Test goal is to reduce traffic accidents
The U.S. Department of Transportation plans to launch a smart car test today in Ann Arbor Michigan. The test will span an entire year and will involve US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, and National Highway Safety Administrator David Strickland along with several major automakers.
The goal of the test is to investigate vehicle-to-vehicle communications technologies in a real-world setting that have the potential to reduce the number of accidents on the nation's highways. Technologies allowing vehicles to communicate amongst each other could help prevent many traffic accidents, saving lives and saving money on repairs. The technology test is a new effort that will investigate Wi-Fi-like tech allowing vehicles and highways to communicate.
The Detroit News reports that the cars could alert each other if a driver were about miss a stop sign or pull onto a busy street, for example. The vehicles would also be able to warn each other if a car was in the blind spot of another car.
The test will be conducted over the next 12 months will include a number of different vehicle crash avoidance technologies.
That technology will include things such as forward collision warnings, “do not pass” alerts, and warnings that vehicles ahead have stopped suddenly. The yearlong test also involves some vehicle to roadway testing as well. Nearly 3,000 cars, trucks, and buses (mostly privately owned) were equipped with vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications devices for the test.
Eight major automotive manufacturers are involved in the test, including Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai-Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Toyota, and Volkswagen.
Source: The Detroit News
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