Connected cars hit the road for safety pilot programme

Conducted by the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute, the year long trial is said to be the largest road test to date of connected vehicle crash avoidance technology. The test cars, trucks and buses will be equipped with vehicle to vehicle (V2V) and vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) communication devices that gather data about system operability and its effectiveness at reducing crashes. According to the DOT's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), V2V safety technology could help drivers avoid or reduce the severity of four out of five unimpaired vehicle crashes. To accomplish this, the model deployment vehicles will send electronic data messages, receive messages from other equipped vehicles, and translate the data into a warning to the driver during specific hazardous traffic scenarios. "Vehicle to vehicle communication has the potential to be the ultimate game changer in roadway safety – but we need to understand how to apply the technology in an effective way in the real world," said NHTSA administrator David Strickland. The testing phase is expected to last one year, but the overall programme will operate for 30 months.