The monitor "watches" deceleration (=slow down) and distance from a light - and "guesses" which cars are likely to break the Highway Code. Most importantly, the software can provide two seconds' warning if someone else is about to shoot across a crossroads - enough time for other drivers to hit the brakes. Jonathan How, the Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, says "smart" cars of the future may use the system to help drivers foresee and avoid potential accidents. The researchers tested the algorithm on data collected from an intersection   in Virginia, finding that it accurately identified potential violators within a couple of seconds of reaching a red light -- enough time, according to the researchers, for other drivers at an intersection to be able to react to the threat if alerted  . Compared to other efforts to model driving behavior, the MIT algorithm brought fewer false alarms, an important advantage for systems providing guidance to human drivers. The researchers report their findings in a paper that will appear in the journal IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems. We can learn from the passage that the algorithm   _  .
has been in use on a large scale. can send out a warning a few minutes earlier. must be connected with a powerful computer. is still in a theoretical stage.