U.S. road safety officials have decided to not go ahead with a plan that would have made all new cars and trucks communicate with each other. This was first suggested in
2017, with the idea that cars would share information like speed and direction to help avoid crashes.
This plan was about using a special wireless system called DSRC that lets vehicles “talk” to one another and to road signs or signals. But, since the technology has developed and some decisions by the FCC (the agency that handles communication in the U.S.), things have changed. Now, there’s a newer way for vehicles to communicate called C-V2X, and the FCC has divided the radio waves that were going to be used for DSRC.
Many car makers and U.S. agencies didn’t like that the FCC changed how the radio waves were divided. Even though talking cars might make roads safer, the technology wasn’t being used by a lot of car companies yet.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says that because of these new developments, it’s not sensible to continue with the original plan. NHTSA isn’t giving up on the idea of cars communicating but is waiting to see how the new technology works out.
A big group that represents car companies is happy with NHTSA’s decision. According to them, the delay by the government to decide was making it hard to plan new car features. They wanted NHTSA to be clear about whether it would require cars to have this technology or not.
Last year, the same group was asking NHTSA for guidance, and they mentioned that the business world is spending a lot on this tech. They believe it’s important for the government to have rules that help this technology grow and get used more.
