Smart cars that ‘talk’ to each other could avoid fatal crashes

The secret to avoiding red lights during rush hour in Salt Lake City might be as simple as following a bus. For the past few years, transportation officials have been refining a system in which commuter buses communicate directly with traffic signals, requesting a few extra seconds of green when they approach. 

This smart street technology has already made a noticeable difference, smoothing out congestion. And it’s just a glimpse of what could be coming soon to roads across Utah and eventually the entire United States.

Smart cars that communicate

With the help of a $20 million federal grant and a broader vision to “Connect the West,” the ultimate goal is to enable vehicles in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming to communicate not only with each other but also with roadside infrastructure. 

The smart car system would share real-time information about congestion, accidents, hazards, and weather conditions. Drivers could instantly receive updates, suggesting alternate routes without the need for human input to manually update road signs or smartphone navigation apps.

“A vehicle can tell us a lot about what’s going on in the roadway,” said Blaine Leonard, a transportation technology engineer at the Utah Department of Transportation. 

“Maybe it braked really hard, or the windshield wipers are on, or the wheels are slipping. The car anonymously broadcasts to us that blip of data 10 times a second, giving us a constant stream of information.”

Smart cars transmitting real-time data

When cars transmit this type of real-time data to other cars and roadside sensors, the technology is referred to as vehicle-to-everything, or V2X. Last month, the U.S. Department of Transportation unveiled a national plan to guide states, local governments, and private companies in implementing V2X projects, ensuring that everyone is working together toward the same goals.

The overarching goal of V2X is simple yet critical: to significantly reduce roadway deaths and serious injuries, which have reached alarming levels in recent years.

According to a 2016 analysis by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, V2X technology could help save lives. The research found that deploying just two early V2X applications nationwide could prevent between 439,000 and 615,000 crashes and save between 987 and 1,366 lives.

Advocating for road safety

Dan Langenkamp, whose wife, U.S. diplomat Sarah Langenkamp, was killed by a truck while biking in Maryland in 2022, has become a passionate advocate for road safety improvements. Speaking at the news conference unveiling the V2X blueprint, he urged the swift deployment of the technology across the U.S.

“How can we as government officials, as manufacturers, and just as Americans not push this technology forward as fast as we possibly can, knowing that we have the power to rescue ourselves from this disaster, this crisis on our roads,” said Langenkamp.

Privacy concerns with transportation technology 

Despite its potential benefits, V2X has faced some public resistance, particularly around privacy concerns. While the V2X plan includes measures to safeguard personal data, privacy advocates remain cautious. 

Critics argue that even though the system may not directly track individual vehicles, it collects enough unique data – such as tire pressure or vehicle weight – that it could potentially be used to identify drivers and track their movements.

“Once you get enough unique information, you can reasonably say the car that drives down this street at this time that has this particular weight class probably belongs to the mayor,” said Cliff Braun, associate director of technology, policy, and research at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization that advocates for digital privacy.

The national V2X blueprint aims for the top 75 metropolitan areas in the U.S. to equip at least 25% of their signalized intersections with this technology by 2028, with even higher milestones in the years that follow. Salt Lake City, already a leader in V2X implementation, has surpassed 20%.

Benefits of connected vehicle technology 

Upgrading traffic signals to communicate with vehicles is just one part of the challenge. The more critical data comes from the vehicles themselves. While many new cars are equipped with connected features, they don’t all operate using the same standards.

Utah began testing connected vehicle technology with data from fleet vehicles like buses and snowplows, launching what it calls the nation’s first radio-based connected vehicle system.

One pilot program focused on a busy stretch of Redwood Road, where traffic flow improved not just for buses but for all drivers.

“Whatever they’re doing is working,” said Jenny Duenas, assistant director of Panda Child Care, which is located near Redwood Road. “We haven’t seen traffic for a while. We have to transport our kiddos out of here, so when it’s a lot freer, it’s a lot easier to get out of the daycare.”

Reducing congestion and improving safety

Casey Brock, bus communications supervisor for the Utah Transit Authority, noted that most drivers might not even notice the changes directly, but the improvements are significant. Even shaving a few seconds off a bus route can reduce congestion and improve safety.

“From a commuter standpoint it may be, ‘Oh, I had a good traffic day,’” Brock said. “They don’t have to know all the mechanisms going on behind the scenes.”

The future of smart cars 

The push for smart roads is expanding beyond Utah. In Michigan, a 3-mile stretch of connected and automated vehicle infrastructure has been launched along Interstate 94 between Ann Arbor and Detroit. 

The project uses sensors and cameras to provide real-time notifications about obstacles such as debris or stalled vehicles.

A similar project in Texas is developing a smart freight corridor near Austin to provide truck drivers with road condition updates and eventually support self-driving trucks.

Darran Anderson, director of strategy and innovation at the Texas Department of Transportation, sees the technology as key to improving safety in the state’s massive freight industry. 

Decades of daily road fatalities 

Texas has experienced over two decades of daily road fatalities, with the last death-free day recorded on November 7, 2000.

Cavnue, a subsidiary of Alphabet’s Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners, is leading the efforts in both Michigan and Texas, with a goal of becoming a leader in smart road technology.

Chris Armstrong, the company’s vice president of product, compares V2X to “a digital seatbelt for the car” but stresses that its effectiveness relies on seamless communication between vehicles and roadside infrastructure.

“Instead of speaking 50 different languages, overnight we’d like to all speak the same language,” Armstrong said.

The future of smart cars may be closer than we think, and the roads of tomorrow could be safer, smoother, and far more connected than ever before.

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