are also obvious. A system like this depends on all cars on the road using connected vehicle technology (CVT), as it is known in the US. CVT is what makes driverless cars possible, allowing multiple vehicles to negotiate with each other to share the road. Until all cars have CVT, a system like this is impossible. But that said, CVT is coming and it will eventually be mandatory.