U.S. regulators will propose rules before President Barack Obama leaves office requiring vehicle-to-vehicle communications systems in new cars, according a recent Bloomberg article, which may aid safety more than seat belts and air bags.

“Vehicle-to-vehicle technology represents the next generation of auto safety improvements,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said at a news conference today. “The potential of this technology is enormous.”

The technology would let cars automatically exchange safety data such as speed and position 10 times per second and send warnings to drivers if an imminent collision is sensed, the Transportation Department said in a statement today. The systems being envisioned won't be able to operate brakes or steering, though such technologies are being studied.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the U.S. auto-safety regulator, released in May its draft of a policy that encouraged development of technologies that could be components of autonomous vehicles. David Strickland, who stepped down as NHTSA administrator last month, said in May that the agency was looking at whether to regulate crash-imminent braking, a technology featured in a number of luxury models that applies brakes automatically if sensors indicate a crash is about to occur.

Today's announcement begins a three-year period of intensive, more-focused research and consultations with the industry that will lead to a proposed regulation, NHTSA Acting Administrator David Friedman said.

Read Jeff Plungis' story in full at Bloomberg.

Special Reports /

Regulators Want Mandatory Vehicle-to-Vehicle Systems in New Cars

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