Vehicle to vehicle communication to be tested in Michigan this summer
Vehicles that communicate with one another wirelessly with other vehicles within a 1,000 foot radius are the future of traffic safety technology, according to many automotive safety experts. These future automobiles, prototypes of which will soon be government tested at facilities in Ann Arbor, Michigan, will be able to relay information to one another regarding their positions, directions, and traveling speeds, an average of 10 times per second. This information is then analyzed by a computer system, which can alert drivers to potential dangers before a human driver could ever hope to see, process, and react to the potentially hazardous situation. Nearly 3,000 buses, trucks and cars equipped with this technology will be tested later this summer in a yearlong evaluation meant to determine the effectiveness of this system in real word situations. These vehicles will be operated by volunteer drivers on roadways in simulations of real life traffic scenarios. Higher tech versions of these communication programs do not only warn drivers of impending dangers, but take necessary steps to prevent an imminent accident such as automatically applying the vehicle’s brakes if the driver responds too slowly. More than 32,000 people died in motor vehicle collisions in 2011, and according to safety experts at the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a working vehicle to vehicle communication network could have prevented most of these accidents not involving the use of drugs or alcohol. In addition to applying the brakes when needed, an early warning system connected to surrounding cars could warn a driver preparing to make an unsafe left turn or change lanes under dangerous circumstances.
