The US Department of Transportation is planning to launch a real-world test of vehicles that can “communicate” with each other next year in the vicinity of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The 3,000 cars equipped with the Denso-developed technology will help the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration assess whether it should make such systems mandatory in future vehicles in order to avoid accidents. The decision is not expected before 2013.
“Safety is our number one priority, and this research could save lives and prevent injuries,” commented US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “With more than 30,000 people a year killed in our nation’s roads, we need to keep looking for new ways to improve safety and reduce fatalities”.
The research, named “Safety Pilot”, is the second part of a program labeled “Connected Vehicle” and will be carried out by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, which has been awarded a $14.9 million contract from the DoT. Cars will use existing technologies such as GPS and wireless communication and onboard computers to share their location with other vehicles and warn its drivers of impeding accidents.
“The technology is here today, and it works,” said vice president of wireless technology at Denso International America who earlier this week made a demonstration to journalists in Detroit: as a test car approached a crossroads and another passed through the intersection, a screen on the first car warned the driver to apply the brakes.
The test will be carried out from August 2012 to August 2013. But even if its results show a considerable decrease in accidents and the NHTSA eventually decides to make the systems mandatory, it will be still a few years since their implementation in new cars.
