Talking cars on the road by 2012
by Kelly Stone
Australia’s road toll could be halved by the widespread adoption of technology that allows cars to talk to each other and alert drivers to potential accidents.
The new Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) technology provides warnings to drivers of potential intersection crashes, rear-end collisions and lane drift – and could be available in everyday vehicles as soon as 2012. The technology will also enable traffic flow management and optimised route selection for drivers, reducing the cost of traffic congestion and greenhouse emissions.
The technology has been developed by Kent Town-based company Cohda Wireless. Cohda Wireless was founded in 2004 by a group of scientists working at UniSA’s Institute for Telecommunications Research, and the links between UniSA and Cohda Wireless have remained strong during the development of the DSRC technology.
UniSA Institute for Telecommunications Research Director, Professor Alex Grant, said DSRC is a radio technology that combines GPS and Wi-Fi like communications to effectively enable cars to talk to each other.
"Onboard processing units assess the risk of an accident and provide advice to the driver," Prof Grant said.
"This technology essentially equips vehicles with the ability to see around corners and to predict and avoid dangerous situations."
Cohda’s Chief Technology Officer Dr Paul Alexander said the fact that the DSRC technology did not need line of sight to avoid accidents, set it apart from other vehicle safety technologies on the market.
He said DSRC had the potential to tackle road fatalities and traffic congestion issues.
"Approximately 1500 people die on Australian roads every year – and we’re estimating that potentially half of those crashes could be avoided with the widespread use of this technology," Dr Alexander said.
Live safety demonstrations of the technology were held at an Australian Dedicated Short Range Communications (AusDSRC) industry event at UniSA’s City West Campus in February.
Vehicle manufacturers and state and federal government representatives were among industry stakeholders who saw live demonstrations of the DSRC technology at the event.
And Adelaide could potentially be seeing more of this technology in the near future.
Cohda Wireless, which has undertaken DSRC field trials for vehicle manufacturers in the United States and Europe, hopes to start a large-scale trial in Adelaide within the next two years.
The AusDSRC cluster is an industry-led organisation of road safety and transport efficiency stakeholders. Its general objective is to promote, coordinate and support the research, development, deployment and use of collaborative wireless vehicle communications systems in Australia.