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A lot of people will tell you that communication is the key, and often they are right.
This is very much the case when you look at the latest developments in vehicle technology - and I'm not talking about human communication - as the cars of the future will talk to each other to reduce accidents and support drivers.
As part of trial taking place in America, around 3,000 vehicles will be equipped to continuously communicate over wireless networks, exchanging information on location, direction and speed 10 times a second with other similarly equipped cars.
Covering a range of 1,000 feet, this will mitigate the risk of drivers not paying attention, making bad decisions or where a danger is obscured, for example if another moving vehicle cant be seen behind a parked van.
A computer analyses the information and issues danger warnings to drivers.
This form of vehicle-to-vehicle communication means that modern cars will be able to provide essential information to the driver so that they can react much more quickly than they would have unaided.
This really is clever technology - in addition to warning of cars jumping red lights, vehicles will be able to:
. Let drivers know if they don't have time to make a right turn because of oncoming traffic
. Warn drivers on dual carriageways when passing is unsafe because of oncoming cars
. Alert drivers to vehicles coming around a bend that the driver can't see
. Issue an alert if a car several vehicles ahead brakes hard, even before the vehicle directly in front brakes
. Alert drivers when they're at risk of rear-ending a slower car
Of course this concept only works if all cars are fitted with the technology (a vehicle fitted can't communicate with one that isn't). But the people behind it say that this has the potential to eliminate most crashes that aren't alcohol or drug related.
Talking cars are something that 20 years ago we would only have seen in a science fiction film. But vehicle technology continues to move at a rapid rate and I've got to say, it's really exciting to see what's next.
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