In February 2014, United States officials said that in an effort to improve safety they may soon require automakers to equip all new cars and light trucks with technology that allows vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication.
V2V feedback would occur over a wireless frequency called Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC) which allows a vehicle to consistently transmit its location, speed and the direction it is headed in to another vehicle. The technology, studied by the Transportation Department, can send signals up to 300 yards and then sound an alert if a collision was imminent. The technology could work even if the oncoming car wasn’t visible to the driver as often occurs in a blind spot collision.
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in news conference that the goal is to have a proposal that will be developed before the administration closes its doors” in 2017. According to a study of 3,000 vehicles by the Transportation Department, such technology could help avoid collisions by as much as 80 percent.
However, the considered proposal is not without some resistance. In an article discussing V2V communications in The Wall Street Journal the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers trade group agreed that What remains to be addressed is security and privacy, along with consumer acceptance, affordability, achieving the critical mass to enable the ‘network effect’ and establishment of the necessary legal and regulatory framework,”
Additionally, automakers are worried about getting sued if passengers in a vehicle with crash-avoidance technology are still severely injured in a crash. Columbus car accident attorneys may also need to figure out what guidelines may be needed for filing a lawsuit over faulty V2V communications.
With global positioning systems (GPS) already equipped in many vehicles as well as data from cellphones being circulated, many consumers are worried that companies and the government are receiving too much information without consent. With new corporations having their data compromised most every week, these studies need to also take into consideration what could happen if someone was able to illegally access a vehicles V2V system.
Alert systems already exist in some vehicles, for example, General Motors is working on patenting a vibrating seat that will warn drivers while Ford is looking to patent a vibrating steering wheel.
However, until more studies are completed and security and privacy issues are discussed it is likely many consumers will avert this new technology no matter how much safer it could make our roadways.