The future of vehicle safety is moving more and more toward in-car electronic systems that will be able to prevent accidents, and the European Union has taken a major step in laying the foundation for some of that automated safety equipment. The EU enacted a new regulation on Friday that reserves an EU-wide frequency band for automotive use.
The latest step is just one part of the EU’s 2006 Intelligent Car Initiative, which is intended to reduce vehicle accident and congestion throughout Europe.
The reserved frequency will be used for “immediate and reliable communications between cars, and between cars and roadside infrastructure,” according to Motor Authority. Although no current vehicles have the technology to use the new frequency, by the turn of the decade cars are expected to be equipped with the technology to ‘talk’ to each other, as well as warn drivers about upcoming traffic jams or traffic accidents. EU officials are hopeful that the new lines of communication will be able to reduce the number of traffic accidents, and therefore reduce the corresponding numbers injuries and deaths.
The U.S. and Japan have already enacted similar regulations to protect frequencies for vehicle applications.
Individually, many automakers have already begun experimenting with vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-road communication, with Ford’s ‘smart intersection’ leading the way for U.S. manufacturers.
08/08, 5:25 PM
posted by:
acura_el2000
This could get annoying.
08/08, 7:02 PM
posted by:
beatusmongous
Just another step toward driverless cars. Pretty soon, Blackberry and iPhone addicts won’t have to worry about the annoyance of driving.
08/08, 7:12 PM
posted by:
sprockkets
If it just tells other cars I got into an accident, fine. I doubt a creamed car would be able to still work. But what’s next, a car that transmits its speed for easy cop pullovers? Automatically slams on the brakes for you? I’m sure that won’t cause accidents on non equipped vehicles.
I’m more worried about how lawmakers want a black box put into the car.
How about this? in 2011, R-134a, the refrigerant for your car a/c, will be banned in the EU. It’s the R-12 bull**** all over again. Do they have a replacement yet? No.
Reference? http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2006/l_161/l_16120060614en00120018.pdf
Want to see how R-134a behaves? Turn a compress air can upside down and that is R-134a.
08/09, 12:46 AM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
Anyone remember that idiotic 1st to 4th skip shift feature on the last generation manual transmission V8 Camaros and Trans Ams? I know this isn’t even remotely the same thing, but I defy you to find one of those cars where the owner didn’t have that little brainstorm defeated in a big ****ing hurry. Clones and pussies will eat this stuff up. To the rest of us it’s just more big brother.
08/09, 2:18 AM
posted by:
Got Handling?
With average speed monitoring systems on European motorways that track your average speed over 1km using small hard-to-notice number plate recognition cameras, the Big Brother worries are moot since its already here. At least this type of system could monitor really hazardous behaviour like tailgating and bad lane discipline.
Personally I’m happy to see a change in focus to active safety systems rather than ever-heavier passive systems that turn family vehicles into 2-ton tanks with little thought to the safety of occupants of other vehicles that they may collide with. These systems would only be economically viable on major roads and could reduce accidents and journey times, meanwhile keen drivers could still get their kicks on backroads.
Done right this could result in lighter cars that use less fuel, negotiate dull, motorway driving automatically and let the driver enjoy their new nimble characteristics on entertaining roads.
08/09, 9:41 AM
posted by:
DeansterTJ
A system like this already exists. It’s called taking the ****ing bus or subway. You can txt or read a book without watching the road.
08/09, 11:42 AM
posted by:
maxcar
have you seen the personal rapid transit pods used at heathrow airport’s new terminal 5:
http://www.ultraprt.com/
08/09, 12:09 PM
posted by:
1c3d0g
Big Brother is watching you…
08/09, 2:23 PM
posted by:
Scarface03
I’m with Got Handling? 100% on this. The more cars talk to one another on the road, the safer we all are. What we’re talking about here are relatively minor hardware and software upgrades so that cars can detect (or receive signals about) hazards and react. It’ll take some time to perfect the system, but I wager that well over 90% of all accidents could be avoided if someone had just hit their brake pedal a few seconds (or fractions thereor) sooner.
08/10, 12:24 AM
posted by:
beatusmongous
Deanster, I wish I could use a subway, but they don’t exist where I live, and they never will. Our bus system is also useless, as it takes an hour to travel what I drive in 15 minutes, and the buses are riddled with the city’s rejects and homeless people. I know if I rode a bus in my town, someone would stab me in the face and steal my laptop. However, one thing that our city is trying to do is create a free WiFi connection on the buses, but I highly doubt that will change driving habits here since our buses are so slow. This new idea of driverless cars is coming, as much as I don’t want it to. But I fear we drivers are the minority, and people would much rather ride in the comfort of their own vehicle while they eat their fried chicken.
Did anyone ever hear the lawsuit about the guy that sued the motorhome manufacturer that made a motorhome he bought? The guy bought a motorhome, drove it off the lot, took it up on the freeway, activated the cruise control, and the got up out of his seat, went to the back and made a cup of coffee. The motorhome obviously went off the freeway and crashed, and the guy was injured. The guy won the lawsuit on the grounds that he was never warned that the cruise control was not an “autopilot.”
08/10, 10:23 AM
posted by:
DeansterTJ
^ outrageous.
Did you hear about the guy in MAintoba, Canada who severed the head of another passenger on a Greyhound bus 2 weeks ago? A week later it happened again in Santorini, Greece (although not on a bus that time). Crazy
08/10, 11:02 AM
posted by:
beatusmongous
Yeah, I heard about that. The fact that people just screamed and ran, and no one did anything, is even worse to me. I would have grabbed my backpack and smacked the assailant in the face with it. People are going nuts, and we have to take care of ourselves and our families.
08/11, 1:51 AM
posted by:
DriveCritic
I can see its benefits but the introduction of something like this will spell the end of driving as we know it. Sad but in some ways, inevitable that it will come down to think within the next 15 years, if not, sooner.
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This post has been listed on http://www.DriveCritic.com/
08/11, 9:47 AM
posted by:
mayer_ray_nagin
Gents, Snopes.com labels that cruise control/auto-pilot story as the stuff of urban legends, with different variations appearing at different times.
http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/cruise.asp
08/11, 10:58 AM
posted by:
mg198242
“beatusmongous” is right, people are going crazy and nuts and we have to take care of our families! Where the he** is my old AK-47…
08/11, 11:53 AM
posted by:
RaineMan
Great… more electronic nannies. Better keep the cars you have now gents… and buy spare parts… the new ones are going to be too sophisticated and full of government safety controls. I see nothing but problems in the future. Those of us who are in our 20s and 30s now will be telling our grandkids “I remember the days when I could actually drive the car… now you just get in and the darn machine does it all for you.”