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The United States Department of Transport is set to implement a new road safety initiative, allowing cars to ‘talk’ to each other and help prevent thousands of fatalities yearly.
The plan will be underpinned by vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology, which allows vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians, and roadside infrastructure to be in contact with each other to communicate positions, speeds, and road conditions.
The National Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 40,990 people died in motor vehicle incidents in 2023, so any joined-up approach to eradicating the problem is to be welcomed.
What Is V2X Technology?
V2X is an umbrella acronym for the combined communications system in a vehicle.
Essentially, the various onboard systems will be capable of delivering real-time information to the machines and people around them. The tech will react to changing conditions, new information, signs, and warnings.
V2X cannot operate without a human driver in control at the wheel. Still, it is a crucial component of autonomous driving that creates the vista of the environment in which the vehicle is operating.
Other ‘Vehicle-to’ markers within the same system include Vehicle-2-Vehicle (V2V), Vehicle-2-Infrastructure (V2I), Vehicle-2-Pedestrian (V2P), and Vehicle-2-Network (V2N).
The Department of Transport is backing V2X to act as a catalyst toward its “commitment to pursue a comprehensive approach to reduce the number of roadway fatalities to zero.”
A full nationwide rollout of the tech will be expensive and take time. It will require a massive undertaking to install the requisite components into mobile, in-vehicle, and roadside infrastructure.
There is also the consideration of protecting citizens’ personal information and cybersecurity risks, but V2X proponents are adamant the tech can prevent thousands of deaths and mitigate the severity of road collisions by reducing the speed of impact.
Transform the Way We Travel
Recently, the Federal Highway Administration announced around $60 million in grants related to the acceleration of V2X.
The DoT has set a timeline of 2036 to implement V2X across the National Highway System and for the top 75 metro areas to support the system over the vast majority of signaled intersections.
Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement, “The Department has reached a key milestone today in laying out a national plan for the transportation industry that has the power to save lives and transform the way we travel.”
“The Department recognizes the potential safety benefits of V2X, and this plan will move us closer to nationwide adoption of this technology.”
Safety advocates have been touting the potential of tech that allows vehicles to communicate wirelessly but the rollout has been slow and uneven.
"This is the reset button. This deployment plan is a big deal. It is a crucial piece of this #V2X puzzle.”https://t.co/M0wa9ZfH75
— Alliance for Automotive Innovation (@autosinnovate) August 16, 2024
