Study to Test ‘Talking’ Cars that would Warn Drivers of Unseen Dangers

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August 21st, 2012

Experts predict that our cars will one day routinely “talk” to one another with wireless communication devices, possibly preventing huge numbers of traffic accidents.

On Tuesday, the world’s largest study of connected car technology launched in Ann Arbor, Mich. The technology is designed to help drivers avert all sorts of common dangers on the road.

Say, for example, you’re driving along at about 35 to 40 mph with several cars ahead of you. Now imagine that the driver in the lead car turns a corner and suddenly hits the brakes.

“Not only is our view of that sudden braking impeded by the traffic between us, [but] possibly the traffic between us doesn’t realize that that car has slammed on its brakes as well,” says Melissa Donia, who is working with the Department of Transportation on the study.