For folks who know me – the answer isn’t because fiber can keep me from driving. Although that might make the roads safer. No, the exciting news is that Ohio is about to pilot a smart road that will track and compile information that will help the Department of Transportation make changes to improve driving.

According to GCN…

By the end of next summer, sensors on a 35-mile stretch of highway in Ohio could be providing real-time road, weather and traffic data to the state.

The Ohio Department of Transportation is upgrading its Smart Mobility Corridor with high-capacity fiber-optic cables that connect to embedded and wireless sensors — a new network that ODOT officials say  will ultimately provide data to researchers and traffic monitors. …

This means research and manufacturing facilities would be able to test their smart transportation technologies on a road through both rural and urban terrain in all four seasons. The route already hosts testing with auto manufacturers and suppliers, including the Transportation Research Center, which is a partner in this project.

And here’s an example of the difference it can make…

The collected data would result in more frequent and accurate information about traffic, congestion, weather and surface conditions, which the agency can use for traffic management operations and incident management improvements.

For example, if a connected vehicle hits a patch of black ice and the tires slip, the information would be sent to ODOT, which could then quickly dispatch a salt truck. Sensors detecting sudden temperature drops or a reduction in speed indicating traffic congestion could pass the information to vehicles. Along with vehicle-to-infrastructure information sharing, this technology facilitates vehicle-to-vehicle communication, which could send warnings directly to drivers about incidents related to nearby vehicles or traffic.