[ti:Cars that Talk to Each Other could Prevent most Accidents ]
[ar:Jonathan Evans]
[al:Technology Report]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, 
[00:02.77]this is the Technology Report.
[00:05.51]United State officials are close to approving 
[00:09.61]new requirements for enabling vehicles 
[00:13.14]to communicate with each other. 
[00:15.26]Officials hope the new technology 
[00:18.60]will reduce the number of traffic accidents. 
[00:22.59]Automobile manufactures may be required 
[00:26.75]to equip all new cars 
[00:29.08]with what are being called 
[00:31.24]'vehicle-to-vehicle' communication devices 
[00:34.14]within the next 3 years.
[00:37.37]Vehicle-to-vehicle, or V2V, 
[00:41.23]is a communication technology. 
[00:44.17]It enables vehicles to share information 
[00:47.16]about their speed and movement at a rate of 10 times a second. 
[00:53.15]Cars will be able to identify possible dangers 
[00:56.88]within about 300 meters. 
[00:59.56]The cars will then warn their drivers 
[01:02.39]or even take action to avoid in accident.
[01:06.08]The drivers will be able to see, 
[01:09.92]hear and even feel the warning signals 
[01:13.74]through shaking of the seat. 
[01:16.22]The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 
[01:21.30]expects the new system to reduce the number of car accidents 
[01:26.24]by as much as 80 percent.
[01:29.29]Greg Winfree is with the U.S. Department of Transportation. 
[01:34.77]He says the new technology will change the way 
[01:38.77]people deal with traffic accidents.
[01:41.71]"The way to look at it is the first 50 years 
[01:43.71]of transportation safety were focused on surviving crashes. 
[01:48.29]We see the future as technology that avoids crashes overall," said Winfree.
[01:53.08]Critics admit that V2V technology is a major development, 
[01:59.44]but they are concerned about possible conflicts 
[02:03.68]with other wireless devices. 
[02:06.24]They say those devices already operate 
[02:10.03]in the wireless frequencies planned for V2V technology.
[02:15.41]Scott Belcher is the chief operating officer 
[02:19.26]of the group Intelligent Transportation Society of America.
[02:23.92]"If somehow we are sharing this spectrum and there's interference 
[02:29.10]and so a car that could have, we could have prevented the crash, 
[02:33.54]we are not able to prevent the crash 
[02:35.43]because someone else is using the spectrum," said Belcher.
[02:38.13]Scott Belcher says people may also be concerned about their privacy. 
[02:43.92]He worries about the possibility of using V2V technology 
[02:48.98]to follow individual drivers and document their driving habits. 
[02:54.55]Government agencies and private industry 
[02:58.63]have already invested almost $1 billion in research.
[03:04.17]U.S. officials expect the new technology 
[03:08.36]will be required in American vehicles by early 2017. 
[03:13.90]They believe it is the first step 
[03:16.85]toward a better and safer transportation system.
[03:21.14]And that's the VOA Learning English Technology Report. 
[03:25.97]For more stories about technology and other subjects, 
[03:30.35]go to our website 51voa.com. 
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[03:49.11]You can also watch videos on the VOA Learning English YouTube Channel. 
[03:56.08]I'm Jonathan Evans.
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