Skip to main content

NTSB urges standards for connected vehicles

In response to fatal school bus accidents at intersections in New Jersey and Florida last year, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended that the government should set performance standards for new safety technology that allows cars and trucks to talk to each other and then require the technology be installed in all new vehicles. Vehicles equipped with the technology can continuously communicate over wireless networks, exchanging information on location, direction and speed ten tim
July 24, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
In response to fatal school bus accidents at intersections in New Jersey and Florida last year, the US 5628 National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended that the government should set performance standards for new safety technology that allows cars and trucks to talk to each other and then require the technology be installed in all new vehicles.

Vehicles equipped with the technology can continuously communicate over wireless networks, exchanging information on location, direction and speed ten times a second. The vehicle's computer analyses the information and issues danger warnings to drivers, often before they can see the other vehicle.

The 834 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been road-testing the technology, which is effective up to a range of about 1,000 feet, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for the past year. NHTSA officials have said they hope to make a decision on whether to proceed to setting standards or whether to continue their research by the end of this year.

"This technology more than anything else holds great promise to protect lives and prevent injuries," NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman said. That was particularly true of crashes at intersections like the two school bus accidents, she added.

Related Content

  • Big data bonus for Dublin’s buses
    August 19, 2014
    Dublin’s smart research partnership speeds buses More than 50% of people travelling into and across the Irish capital rely on public transport, and four out of 10 these use buses meaning Dublin Bus carries some 120 million passengers a year.
  • Infrastructure spending is an investment in economic recovery
    January 20, 2012
    Transportation funding is caught in the crossfire as the President calls for infrastructure investment and a reinvigorated Republican majority in the House pushes back on federal spending. Andrew Bardin Williams reports. Every few months some politician or pundit declares that the country is on the verge of making the most important political decision in a generation. The 2006 mid-term election; the 2008 Presidential election; the passing of the stimulus bill; healthcare reform; the mania surrounding Tea Pa
  • Autonomous vehicles, the pros and cons
    November 21, 2013
    Driver interface and human factors could provide the biggest obstacles to autonomous vehicles as Jon Masters discovers.
  • Cohda Wireless MK6 V2X solution certified by US FCC
    January 5, 2024

    Cohda Wireless's MK6 connected vehicle technology solution has been certified by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for cellular Vehicle to Everything (C-V2X).

    FCC last year granted waivers permitting deployment of C-V2X technology in the upper 30 MHz of spectrum in the 5.895-5.925 GHz band.