Toyota brings talking vehicles to US
According to Reuters, Toyota Motor Corp plans to sell US vehicles that can communicate with one another using short-range wireless technology by 2021.
Toyota plans for the wireless technology to help prevent thousands of annual accidents. The US Transportation Department, however, must decide to approve a proposal that requires all upcoming vehicles to adopt the new technology.
By the mid-2020s, Toyota plans to adopt the communications systems across all its vehicles in America and hopes other companies will follow its example.
In 2016, the Obama administration proposed requiring the technology and giving automakers at least four years to conform, the proposal stated that all vehicles must ‘speak the same language through a standard technology.’
Talking vehicles have been tried by US carmakers for more 10 years. The technology uses short-range communications to spread data up to 300 meters, including location, direction and speed, to nearby vehicles. The data is transmitted up to 10 times per second to close vehicles and can identify dangers and provide warnings to avoid accidents.
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) told Reuters it has ‘not made any final decision’ on requiring vehicles to have the technology.
