Gellar, a psychology professor at Virginia Tech, has developed a device along with some colleagues that he says could reduce road rage by letting drivers communicate with a system of flashing lights. The researchers see their project as a positive substitute for obscene gestures and muttered curses that drivers typically employ to communicate anger with each other. Their invention is currently winding its way through the US patent system. Gellar and Beasley plan to begin testing the device with a small group of volunteers next week. After that, they are hoping to test whether the device would work if adopted by an entire community.
Regulators have strict controls on the use of electronic devices to convey messages among drivers.
Gellar said he's not going to let a little problem like that interfere with his crusade against discourteous driving. However, he'll have to deal with a few skeptics who say that more communication may not be the answer for overcoming road rage. James said he'd like to see more research into whether light flashing devices would be useful. There's the AutoCam, a video recording system for tracking tailgaters, and the Road Rage Toy , a device for posting messages to other drivers. James said he expects the next leap in driver communication will come when companies start manufacturing cars with Internet access, which could allow drivers to send messages back and forth.