Explained | Government to roll out vehicle-to-vehicle communication by 2026 to reduce crashes

As a measure to toughen road safety and prevent accidents, the Central government is planning to kickstart vehicle-to-vehicle communication by the end of 2026.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari informed that this form of wireless communication will enable cars to directly communicate. He further said during a press conference, "The government has made efforts to reduce fatalities by improving road engineering, making enforcement of laws stricter, and increasing penalties in case of traffic violations."

Through the V2V communication technology, the driver is alerted about acceleration, speed, location, spot vehicles in blind spots and braking of other vehicles in real-time in the vicinity, allowing them to take necessary effort.

"A joint task force has been constituted with the telecom department. The Department of Telecom(DoT) has agreed in principle for the use of 30 MHz (5.875-5.905 GHz) for V2V purposes," Gadkari informed.

In a report by NDTV, the technology is similar to how a SIM cards function, the device will be fit in the cars and is expected to have a 360-degree transmission.

The reportage further said that it will work even in vehicles with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. The estimated cost of the project is around Rs 5000 crore, and consumers will be charged for the system.

Real-time alerts will be received vehicles when another vehicle is close to it from any direction, a feature of the 360-degree transmission, and the system will also assist during low visibility conditions, like foggy environments.

The Secretary of Ministry of Road Transport & Highways V Umashankar applauded the measure as a revolutionary step towards road safety, saying how this technology is only used globally in a few countries.

"In our country, there are five lakh road accidents annually, causing around 1.8 lakh deaths," Gadkari said, adding that around 66 per cent of the deaths are in the age group of 18-34.