New car-to-car tech may help reduce accidents, traffic

Mumbai: Over the past few years, automobile technology has improved immensely and now tech firms are burning the candle at both ends to develop self-driving cars.

While the fate of self-driving cars remains blurry, researchers are testing a simpler car communication technology that can reduce the propensity of road accidents.

The technology dubbed, Car-to-Car communications, is a much simpler concept that involves broadcasting of speeds, bearing, and transmitting other data between cars over a distance of 100 metres.

According to an MIT report, the system can alert onboard computers and safety systems to avoid road mishaps and the technology is all set for its first commercial testing on the roads of Sunnyvale, California.

While most modern cars feature radars and proximity sensors to alert drivers about impending hazards, the scopes of those devices are limited—they cannot alert drivers in scenarios such as blind curves, or an impending T-Bone collision.

Also, sudden braking is one problem on roads, which no sensors can identify till date. A car, on most occasions, ends up colliding with another vehicle in front of it during a sudden breaking scenario.  

Researchers have said that this new Car-to-Car communications technology will significantly help in avoiding the aforementioned scenarios, and also help in maintaining road safety.

Apart from the Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) interaction technology, there is a related mechanism, dubbed Car-to-Infrastructure that could prove useful in maintaining free flowing traffic—vehicles working in collaboration with modified traffic lights and road signals.

The same report also pointed out that the US Dept. of Transportation (DOT) in 2012-13 showed considerable interest in enhancing the scope of this technology; they also organised a large-scale test in Michigan, involving 2,800 cars equipped with two-way radio equipment and data recorders.

However, the US DOT has since then stalled the project, citing high cost barriers and the hesitancy of carmakers in mandating the technology. Other than these factors, there were doubts regarding the wireless technology requisites—5G or LTE.

Well, the initiation of the new test runs on the roads of California, which is being conducted by Nissan and wireless tech company Savari comes as an encouraging move. Soon people might be able to reap the benefits of this simple yet immensely useful technology.