The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has expressed its intent to advance the deployment of connected vehicle technologies throughout the US light vehicle fleet, as it offers a potential to reduce crashes on the roads.

The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would see vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication technology on all new light-duty vehicles, enabling new crash-avoidance applications that has the potential to prevent hundreds of thousands of crashes every year by helping vehicles ‘talk’ to each other.      

US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said: “We are carrying the ball as far as we can to realize the potential of transportation technology to save lives.

" V2V and automated vehicle technologies each hold great potential to make our roads safer, and when combined, their potential is untold."

“This long promised V2V rule is the next step in that progression. 

"Once deployed, V2V will provide 360-degree situational awareness on the road and will help us enhance vehicle safety.”

In 2014, Foxx said that the department would fast-track its work to enable V2V, directing the Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to begin work on the rulemaking. As a result, NHTSA has issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in August 2014.

NHTSA administrator Mark Rosekind said: “Advanced vehicle technologies may well prove to be the silver bullet in saving lives on our roadways.

“V2V and automated vehicle technologies each hold great potential to make our roads safer, and when combined, their potential is untold.”

The proposed rule announced would make it mandatory for all the automakers to include V2V technologies in all new light-duty vehicles. The rule proposes requiring V2V devices to 'speak the same language' through standardised messaging developed with industry.

NHTSA anticipates that the safety applications enabled by V2V and V2I could eliminate or mitigate the severity of up to 80% of non-impaired crashes, including crashes at intersections or while changing lanes.