'Talking' Cars May Someday Warn Of Crashes And Save Lives (Using WiFi Technology Instead of Radar)

"By Peter Whoriskey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 25, 2011; 8:01 PM

"A new crash warning system that allows vehicles to "talk" to each other more than 900 feet away was demonstrated for federal officials Tuesday, marking a significant step in efforts by the government and automakers to put advanced communications technology in cars."

Source:

www.washingtonpost.com...

The article further goes on to say:

"Ford, which conducted Tuesday's demonstration for federal officials and the media, is expected to announce during this week's Washington Auto Show that it will invest more in the technology. The Department of Transportation has already spent more than $40 million on the technology, with an additional $36 million slated for more research, officials said. Research by the government and automakers is supposed to be finished within two years."


This is an interesting development. If the program can saves lives, then it is worthwhile
in my opinion. There will however be privacy concerns by some individuals as noted here:

"We don't want people to feel there is some tracking device on the car," said Michael Shulman, a technical leader for the project at Ford."

Interestingly enough, the way things are going, I'm seeing that in a number of years, we will all be using "private public transport", i.e. a car that you don't drive, but is driven by the traffic patterns. That's like each of us owning the seat of that bus that you take every day...

Progress?