If you’re a regular car driver, you know that cringe-inducing moment when you’re at a traffic light and hear ambulance sirens. Which direction is it coming from? Is everyone paying attention? Followed by the sigh of relief once the emergency vehicles have passed safely. However, there’s a good reason to worry. Ambulances are three times more likely to be in a car accident. Even worse, 80% of those accident occur after picking up the patient.

Designed with this in mind, the Emergency Traffic System seamlessly marries traffic authority with emergency services. The location and route of each ambulance or firetruck is tracked via GPS in real time so that traffic lights can be coordinated to provide the safest and most direct path to and from the scene. Furthermore, a message and visual indicator on the traffic signal lets everyday drivers know that an emergency vehicle is approaching so they can maintain heightened awareness before proceeding with caution.

Designers: Taekkyung Lee & JunYoung IM