How Near-Field Communications Could Save You From a Wreck
Have you ever wished you could just see through a car across from you at an intersection before making a left turn, to make sure no one was coming, or possibly wondered if an oncoming car was going to slow down when approaching an intersection, or merely continue barreling through? A new technology could provide this ability to receive a warning of any oncoming cars, and to let potentially-threatened drivers know to avoid a hazard.
The technology in question is called “vehicle-to-vehicle communication,” and, while it has long been discussed as a powerful potential safety advancement, it has finally reached a point of development where drivers could soon expect to see the technology in their own cars. Relying on short-range radio waves on dedicated channels, vehicle-to-vehicle communication will allow cars equipped with the system to broadcast—up to ten times a second—their exact location, the direction in which they’re headed, their speed, and whether or not they are applying their brakes. While the majority of the time, this information will be analyzed by a car’s computer but not reported to the driver in any way, if another driver’s speed or direction could result in an accident, the car will provide a warning to the driver of the potential hazard. While current safety technologies can provide these sorts of warnings to an extent, they are limited in their ability to “see” through other cars or around corners. Radio waves will permit almost twice as large a range of communication and object-sensing capabilities from what is currently available on vehicles. For example, if a driver put on their turn signal to turn left at an intersection, but the vehicle-to-vehicle system ascertained that a car which the turning driver could not see was traveling at a high rate of speed heading straight in the opposite direction, then the vehicle would provide a warning so that the driver didn’t turn and wind up in a crash. The technology is also anticipated to be used within infrastructure, such as by installing sensors and transmitters in roads and traffic signals with which cars would be able to communicate.
The NHTSA has now expressed its intention to make these vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems mandatory on all new cars in the near future; the agency plans to publish potential new federal regulations on the technology in the coming year. Pursuant to its research, the NHTSA believes that, looking only at the left turn assist and intersection movement assist capabilities of a vehicle-to-vehicle communication system, over 500,000 accidents could be prevented, and over 1,000 lives saved, each year.
If you or a loved one have been hurt in a crash in New Jersey, contact Wayne’s experienced and compassionate personal injury attorneys at Massood Law Group for a consultation on your claims, at 1-844-4MB-HURT.
