Patent ID: 7525417

Claim:
A method for managing observable information in a front of a vehicle and providing a representation of said information to a rear of said vehicle in the form of a local optical signal, said method comprising: monitoring, at said vehicle, a remote signal, said remote signal being one selected from the group consisting of: interrupted, changed brightness and steady; determining a status of said monitored remote signal; determining a distance between a vehicle transmitting said remote signal and said vehicle, said distance being selected from the group consisting of: an estimated distance value and an actual distance value; determining a speed of said vehicle; determining an action responsive to said monitored signal status, said determined distance and said speed, activating a local optical signal in response to said determined action, said determined action causing at least one of an interruption of said local optical signal at a first known rate and a changed brightness; initiating said local optical signal in response to a local action at said vehicle, wherein said initiation causes at least one of an interruption of said local optical signal at a second known rate and a changed brightness of said local optical signal, supplementing any initiation of said local optical signal with said activation of a local optical signal in response to said determined action; and inhibiting said supplementing of said local optical signal when at least one of: interruption of said local optical signal at said second known rate occurs and said determined distance is greater than a known distance criterion.