Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp announced to the FCC that its halting plans to install Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC) technology on U.S. vehicles. The goal of DSRC is to allow automobiles to communicate with one another to avoid collisions, broadcasting precise vehicle information up to 10 times per second, reported Reuters. This announcement comes as an upset to DSRC advocates.
In April 2018, Toyota announced it would begin installing DSRC technology in 2021, “with the goal of adoption across most of its lineup by the mid-2020s.” However, in a letter to the FCC, the automaker based its decision on, “a range of factors, including the need for greater automotive industry commitment as well as federal government support to preserve the 5.9 GHz spectrum band for DSRC.”
The chance that the band could be subjected to, “harmful interference from unlicensed operations… creates a substantial and arguably insurmountable risk,” the company said. Toyota added that it would, “continue to re-evaluate the deployment environment” and said it is still a strong backer of DSRC, “because we believe it is the only proven and available technology for collision avoidance communication.”
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that connected vehicles could eliminate or the of up to 80 percent of accidents, not involving impaired drivers, reported Reuters. Additionally, the Department of Transportation proposed to mandate DSRC in all new vehicles back in 2016; the Trump administration has not yet acted on the proposal.
Ford announced in January that it plans to use cellular vehicle-to-everything technology, or C-V2X , in all new U.S. vehicles beginning in 2020, Inside Towers reported. Ford is the first automaker to commit to implementing C-V2X technology that leverages the 5.9 GHz spectrum; BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, and Daimler are also interested in the technology. However, FCC rules currently prevent widespread deployment of CV2X technology, according to Reuters.
May 7, 2019
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