Mandates for Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communications Technology Called Into Question
WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 – Federal regulators are poised to impose a big mandate on new cars and trucks, requiring vehicle-to-vehicle communications technology aimed at averting accidents. In response, Competitive Enterprise Institute transportation policy expert Marc Scribner filed public comments urging the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) not to take up that mandate. Scribner explains that not only is it premature and ill-advised for the agency to start requiring certain technologies, but such a mandate would pose risks to automated vehicles. Scribner puts forward three main arguments:
1. The FCC is still sorting out critical issues related to spectrum allocation for a key technology supported by NHTSA.
2. NHTSA does not do a good job contemplating cellular alternatives, particularly recent developments that greatly improve LTE performance.
3. NHTSA fails to appreciate the risks posed by a V2V mandate on automated vehicles. Also, the projected benefits of a V2V mandate would largely begin to appear around the same time automated systems are coming to market. We ask: What good is an audible collision avoidance warning when operators have no ability to take manual control in response?