Could ‘Car Communication’ Make Driving Safer?

By Staff Writer

While the idea sounds like it comes from a movie set 50 or 100 years in the future, researchers are beginning to believe that they are close to implementing a lifesaving car technology. I’m talking about vehicle-to-vehicle communication. Last weekend the World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems was held in Detroit where the buzz about connected cars came back around.

This is not a new concept. In 1999, the Federal Communications Commission allocated part of the wireless spectrum for Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC). Their thought was this space would allow for specifically designed vehicles and related infrastructure to transfer information to each other. Then in 2002, the NHTSA began studying connected cars with DSRC technology.

Eight of the biggest automakers—Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai-Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen—became involved in 2011. This many manufacturers means that DSRC that is being developed on an open platform; thus, allowing all vehicles, regardless of brand, to be able to communicate with one another.

Now, carmakers are one-step closer to this becoming reality. According to Consumer Reports they will soon be testing vehicle-to-vehicle communication on 3,000 cars.

How talking cars protect drivers and passengers

Vehicle-to-vehicle communication is commonly referred to as V2V or V2X. V2V is designed to help prevent crashes in a number of scenarios. Through conducting driver clinics over the past few years, volunteers have been able to test the technology and see how it helps avoid disastrous accidents. Some of the ways V2V can make cars safer include:

• Intersection assistAn alarm alerts upon approaching an intersection if another vehicle is traveling at a speed that could mean they will run a red light or stop sign and hit your car in the side.
• Left-turn assistAn alarm that alerts you there’s not enough time to make a left-hand turn because of oncoming vehicles.
• Do-not-pass warningAn alarm that warns you there is a vehicle in the opposite direction that makes it unsafe to pass a slower-moving vehicle.
• Advance warning of a vehicle braking aheadAn alert that signals to you that two or more cars (in the same lane) out of sight has hit their brakes; thus, preventing rear-end collisions.
• Forward-collision warningAn alert that signals to you that you’re speeding enough that you could hit a slower-moving vehicle, as well as, alerting you of vehicles stopped in your lane.
• Blind-spot/lane-change warningAn alert that warns that there is a car in your blind spot and when you’ve turned on your turn signal when it’s unable to change lanes.

If you have been injured in an accident and believe texting while driving or distracted driving is to blame, please schedule a free consultation with Knoxville car accident attorneys at Gilreath & Associates today, or continue browsing our knowledge center and blog for more information.

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