Some hope new technology could help make driving safer and researchers believe UConn could play a major part.
From an area filled with abadoned buildings to a state of the art driving testing facility, there are big plans in the works for UConn’s Depot Campus in Mansfield.
“We're very focused on how to make the roadways safer,” Connecticut Transportation Institute Executive Director Eric Jackson said.
Jackson explained the vision for smart city research a few miles from the Storrs campus.
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Testing would include a track for autonomous vehicles and facilities to explore new driving technologies.
“How do we create better vehicles, but how do we create vehicles that that cannot crash or that are able to sense the environment around them and prevent the vehicle from being involved in a crash?” Jackson said.
Take for instance, drivers running red lights.
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It’s something NBC CT Investigates has been tracking as part of our Reckless on Our Roads series.
From New Haven to Hartford and across the state, it’s a problem that could be addressed with high-tech advancements.
“A traffic signal that knew if a car was going to run the red light and it could actually make that car apply its brakes so it wouldn't run through the the intersection. Or if two cars can talk to each other and those cars know that they're going to on a collision course, the brakes can be applied,” Jackson said.
Right now, the proposal calls for a private developer to buy 15 acres of the campus and then work to build the site with UConn.
It would be one of the only facilities in the Northeast, allowing students to get hands on experience, help launch businesses and potentially make driving safer.
“My ultimate goal is to get the driver assistance piece going and to prevent motor vehicle crashes from occurring,” Jackson said.
The UConn Board of Trustees is expected to vote soon on the land sale.
And depending on how everything goes it could take a year to get some changes going out here.
