US-DOT Looking into Comms Between Cars

State Transportation Director Kirk Steudle is endorsing a decision by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to move forward with vehicle-to-vehicle communication for light vehicles, calling it a good decision for Michigan and for transportation safety. The US-DOT is currently sponsoring a pilot safety program of connected vehicle technology in Ann Arbor, using nearly 3,000 cars, buses, trucks and motorcycles outfitted with short-range communications radio devices to test the effectiveness of vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications. Steudle believes the technology will have a significant beneficial impact on M-DOT daily operations, providing real-time information on conditions such as pavement condition (potholes, ice, snow), traffic incidents, and congestion hot spots, through a cheaper and more efficient means than is possible today.