EU Opens the Way for 'Cars That Talk' Agence France Presse (08/05/08)
as it appeared in the August 8, 2008 edition of ACM TechNews.
The European Commission has approved a plan that could lead to the introduction of technology that will allow vehicles to communicate with one another to reduce congestion and accidents. The initiative will encourage automakers and telecommunications companies to adapt existing technology for use in cars to take advantage of the pan-European bandwidth recently made available. The technology could be used to detect a slippery patch on roads and to communicate the information to nearby vehicles or to communicate sudden road closures and alternate routes. Under the plan, vehicle owners will not be forced to install the technology once it is made available. E.U. Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding says that 24 percent of driving time in Europe is spent in traffic jams, which could cost the E.U. economy 80 billion euros by 2010. "So clearly saving time through smart vehicles communications systems means saving money," she says. Additionally, lives will be saved; upwards of 42,000 people died and more than 1.6 million were injured in road accidents throughout the European Union in 2006. Click Here to View Full Article
