Car manufacturer Toyota intends to launch ‘talking’ vehicles in the United States which could eventually prevent 600,000 crashes a year.
The Japanese firm has sold more than 100,000 vehicles featuring the short-range wireless technology in its home country since 2015.
The tech transmits data – including location, direction and speed – to nearby vehicles up to 300 metres away and up to 10 times per second. It is available to all vehicle manufacturers.
Toyota now hopes to build it into its American range from 2021 and that other automakers will follow suit. The only commercial vehicle currently using the technology is General Motors’ Cadillac CTS.
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said last year that if all new vehicles were required to adopt the tech, it could eventually prevent up to 600,000 crashes and reduce costs by $71 billion annually.
The US Transportation Department is deliberating whether to adopt a pending proposal, put forward by the Obama administration, to do exactly that, giving manufacturers four years to comply.