Vehicle to Vehicle Communication May End Traffic Jams
Vehicle safety technology has improved greatly in recent years. Rear mounted radar alerts you of unseen objects immediately behind you. Automatic high-beam control will illuminate and dim your headlights for you. Automatic braking systems can react quicker than your reflexes in the event of a sudden traffic stop. But nothing compares to the next generation of vehicle safety technology: vehicle to vehicle communication.
Vehicle to vehicle communication has the potential to reduce the severity of up to 80% of collisions that don’t involve drugs or alcohol. V2V communication is just what it sounds like. It enables cars to transmit their speed, direction, location and other vital information 10 times per second. This means that your vehicle will be able to detect when another is about to run a stop sign, red light, change lanes or even come around a blind turn. It holds the potential to reduce traffic deaths dramatically—more than any other innovation in driving to date.
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx says that, “V2V will provide 360-degree situational awareness on the road.” The Federal Highway Administration is getting in on this technology, too. They plan to issue guidance that will help transportation planners integrate two-way wireless technology into highway infrastructure. This would include stops signs, traffic lights and work zones. For example, it would communicate to a traffic light to stay green to reduce congestion.
If this new vehicle to vehicle communication proposal goes through, 50% of new vehicles will have this technology within two years of the final ruling, and 100% within four years. With the onset of this new technology, we can expect that there will be new devices created to integrate V2V into older vehicles as well.
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