Why v2x communication will take pride of place?
We have all heard of the internet of things (IoT) making a positive impact in people’s lives but what about v2x communication and connected vehicles technology?
v2x communication is where communication between cars, traffic infrastructure systems and mobile devices of pedestrians drastically improve traffic safety. This communication is carried out over a secured system to still keep privacy of others a priority and only uses telemetry data when in close proximity of a connected system. The major benefit of using such a system over a ‘self-driving’ car is that the car is the single point of failure. For instance, artificial intelligence (AI) is essentially a weighted decision matrix which has a bias weighting at each decision node that is calibrated or trained based on previous iterative data. This means that there is still a low chance of the AI being wrong; currently there is an investigation with one company that specified error in the millions of miles range while crashes are occurring in the thousands of miles range. The takeaway from this is that relying on a purely AI based discrete system is a major hazard and likely will result in the technology being banned on public roads. Connected vehicles technology could be used to remediate this challenge and help with other safety issues.
The many different types of incidents
Many accidents occur between different modes of transport such as with motorcycle that pass between traffic or overtake without the car owner first seeing them and preempting care when turning. While many driving associations state that eye contact is key to safety, the difficulty is that it is almost impossible to see this in a rear view or side view mirror, especially at speed. With connected vehicles technology the proximity of the motorcycle is shown on the cars display as a warning allowing the driver to adapt their driving to accommodate for the motorcycle.
Truck vs. cyclists
In addition to motorcycles another major challenge is cyclists or cars in the blind side of trucks and can easily drag the either around a corner with them causing usually fatal incidents. If v2x communication is used to warn of these then the driver of the truck can take necessary action. In addition, a preemptive device on a cyclist could warn the rider that they shouldn’t be in the driver’s blind area.
Human vs. metal
Also let’s not forget pedestrians that could be on their phone and about to cross the road. The phone could warn the wearer to stop and check before crossing as well as warning that the pedestrian may be crossing. As the v2x communication system could be linked to the traffic management system; including traffic lights, it may be possible to flag the warning if the pedestrian is near a traffic light and the car to reduce false alerts.
The Future
As technology is accessible in the 1st world it could be that the system is used even with pets that owners love through chip implants and passive RF receivers mounted throughout the urban environment. When a dog or cat for instance is near a curb, the RF system flags it to the car for the driver as well as confirming this with the AI of the car. While we normally think of the 1st world countries in adoption of this technology, it could be used by regions such as Asia where mopeds and bicycles are a constant nightmare to travel through. Insurance companies may also start asking drivers to use the technology to reduce their premium and the risk that they will need to pay out in an accident. Insurance companies already have devices that monitor driving style however this would take it one step further.
While still in the early days with connected vehicles technology it looks highly promising especially in urban environments. Stopping accidents through alerting users of the traffic system is key in the short term while long term while ‘self-driving’ cars could also reduce their risk of being banned from the roads.
