Traffic - Does it Drive You Mad?

Traffic is a part of our everyday lives. Whether we like it or not, pretty much every single day we will be involved in some form of traffic, be it planes, trains or automobiles, and of course humans. However, one thing which we definitely cannot control, is how all this traffic can end up in the same place at any one given time - usually when we least want it to!

However what we can do is to make informative decisions to try and avoid these types of scenarios. There have been many stories regarding the prevalence of surveillance states, and to a large extent it could be argued that they infringe on our civil liberties. However, as with all technology, it can be harnessed for beneficial methods. Take the example of the recent report on the BBC illustrating near-misses on rail crossing lines. At first glance it's either going to make you cringe or laugh. That's because we're either seeing what we view as a means to entertain ourselves at the misdemeanours of certain 'eccentrics' or we're utilise what we see in a bid to never try it ourselves.The latter point emphasising how the same scenario can come to our aid i.e. how to avoid an accident.

A camera can be therefore used for both beneficial requirements as well as pose as a hindrance to our freedom. If the technology is used to provide the user with a means to assess the traffic / road conditions at a particular location, can we reduce the number of accidents on our roads / highways? It's a bold statement and an impressive one if actualised. However why not? By utilising real time / live information why can we not use this to, say, avoid a certain stretch on a highway which has a high build up of traffic due to a closure at one of the junctions, or to see if the high street has a high percentage of shoppers (meaning I'm going to give it a miss until it dies down)?

Yes, there are alternative sources of info, notably traffic alerts; however these are all subject to updates which, by the time you visit the scene of the incident, the news is potentially out of date. That's not to say live cams are fool-proof, far from it, however the argument is that they provide a more up-to-the-minute analysis of what is going on, and with increasing developments in mobile technologies, anyone can view these regardless of where they are.

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