What If Cars Could Talk? U.S. Government Unveils 'V2V' System To Avoid Road Accidents

U.S. officials recently announced their proposal on how to speed up the adoption of autonomous vehicles by requiring some of the new cars to communicate with each other and speak the same language as well.

According to the Department of Transportation, U.S automobile regulators want passenger vehicles and light trucks to stream data through wireless about their movements for the purpose of monitoring other vehicles to avoid road accidents.

Under the said proposal, all cars will be able to talk wirelessly with traffic lights and with other roadway infrastructure which will dramatically reduce accidents and traffic on the road. The vehicle communication system is required to be installed in all new light-duty vehicles within four years.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the new technology will work together with the new automated safety devices like auto-braking towards making driverless vehicles a reality.

The said vehicle-to-vehicle communication or V2V would enable cars to transmit their location, direction, and speed ten times per second. This new system will let cars detect when another vehicle is about to run a red light, changing lanes, braking hard, or coming around a blind turn.

U.S officials said that this new technology could potentially prevent or lessen the severity of car accidents that don't involve drugs and alcohol. The government and the automakers have been working hand and hand to develop and test the new technology for almost a decade.

Now, the said technology is ready to be launch and use to car passengers and light trucks in the country. Under the department's proposal, the V2V system is required to speak the same language with the utilization of the standardized messaging that the government has developed.

"We are carrying the ball as far as we can to realize the potential of transportation technology to save lives," Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said.

As of now, the automakers said that the new technology is ready for the road. However, they are still waiting for the U.S government regulations to ensure the compatibility.