Talking Cars Unveiled: USA may soon made it mandatory by 2017

USA may soon allow the talking cars to be mandatory by 2017. The announcement was made on 4 February 2014 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the US.

Talking cars is the communication technology which enables cars to send out location, speed and direction data 10 times a second.

The new vehicle-to-vehicle communication technology cars will be able to communicate with each other. This will help towards preventing tens of thousands of crashes every year.

Approval follows a test project that begun in 2012 in which vehicles equipped with wireless devices were used to warn drivers about specific hazards such as an impending collision at a blind intersection, or a vehicle stopped ahead.

Cars will also be able to communicate with infrastructure like stop signs and traffic lights, and with motorcyclists, bicyclists and even pedestrians with specially equipped smart phones. That data will enable the cars to warn drivers to slow down, brake, turn on their windshield wipers or not to change lanes.

The technology can help avert rear-end, lane change, and intersection crashes. But the systems do not include automatic braking or steering.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and safety advocates have pushed to make cars safer so passengers would be more likely to survive crashes.

Automakers seem largely on board with the technology, which would add about $100 to $300 to the cost of a car.

The full transition from current vehicle fleet to a connected fleet will take at least 10 years.