Car-to-Car Communication: Making Driving Much Safer

Like it always said safe driving is not one sided, as much as you are careful what if the on coming driver is not? This beacon the idea of an ideal technology that warned of the impending collision, although this has started appearing in cars but only ends at beeping sound; more or less like a radar or ultrasound instrument that detects obstacles or vehicles. But the range of these sensors is limited to a few car lengths, and they cannot see past the nearest obstruction. Called car-to-car or vehicle-to-vehicle communication, enables cars broadcast their position, speed, steering-wheel position, brake status, and other data to other vehicles within a few hundred meters. The other cars can use such information to build a detailed picture of what’s unfolding around them, revealing trouble that even the most careful and alert driver, or the best sensor system, would miss or fail to anticipate. Car-to-Car Communication will have bigger impact than advanced vehicle automation technologies or self drive as it generally called, that have been more widely heralded. Though self-driving cars could eventually improve safety, they remain imperfect and unproven, with sensors and software too easily bamboozled by poor weather, unexpected obstacles or circumstances, or complex city driving. Simply networking cars together wirelessly is likely to have a far bigger and more immediate effect on road safety. Based on the broadcasted CAM (Cooperative Awareness Messages), the other vehicle is able to identify the on coming vehicle, and both vehicles can determine whether a critical situation can occur. Creating a car-to-car network is still a complex challenge. The computers aboard each car process the various readings being broadcast by other vehicles 10 times every second, each time calculating the chance of an impending collision. Transmitters use a dedicated portion of wireless spectrum as well as a new wireless standard, 802.11p, to authenticate each message. Providing safety is the primary objective of vehicular communication networks. Vehicles who discover an imminent danger such as an obstacle inform others. Electronic sensors in each car can detect abrupt changes in path or speed and send an appropriate message to neighbors. Vehicles can notify close vehicles of the direction they are taking so the drivers can make better decisions; a more advanced version of turn signals. In more advanced systems, at intersections the system can decide which vehicle has the right to pass first and alert all the drivers.

This technology could save thousands of lives and prevent hundreds of thousands of crashes each year by providing cars with information they never will be able to gather simply from cameras and sensors. If two cars are on a collision course, the driver can be presented a warning.

Connected cars will be the ultimate ‘’Internet of Things’’. However, this will require loads networking, sharing and massive data collection from a huge array of sources. Connected cars, meantime, will help cities and states cut down on congestion and improve safety.