Written by, Andrea Busch
Picture this: You turn onto your block and proceed to stop at the four way stop sign located at the end of the block. As you stop you notice another driver speeding down the road, clearly not going to stop. What if there was some way your car and the other car could communicate with another to avoid an accident? Or you could warn other drivers on the road about that driver? To many peoples’ excitement and others’ dismay, the NHTSA has proposed V2V devices to do just that.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has conducted field trials on over 3,000 vehicles to test the proposed V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle) system. They are proposing that by 2020 all new cars will be equipped with the technology to allow vehicles in the same vicinity to “talk” to one another. Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications comprises a wireless network where automobiles send messages to each other with information about what they’re doing. At the most basic level, the V2V system will warn drivers about roadside hazards and traffic information using some type of alert such as a red flashing light inside the vehicle. The first generation system will warn drivers about potential hazards but unlike Subaru’s Eyesight System it will not take control of the vehicle.
The system will operate over a “wifi-like” network using dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) through a transponder. Communication could occur with vehicles up to 1000 feet away, in other words between cars as much as 10 seconds highway speed apart.
Anthony Foxx, US Secretary of Transportation, said in a statement that “the potential of this technology is absolutely enormous” and can “help drivers avoid 70 to 80 percent of crashes.” Drivers will receive audible and visual warnings to prevent an accident before it happens but other issues of private market penetration, cost, consumer acceptance, and hitting critical mass are still being considered.
We want to know what you think about this new technology! Write us a comment below.
http://www.dougnewcomb.com/2014/02/07/how-soon-until-cars-talk-to-each-other/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DougNewcomb+%28Doug+Newcomb%29
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/176093-v2v-what-are-vehicle-to-vehicle-communications-and-how-does-it-work
