TRAFFICMASTER has launched Trafficmaster Oracle, its first original equipment product which is to be fitted to 100,000 Vauxhall Vectra GLS, SRi and CDX models and is a £95 option on LS models. And within the next year the company expects to sell 200,000 Trafficmaster Oracle units.

The new system, which is free to users for the first year and then costs £24 a year, provides audible information on motorway traffic flows through a vehicle's standard audio system. Using Trafficmaster's network of 2,500 infra-red sensors mostly located on flyovers, live data is broadcast via a series of transmitters to the car. Oracle decodes the information and converts it into speech messages which override the car stereo. It will alert drivers to any traffic problems that will affect their journey to within two junctions or 10 miles in front of them.