The U.S. Department of Transportation announced that it will require all new cars to implement Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication to reduce car crashes by up to 80 percent. The technology will be phased in over a number of years.
V2V technology, which has often been associated with self-driving cars, is not actually necessary for self-driving cars to work, but it could be another way in which to identify obstacles in traffic. It could also be used in regular cars, which combined with some kind of automatic assistance could drastically reduce accidents.
The V2V technology is essentially a wireless signal through which cars can communicate with other vehicles in proximity to them. They will share things such as speed and direction, and if there’s any danger, the drivers can be warned about it or the automatic assistance can be engaged to avoid an accident.
Cars that use V2V technology may also be able to communicate with infrastructure such as stop signs, letting drivers know how long until the light changes.
The new proposed rule will be adopted over a period of years, after it clears administrative hurdles and after the public had enough time to comment on it. Although it has a major positive in that it can significantly reduce crashes, the technology could potentially be used by malicious actors to hack other cars or track certain cars over wide areas. Private corporations may also be able to use that information for their own purposes unless there are strict regulations against it.
That’s why both the technology and the regulatory framework will need to be robust enough by the time it’s deployed in all new cars.
Lucian Armasu is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware. You can follow him at @lucian_armasu.
