Feds Consider Mandating New Cars To Talk To Each Other
By KYW Tech Editor Ian Bush
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's technology that could keep you safer behind the wheel, and now the government is proposing to require automakers to include it in new cars and light trucks.
Vehicle-to-vehicle -- or V2V -- communication lets one ride 'talk' to another.
"They can account for all the vehicles around them. Which means they're able to identify possible crashes and can warn drivers in time to avoid those crashes," says U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx.
Foxx says the person behind the wheel still has to react, though some carmakers already have accident avoidance systems that help brake or steer clear of a collision.
"V2V can also help reduce congestion and save fuel. The potential of this technology is absolutely enormous," says Foxx.
It works by exchanging data like speed and travel direction 10 times a second over the Dedicated Short-Range Communications network, a dedicated chunk of spectrum that enables cars to pass information within 300 yards of one another.
But don't look for it under the hood anytime soon. This is just the start of a long public comment and rulemaking process that Foxx says he hopes to complete before the end of 2016.
