The National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations says it will decide by next year whether it will mandate vehicle-to-vehicle communication as a way to reduce traffic accidents.
Although not a new technology, vehicle-to-vehicle communication is still in its infancy stage, but holds tremendous potential to reduce the number of injuries and deaths sustained on American roadways. The technology essentially allows vehicles to “talk†to each other to avoid a crash.
“We have been working on this notion for over a decade,†NHTSA Administrator David Strickland told the Detroit Free Press. “It’s time to go fishing. We’re done cutting bait.â€
Strickland says the NHTSA is just wrapping up a study on the merits of vehicle-to-vehicle communication and will decide whether to mandate the technology for future vehicles by 2013.
Although a decision on the matter is still at least a year off, it seems likely that some kind of legislation will be passed. The NHTSA believes that about 80 percent of crashes could be avoided through the use of vehicle communication technology.
However, changes won’t come overnight. Vehicle-to-vehicle communication technology is believed to be about 10 years away from production viability, and it could be even longer until the mandate would take effect.
About 33,000 people lost their lives on U.S. roadways in 2010, marking a 25 percent reduction from just four years earlier.
