Autonomous cars are still part of the future but cars that talk to each other are a reality now. The United States Department of Transportation has proposed a rule that would require all auto manufacturers to equip light-duty cars and trucks with vehicle-to-vehicle communications or V2V.
This rule would go into effect in the year 2019 and there would then be a deadline of 2023 for compliance. DOT believes V2V technology has the potential to prevent hundreds of thousands of crashes each year. The technology allows vehicles to communicate with each other sharing weather conditions and any traffic concerns. This proposed rule would include other safety software as well such as automatic emergency braking.
Cadillac has announced the addition of V2V equipment to their vehicles. The feature will now be standard in cars in the US and Canada. These devices will be able to communicate with other vehicles up to 980 feet away. This system is proposed to be much more effective once all new cars have it. V2V has been said to contain firewalls to keep it protected from interference and also prevent any sharing of personal information so you don’t have to worry about any of that.
As high-tech as this technology sounds it has been estimated that it will only add about $200 to $300 to the price of the car. However, the safety benefits that V2V will produce will not be achieved until a mass amount of cars with this system are on the road. Cars can’t talk to each other if only a few can speak and listen. This is an exciting step forward as technology continues to grow and expand.
