U.S. Department of Transportation Annouces Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Begin Implementation of Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communications Technology
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) August 20, 2014 released an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) on vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications technology.
“Safety is our top priority, and V2V technology represents the next great advance in saving lives,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “This technology could move us from helping people survive crashes to helping them avoid crashes altogether – saving lives, saving money and even saving fuel thanks to the widespread benefits it offers.”
The report includes preliminary estimates of safety benefits that show two safety applications – Left Turn Assist (LTA) and Intersection Movement Assist (IMA) – could prevent up to 592,000 crashes and save 1,083 lives saved per year. Put another way, V2V technology could help drivers avoid more than half of these types of crashes that would otherwise occur by providing advance warning. Additional applications could also help drivers avoid imminent danger through forward collision, blind spot, do not pass, and stop light/stop sign warnings.
“By warning drivers of imminent danger, V2V technology has the potential to dramatically improve highway safety,” said NHTSA Deputy Administrator David Friedman. “V2V technology is ready to move toward implementation and this report highlights the work NHTSA and DOT are doing to bring this technology and its great safety benefits into the nation’s light vehicle fleet.”
The information sent between vehicles does not identify those vehicles, but merely contains basic safety data. In fact, the system as contemplated contains several layers of security and privacy protection to ensure that vehicles can rely on messages sent from other vehicles.
