bmw enlighten

Here's an app that BMW drivers will find useful at a traffic light. You've just stopped at one, and at that second while you're waiting, you pull out some text, in the form of an old-fashioned hardcopy mail and start reading (bet you thought we'd say your phone right? no, we don't condone texting and driving). Next thing you know, you get honked from behind because of your inattention to the traffic lights, which already turned green many seconds ago.

An app called EnLighten by Connected Signals solves this problem by letting you know if a traffic light is about to turn red or green. To elaborate on how the app works, it knows when you're approaching a traffic light and how long the red light will stay red through a countdown timer; a few seconds before it's about to turn green, the app chimes, so you'll know when it's time to pay attention to the road again.

Furthermore, it doesn't just tell you when the lights are about to turn green, it lets you know whether or not you'll make or miss the next green light based on the speed your vehicle is travelling. Additionally, integrating it with your BMW lets the app display the driver's desired turn based on the car's signal indicator.

BMW EnLighten_App__Dual_Signal

BMW says that the app will help make city-driving easier, allowing drivers to anticipate a traffic light's signal changes, thereby increasing safety and even save owners a little bit of fuel as it avoids "unnecessary acceleration." Interesting.

Hold it, before you start downloading, do take note, it's only available on iOS devices and in some 200 cities in the US only, so you can't actually get it here, at least not anytime soon, but since BMW and Connected Signals are said to be evaluating more cities, there's a sliver of a chance it might make it here.