The European Union has taken the first major steps to establishing a next-generation vehicle-to-vehicle communications system by passing a motion today to reserve an EU-wide frequency band for vehicle applications. With a targeted goal of reducing road accidents, the motion aims at enabling co-operative systems between carmakers and is expected to lead to an eventual roll-out of the first production examples shortly after 2010.

The motion is part of the EU’s Intelligent Car Initiative, launched in 2006, which promotes the use of Information and communication technologies to reduce road accidents and ease traffic congestion. The plan provides an EU-wide frequency band that can be used for ‘immediate and reliable communications between cars, and between cars and roadside infrastructure.’

How the system will work
A 30MHz wide frequency range within the 5.9GHz band will be allocated within the next six months by national authorities purely for road safety applications. Both the U.S. and Japan have already reserved similar frequency bands for future vehicle communications systems.

The new technology will have the potential to warn approaching vehicles of traffic jams and hazardous road conditions, reports the Associated Press. German carmakers are expected to start extensive field trial for vehicle-to-vehicle communications systems later this year.

Carmakers already developing similar systems
The short timeframe for roll-out of the cooperative communication system might seem unrealistic given the traditionally long lead-times in implementing new technology into the automotive development cycle, but several carmakers have already been working on systems sufficiently similar to the proposed EU solution that it is realistic to propose real-world implementations within the next four to five years.

Ford recently showcased its own ‘Smart Intersection’ technology, which relies on GPS and wireless communication technologies to enable traffic lights and street signs to send warnings to approaching vehicles, and both Nissan and Volvo have confirmed development plans for similar systems in the past. General Motors' V2V (Vehicle to Vehicle) system (pictured) is nearly identical to the proposed unit, incorporating GPS and other technologies to communicate the location of each car to every car in the immediate vicinity, alerting drivers of potentially hazardous situations.

In the near future, there’s likely to be a standardized system where every vehicle on the road will recognize the presence of other vehicles, and the passage of the latest EU proposal takes a step closer to that standard. The technology also has the potential for creating a world where human driving is no longer necessary, though the reality of self-driving cars is still some distance in the future.

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