EDITORIAL: Stop and go

Navigating Las Vegas roads takes a combination of courage, vigilance and steely resolve. Motorists lacking a deep well of patience will struggle while traversing the ubiquitous orange barrel obstacle courses, fending off the inconsiderate tailgater or sitting at a three-minute red light.

Can technology come to the rescue?

On Tuesday, officials with Audi were in town to unveil a system that provides real-time information to drivers about the length of red lights. The company is working with about 10 cities — including Las Vegas — to allow its newer model vehicles to tap into traffic management data and relay it to drivers.

Approach a red light in an Audi Q7 or A4 and a dashboard display will tell you how long before the signal goes green.

“This is just a baby step toward making drivers feel more comfortable in their vehicles,” said Tina Quigley, general manager of the Regional Transportation Commission.

Of course, the gap between the wow factor and practicality is often large when it comes to these types of “smart” advancements. And at what point — especially with traffic deaths soaring nationwide — do we reach a point of electronic overload in our vehicles?

An Audi official said the development would help relax drivers by providing them more information about wait times as they approach intersections. That seems an optimistic hypothesis. Because any veteran of the Las Vegas driving scene knows exactly how a great many local motorists will respond when they approach a yellow light armed with a warning that the looming red signal will last for more than two minutes.

And it doesn’t involve hitting the brakes.