Car2Car

The Obama administration recently stated that it plans to require new cars to be able to communicate with each other, a move that transportation planners called a giant step toward ultimately preventing tens of thousands of crashes every year.

The communication technology, hailed by the Obama administration as the most important car-safety advance in decades, will enable cars to send out location, speed and direction data 10 times a second.

Cars will also be able to communicate with infrastructure like stop signs and traffic lights, and with motorcyclists, bicyclists and even pedestrians with specially equipped smartphones. That data will enable the cars to warn drivers to slow down, brake, turn on their windshield wipers or not to change lanes.

The technology represents a watershed moment. For decades, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and safety advocates have pushed to make cars safer so passengers would be more likely to survive crashes. Monday’s announcement is a step toward preventing crashes before they happen.

Specifically, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates, “vehicle-to-vehicle” technology could eliminate four out of every five of crashes not involving an impaired driver.

Applying those numbers to 2012 would result in just over 18,000 crashes — far lower than the 34,000 recorded that year.

“The results could be nothing short of revolutionary for roadway safety,” acting NHTSA chief David Friedman said at a press conference Monday, adding: “I believe this V2V technology will amount to an advance in roadway transportation matched only by the development of the Interstate Highway System itself. This is that important of a moment in time.”

The futuristic technology is still several years away, but Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said the administration wanted to propose a final rule “before this administration closes its doors” in January 2017. Foxx said Monday’s announcement would also send an important signal to the industry to get ready for a mandate.

Automakers seem largely on board with the technology, which would add about $100 to $300 to the cost of a car. Most major automakers, including GM, Ford and Toyota, supplied cars for a DOT-backed study of the technology in Ann Arbor, Mich.

“The industry has been waiting,” Scott Belcher, the president of ITS America, told POLITICO. “They’re been waiting for a strong signal. And this is the signal that they need. They’ve been actively engaged in research for the last decade.”  Read more: