Connected vehicle technology could soon become a lot more prevalent, if the Department of Transportation has its way.
The agency this week proposed a rule that would require vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication technology on all new light-duty vehicles. If the rule goes through, such technologies, once fully deployed, would prevent "hundreds of thousands of crashes every year" by enabling vehicles to share information with each other, the Department said in a news release.
V2V devices would transmit data such as location, direction, and speed to nearby vehicles up to 10 times a second, the agency said. They could then use that information to "identify risks and provide warnings to drivers to avoid imminent crashes."
The proposed rule has been a long time coming; US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx first directed the Department's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to begin work on the rulemaking in 2014.
"We are carrying the ball as far as we can to realize the potential of transportation technology to save lives," Foxx said in a statement. "This long promised V2V rule is the next step in that progression. Once deployed, V2V will provide 360-degree situational awareness on the road and will help us enhance vehicle safety."
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The agency's Federal Highway Administration also soon plans to issue guidance for Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) technology, which allows vehicles to communicate with roadway infrastructure such as traffic lights and stop signs. The guidance is meant to help transportation planners adopt these new technologies.
"NHTSA estimates that safety applications enabled by V2V and V2I could eliminate or mitigate the severity of up to 80 percent of non-impaired crashes, including crashes at intersections or while changing lanes," the Department said.
The proposed V2V rule will be open for public comment for 90 days.