Rule Proposed To Connect Cars To Each Other In Real-Time
- by Chase Martin , December 14, 2016
Connected cars may become more standardized in the U.S. soon, thanks to a rule just proposed by an agency of the Department of Transportation.
The new rule, from The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), would require all new light-duty vehicles manufactured moving forward to include capabilities that enable the vehicles to communicate with other nearby vehicles.
The idea of the so-called vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication systems is to enable cars to understand their context in relation to other cars to ultimately reduce collisions, according to Mark Rosekind, NHTSA administrator.
“Advanced vehicle technologies may well prove to be the silver bullet in saving lives on our roadways,” Rosekind said in a statement.
“V2V and automated vehicle technologies each hold great potential to make our roads safer, and when combined, their potential is untold,” Rosekind said.
Communications between vehicles would include location, direction and speed data and would refresh at a rate of 10 times per second. This is about how often a consumer GPS navigation unit updates its location when providing driving directions.
From a privacy standpoint, the data communicated between vehicles would not be linked to personal information, according to NHTSA.
One potential scenario in which V2V communication could help identify risks would be determining if a driver has enough distance and time to safely pass another vehicle (relative to any oncoming traffic), according to NHTSA.
In these situations, receiving data from oncoming vehicles could provide predictive information before the driver or sensors in his or her vehicle could typically determine a risk, according to NHTSA.
“We are carrying the ball as far as we can to realize the potential of transportation technology to save lives,” Anthony Foxx, U.S. transportation secretary, said in a statement.
“Once deployed, V2V will provide 360-degree situational awareness on the road and will help us enhance vehicle safety,” Foxx said.
All well and good till software fails, then more accidents than ever. Lawyers, start your engines.
How about we just teach people to drive?
While I think in the long term automation will reduce accidents, this sounds like a security nightmare. You have to assume that the other car is compromised (actively attacking your system and giving false data) and work from there. At minimum, all data would likely need to be confirmed by on-board sensors. Still, I could imagine getting data from around the corner from a "mesh of cars" about a sudden slow-down or accident that might prompt a safe slow-down, with minimal risk. We'll need really good design and implementation.
Auto makers will need to really step up on computer security in a way I have seen little sign of. Otherwise, like Mark suggests, we'll be talking to our lawyers.