New Technology May Reduce Future Car Wrecks

The automobile industry is currently making huge strides in “smart car” technology. American automobile manufacturers, especially Ford, are in the later stages of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication that will allow cars to “talk” to each other during highway travel and avoid automobile accidents. Essentially V2V systems send wireless data from one vehicle to another. Other cars receive a vehicle’s data and are informed about the speed, location, and movement of the vehicle. If a car’s V2V system receives data that suggests that an accident may occur, the car provides a warning to the driver.

Ford recently debuted its V2V technology at a California auto show. With a combination of GPS and wireless internet, an Explorer prototype equipped with V2V technology sent the car’s travel data up to ten times per second. Meanwhile, the vehicle collected and processed data from other cars, providing a buzzer and flashing red dashboard lights when data suggested that a wreck may occur.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is very supportive of V2V innovation. According to a recent NHTSA report, V2V technology could ultimately prevent 80% of common freeway and highway accidents such as rear-end collisions and lane-change crashes.

The NHTSA expects that V2V technology will not become widespread in the very near future because automobile manufacturers are still working together to develop data uniformity across the industry. However, the NHTSA is expected to release V2V regulations in late 2013. Thus, V2V smart cars could begin to appear as early as 2015.

The focus of V2V technology seems to be new car installation. Very little research and commentary focuses on whether converter packages will be available for car models predating the V2V innovation. Thus, V2V may not have a significant impact on highway safety for several decades.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Drake Law Firm- Personal Injury Lawyers

Whit Drake is the managing partner of Drake Law Firm, a personal injury law firm in Birmingham, Alabama. Handling cases throughout Alabama, Mr. Drake’s focus has been on motor vehicle accidents, wrongful death, construction accidents, and work place injury.