The government and
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced on Monday that they have been working with atuomakers to introduce a proposal inserting cars with radio signal transmission, allowing communication vehicle-to-vehicle communication (V2V) with the driver, as well as with other cars, in an effort to make driving safer.
Federal transportation officials said the technology could have "game changing potential" due to a set of signals and alerts to warn drivers of other cars near their location among other data. Officials stated that the proposal is years away from implementation but has been in progress for decades.
Radio Signals
Radio signals would allow cars and trucks to give off their location, direction and velocity, among other information which can be used to prevent an accident. Cars with the same technology would be able to receive the information and warn the driver. Essentially, this technology would allow other drivers to "see" another vehicle that might cause a threat to the passengers inside such as whether a car around the corner is running a red light. As well, it could indicate if a vehicle is stopping abruptly even if its a couple cars away.
The purpose of the radio signal technology is prevention instead of just making cars safer when
auto accidents do happened. Accidents which may seem avoidable now may be completely avoidable in the future.
Impact on Accidents
If communities chose to invest in this technology it could prevent up to 80% of all accident but only if the majority of the cars have the technology. This would be a complete revamping of the cars available on the market. "It will change driving as we know it over time", said Scott Belcher, president and CEO of the
Intelligent Transportation Society of America, "Automobile makers will rethink how they design and construct cars because they will no longer be constructing cars to survive a crash, but building them to avoid a crash".
Roadways and traffic light systems could benefit from the radio signals and by being able to tell cars a red light is approaching and even automatically slowing the car down according to the Associated Press report. Also, it would have a tremendous impact on reducing drunk driving. The Department of Transportation says that the large majority of crashes involving two or more vehicles could be reduced with the new V2V technology. DOT has tested this technology in Ann Arbor, Michigan and found that the V2V products from different vehicle manufacturers and suppliers has demonstrated that they work in real-world environments.
Privacy Concerns
Naturally, this proposal will meet resistance. However, according to officials, this new V2V technology would not involve exchange or recording of personal information nor would it "track" vehicle movements. The information sent between vehicle does not identify those vehicles, but merely contains basic safety data. According to NHTSA, "the system as contemplated contains several layers of security and privacy protection to ensure hat vehicles can rely on messages sent from other vehicles and hat a vehicle or group of vehicles would be identifiable through defined procedures only if there is a need to fix a safety problem" Change always does. I'm sure that many will feel this is an intrusion into their privacy and threaten the feeling of independence they feel as a driver.
But, overall, would you be willing to sacrifice some freedom to save lives and injuries? I'm pretty protective of my independence and individual rights. Representing car and truck accident victims is a huge part of my practice, however, ..............
I would happily redefine my practice and take on new causes for the sake of saving lives and reducing injuries from car accidents. Making the highways and streets safer for my kids and family seems quite a bit more important in the overall picture.
Car manufacturers would have to rethink all of their designs, but in this era of technology advances and rapid change shouldn't we all being thinking more revolutionary? Many think technology has complicated our lives. Example: Almost everyone has a smart phone and it has become an epidemic problem with distracted driving as drivers continue to use their hand held phones to text, email and surf instead of paying attention to driving. We have been asking the technology world for some safer advances, maybe this is a possible solution. Proposals go through many changes and revisions and I would like to view this new idea with a positive attitude. No doubt, many considerations have to be evaluated and we are quite a few years from this new technology. However, Transportation Secretary Anthony Fox said that he intends to be certain that the proposal is finished before President Obama leaves office.
While we may be years away from this life saving technology, tragic car accidents and
truck accidents occur daily. If you or a loved one has been injured in a motor vehicle accident, you may need legal representation. An indicator of whether or not you need legal assistance is whether or not you are injured. If you are injured, you may need legal representation to be certain you get the compensation you deserve. Our attorneys understand the mechanisms of accidents and the steps of an investigation to find out all causes and factors relating to an accident. Our consultations are always free whether you are in Missouri or Illinois. If you have been injured, you may get a free consultation toll free (800) 685-3302 or locally (314) 276-1681. If you do not consult us, please do contact a personal injury attorney.
Source: Silva, R.
Cars Will Be Able to Tell You a Drunk Driver Just Ran a Red Light. HNGN, 2/3/14
Naylor, N. U.S. Department of Transportation Announces Decision to Move Forward with Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication Technology for Light Vehicles. NHYTSA. 2/3/14
