America’s Department of Transportation’s (DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), says it will start taking steps to enable vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication technology for light vehicles.
This technology would improve safety by allowing vehicles to ‘talk’ to each other and, maintains the NHTSA, ultimately avoid many crashes altogether by exchanging basic safety data, such as speed and position, ten times per second.
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“Vehicle-to-vehicle technology represents the next generation of auto safety improvements, building on the life-saving achievements we’ve already seen with safety belts and air bags,” said US Transportation Secretary, Anthony Foxx.
“By helping drivers avoid crashes, this technology will play a key role in improving the way people get where they need to go while ensuring the US remains the leader in the global automotive industry.”
DOT research indicates safety applications using V2V technology can address a large majority of crashes involving two or more motor vehicles.
With safety data such as speed and location flowing from nearby vehicles, cars can identify risks and provide drivers with warnings to avoid others in common crash types such as rear-end, lane change and intersection incidents.
These safety applications have been demonstrated with everyday drivers under both real-world and controlled test conditions.
The safety applications currently being developed provide warnings to drivers so they can prevent imminent collisions, but do not automatically operate any vehicle systems, such as braking or steering.
NHTSA is also considering future actions on active safety technologies that rely on on-board sensors. Those technologies are eventually expected to blend with the V2V technology.
NHTSA issued an Interim Statement of Policy in 2013 explaining its approach to these various streams of innovation. In addition to enhancing safety, these future applications and technologies could help drivers to conserve fuel and save time.
