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Saturday, January 11, 2014

If Your Car Doesn't "Talk"

Sometime this year, unelected bureaucrats in the bowels of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – the federal regulatory apparat that issues “rules” (that is, arbitrary orders we’re all forced to obey) governing how new cars are to be made - may issue a rule fundamentally different from all the rules that have gone before. Because this one has the potential to affect not-new cars, too.

But it’s much more – and potentially much worse – than just that.

It’s called “Vehicle to Vehicle” communications – V2V for short. It uses GPS (which almost all new cars already have) to enable Car A to communicate its location (as well as speed and direction) to Car B, so that (as an example) Car B would “know” that Car A is not stopping for that red light and thus Car B’s computer-controlled drivetrain would automatically slow/brake the vehicle to avoid a collision. (Many new/late-model cars come equipped with some form of “active” collision avoidance; that is, using radar or laser proximity sensors to detect objects in the vehicle’s path; using automated braking/steering, the vehicle acts to prevent an accident in the event the driver fails to act.)

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a joke. My 1942 Dodge Power Wagon, weighing 6000 lbs does not have any of those items because those items do not operate on 6 volts. Problem here with this is that I can think for myself and can also read a map.

Anonymous said...

I think all this crap is in direct correlation with the fact that most people nowadays do not know how to drive correctly or know the rules of the road.

They HAVE to make cars that can drive themselves and park themselves because the drivers CAN'T.

Or should I say the 'it' behind the wheel.