Peters introduces vehicle-to-infrastructure bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Gary Peters has introduced a bill that will address new roadway technologies that may help create the “highway of the future.”
Vehicle–to–infrastructure, or V2I, technology allows parts of the road system to communicate wirelessly with vehicles to provide information about traffic signals, road conditions, and potential hazards. The bipartisan bill would authorize states to use existing federal funding to incorporate V2I technologies into roads.
The adoption of V2I and vehicle–to–vehicle technologies is expected to help increase traffic safety.
“A 2013 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which looked at V2V and V2I claimed, or they believed that we can eliminate with existing technologies that are coming online and where the future is, that we can eliminate up to 80 percent of vehicle accidents involving non–impaired drivers,” Peters said.
Peters stressed the desire to keep Michigan at the forefront of this up–and–coming technology.
“We are very good at building automobiles,” said Peters. “We are very good at torque and horsepower, which are things that I enjoy, but we’ve got to make sure that we also are the leader when it comes to these types of technologies that will ultimately lead to autonomous driving vehicles.”
The bill will serve as a companion bill to one introduced recently by Representative Candice Miller in the House.