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NTSB Calls For Wireless Tech To Enable Vehicles To Talk To Each Other

Posted by samzenpus on from the KITT-car dept.

Lucas123 writes "In the aftermath of a school bus accident last year, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) this week called for cars, trucks and buses to be equipped with machine-to-machine communications technology that could help vehicles avoid accidents by knowing what other vehicles are doing. In the bus accident, a Mack truck sped through an intersection slamming into the rear of the bus, killing one and injuring more than a dozen others. 'Systems such as connected vehicle technology could have provided an active warning to the school bus driver of the approaching truck as he began to cross the intersection,' the NTSB stated in its report. Among others, Intel is working with National Taiwan University on M2M technology that would allow vehicles the exchange of data, allowing each to know what's going on around them. 'We're even imagining that in the future cars would be able to ask other cars, "Hey, can I cut into your lane?" Then the other car would let you in,' said Jennifer Healey, a research scientist with Intel."

3 of 153 comments (clear)

  1. Nope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Here's why it won't work.

    1) It won't work on cars that aren't fitted with the devices
    2) Like hell are you going to retrofit the entire fleet with the devices

    Hey, you know what else is really good at avoiding collisions? Trains. Let's replace our highway system with railroad tracks!

    or, if you like

    1a) If this thing doesn't have a manual override, software bugs will kill thousands.
    1b) If this thing does have manual override, manual overrides will kill thousands.
    2) Nobody wants to write software that will kill thousands.

    And, last but not least
    "Why are all these modern cars so expensive? I'll just buy a used one instead"

  2. hmmm... by Charliemopps · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let's see... what are the first things we'll see this used for?
    1. Automated speeding tickets.
    2. Insurance company logging of all your activity as an excuse to jack your rates up.
    3. Data subpenaed in lawsuits.
    4. NSA will be all over it. Reporters will be plowing into palm trees all over the place.
    5. Highschool kids rip the devices out of cars in junkyards and drop them from freeway overpasses during a busy holiday for fun.
    6. Law enforcement can remotely turn off your car... a few months later criminals will have the same ability...

    It doesn't sound like a fair trade to me.

  3. First step on a long road by naff89 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think it would be great to start equipping all motor vehicles with (well-designed, forwards-compatible) systems like this so that in 20-30 years when driverless cars are a viable option on the road, there's the infrastructure in place to support it.