U. S. gov’t won’t pursue talking car mandate

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has quietly set aside plans to require new cars to be able to wirelessly talk to each other, auto industry officials said, jeopardizing one of the most promising technologies for preventing traffic deaths.

The Obama administration proposed last December that all new cars and light trucks come equipped with technology known as vehicletovehicle communications, or V2V. It would enable vehicles to transmit their location, speed, direction and other information 10 times per second. That lets cars detect, for example, when another vehicle is about to run a red light or coming around a blind turn in time to prevent a crash.

The administration has decided not to pursue a final V2V mandate, said two auto industry officials who have spoken with White House and Transportation Department officials and two others whose organizations have spoken to the administration. The industry officials spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to jeopardize their relations with the administration.

The White House declined to comment, but the proposal has been dropped from the White House Office of Management and Budget’s list of regulations actively under consideration and instead has been relegated to its long- term agenda.

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao’s office forwarded a statement from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration which said the agency is still reviewing more than 460 comments on the proposed mandate before deciding its next step and that no final decision has been made. Industry officials said decisions on the matter are being made at higher levels of the administration.

Administration officials indicated their decision was based on several factors, including general wariness of imposing costly mandates on industry, even though most automakers support requiring V2V, industry officials said. U. S. President Donald Trump has made reducing government regulations, which he sees as a drain on the economy, a guiding principle of his administration.

The Transportation Department estimates the technology has the potential to prevent or reduce the severity of up to 80 per cent of collisions that don’t involve alcohol or drugs. V2V was also expected to provide an extra layer of safety for self- driving cars since it can detect even vehicles hidden by buildings or beyond the range of the sensors and cameras of autonomous vehicles. And it was expected to ease traffic congestion since vehicles could communicate with traffic signals, turning them green to prevent needless waiting, save fuel and reduce emissions.