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US transportation secretary Anthony Foxx speaking about its decision to push vehicle-to-vehicle communication technology. AP Photo/Charles Dharapak

US officials plan to reduce accidents by proposing 'talking-cars' system

The new proposal, if passed, would require vehicles to communicate information such as speed, location and direction travelled to help reduce collisions.

NEW CARS COULD be required to have vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems fitted in as US regulators draft a proposal supporting it.

By using this system, drivers will be alerted if the car senses it’s going to crash into an object or another car. It’s hoped that introducing this system will significantly reduce the rate of accidents and collisions on roads.

Cars will be able to communicate with each other by using short-range radio signals and would be able to exchange vehicle information such as speed, location and the direction they’re travelling.

No date was given for when automakers would need to introduce it or what the cost might be, but US officials aim to have a proposal developed before early 2017. Once the regulations are in place, automakers would be required to put in GPS sensors and software into vehicles.

The US transportation secretary Anthony Foxx said data from a Transportation Department study, which started in 2012, showed that the technology could help prevent 80 per cent of potential accidents from happening.

Both automakers and researcher have been working on developing technology to reduce collisions. While advancements have been made, other systems like developing a network which allows multiple cars to communicate with each other will need to be introduced.

Read: 54 million self-driving cars to be on the roads by 2035 >

Read: Good sign for 2014? Car sales zoom ahead by 33 per cent >

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14 Comments
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    Mute Pilib O Muiregan
    Favourite Pilib O Muiregan
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    Feb 4th 2014, 1:09 PM

    Good idea in theory but it is America we are talking about. Every movement will now be tracked. Welcome to 1984

    41
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    Mute Charlie Carlisle
    Favourite Charlie Carlisle
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    Feb 4th 2014, 1:21 PM

    Not that I’ve anything to hide, but I really wouldn’t like the idea of being tracked – which is obviously the main though unmentioned aim of this idea.

    24
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    Mute Brian Wilson
    Favourite Brian Wilson
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    Feb 4th 2014, 1:31 PM

    Yeah, this is not a means to reduce accidents, it’s just another way for the American government to track every one of its citizens. Add this information to the data already collected by the NSA and you have a massive, massive privacy issue.

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    Mute Conor White
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    Feb 4th 2014, 1:24 PM

    Minority report comes one step closer

    15
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    Mute Karl O Neill
    Favourite Karl O Neill
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    Feb 4th 2014, 1:11 PM

    Excellent idea. A black box driving recorder in every car should be considered, for download by Gardai in the event of an accident. This technology is well established and would definitely reduce road deaths.

    15
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    Mute why?
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    Feb 4th 2014, 2:30 PM

    “…..in the event of an accident”.

    I think that’s the part that frightens people. Who’ll monitor this? Who has access, and just how stringent are the warrants/judicial oversight?

    “Not very stringent” is what I’d imagine.
    And, therefore, no. I’d rather it wasn’t introduced.

    Let America be America, and hope and pray we don’t follow.

    9
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    Mute Dagnet Taggart
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    Feb 13th 2014, 10:41 PM

    Pity we never ape anything thats good from the USA.Just all its crap.

    1
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    Mute Darren Tully
    Favourite Darren Tully
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    Feb 4th 2014, 2:02 PM

    Two questions are raised here;

    1. Will the system actually be safer, we have to take into account how complex will the system be, and how manageable the user interface will be. Most air accident happen when pilots who are highly trained fail to interpret their what the machine is telling them/ get confused. Will this system pose a risk to people who are nervous drivers or aren’t tech savvy.

    2. Can the American public actually trust this program to be implemented without an ulterior motive. Given the revelations about the NSA in the past year, I can see this being used as a data gathering/ surveillance exercise

    9
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    Mute Paul Cotrulia
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    Feb 4th 2014, 1:48 PM

    One of them must have watched knight Rider in the 80′s and it only took 30 years for the thought to filter through to the conscious.

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    Mute MasterM_ORM J_ordil
    Favourite MasterM_ORM J_ordil
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    Feb 4th 2014, 1:42 PM

    muses if you have nothing to hide it shoulld not be a problem. and even if it could save just one liefe its worth it

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    Mute why?
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    Feb 4th 2014, 2:36 PM

    Bruce Schneier (security/crypto dude) – “Too many wrongly characterize the debate as “security versus privacy.” The real choice is liberty versus control.”

    How many lives is our (me and you and everybody else’s) privacy worth? Just one? Ten?

    Does the fact I’m even trying to quantify it not highlight something is wrong?

    5
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    Mute Dagnet Taggart
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    Feb 13th 2014, 10:46 PM

    Hmm said by sheep everywhere in potential and actual dictatorships.
    So Master M…No problem with the Gaurds,revenue,social welfare, child protection agencies and Ruhama showing up at your door at 3AM.They can go thru your fies,private and personal papers,your fridge, bottom sock drawer.question your family without you present or without any legal counsel or warrent with no specified crime in mind and then maybe charge you with somthing or noy and disapper off again…No problem with that???Well if you do why??You have done nothing so what have you to hide??Ponder on that while you are being carted off to the gulag orEU reeducation center someplace

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    Mute Eugene Tyson
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    Feb 4th 2014, 5:34 PM

    All you need are strong magnetic bumpers. When they get closer they repel each other.

    Simples.

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    Mute Stiofán De Priondárgas
    Favourite Stiofán De Priondárgas
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    Feb 4th 2014, 2:03 PM

    Always wanted to have a ships radar in my car. “300 meters ahead and approaching at 60 miles an hour captain” could get annoying on the m50

    6
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