FILE - In this July 20, 2015 file photo, a pedestrian crosses
in front of a vehicle as part of a demonstration at Mcity on its
opening day on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor,
Mich. Cars that wirelessly talk to each other are finally ready
for the road, creating the potential to dramatically reduce
traffic deaths, improve the safety of self-driving cars and
someday maybe even help solve traffic jams, automakers and
government officials say. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
Photo by
The
Associated Press /Times Free Press.
WASHINGTON (AP) - All new cars and light trucks would be able
to talk wirelessly with each other, with traffic lights and with
other roadway infrastructure under a proposal released Tuesday
by the Transportation Department. Officials say the technology
holds the potential to dramatically reduce traffic deaths and
transform driving.
Vehicle-to-vehicle communications, or V2V, enables cars to
transmit their locations, speed, direction and other information
ten times per second. That lets cars detect, for example, when
another vehicle is about to run a red light, is braking hard,
changing lanes or coming around a blind turn in time for a
driver to prevent a crash.
The technology has the potential to prevent or mitigate the
severity of up to 80 percent of collisions that don't involve
alcohol or drugs, officials said.
Automakers and the government have been working together on
developing and testing the technology for more than a decade.
Under the department's proposal, V2V systems would be required
to "speak the same language" through standardized messaging the
government has developed with industry.
The Federal Highway Administration plans to separately issue
guidance to help transportation planners integrate two-way
wireless technology into roadway infrastructure such as traffic
lights, stop signs and work zones. Cars could communicate
information on road conditions to the infrastructure, which
could then be passed along to other vehicles as they come along.
Traffic lights would know when to stay green to avoid
unnecessary waiting and reduce congestion.
Automakers have said the technology is ready for the road,
but they've been waiting for government regulations to ensure
compatibility.
There is a 90-day comment period before the proposal can be
made final, and there are often gaps of months or years between
when rules are proposed and when they are made final. The
proposal calls for 50 percent of new vehicles to have the
technology within two years after a final rule is issued, and
100 percent of vehicles with four years.
It would still take years or even decades after that for the
full potential of V2V to be realized. That's because V2V can
prevent collisions only among vehicles equipped with the
technology. It takes decades for the entire fleet of vehicles on
the road to turn over. But the process of spreading V2V
throughout the fleet may go faster if, as expected, devices are
developed that enable motorists to add the technology to older
vehicles.
V2V's range is up to about 1,000 yards in all directions,
even when sight is blocked by buildings or other obstacles. That
gives the technology the advantage of being able to detect a
potential collision before the driver can see the threat, unlike
the sensors and cameras of self-driving cars that sense what's
immediately around the vehicle.
Ultimately, self-driving cars that are also equipped with V2V
may be the answer to traffic congestion because they'll be able
to synchronize their movements so that they can merge seamlessly
and travel in long, closely packed caravans at higher speeds,
according to government and industry officials. That would
improve traffic flow and increase highway capacity.
The DOT proposal requires automakers to follow cybersecurity
guidelines the department issued in October.
To protect privacy, V2V messages are anonymous - they don't
contain any information on the driver, owner of the vehicle,
make or model, vehicle identification number or license plate.
The messages are also of brief duration and not retained,
therefore it's not possible for a hacker to use the messages to
determine where a vehicle has been, said Debra Bezzina, an
engineer with the University of Michigan's Transportation
Research Institute who works on the technology.
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http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/national/business/story/2016/dec/13/govt-require-cars-be-able-talk-each-other/402788/