Alert

WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Gary Peters (Mich.) today introduced the Vehicle-to-Infrastructure Safety Technology Investment Flexibility Act of 2015 to promote investments in vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication technology that will improve vehicle safety, reduce accidents and avoid congestion.

“Vehicle-to-infrastructure wireless technology enables vehicles to communicate with each other and the world around them, helping to improve safety, prevent car accidents, and relieve traffic,” said Blunt. “I’m pleased to join my colleagues on this bipartisan bill that would allow states to use existing funds to invest in new critical technologies to improve vehicle safety.”

The Vehicle-to-Infrastructure Safety Technology Investment Flexibility Act of 2015 authorizes states to use existing surface and highway transportation funding provided by the National Highway Performance Program (NHPP), the Surface Transportation Program (STP) and the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) to invest in V2I projects as they upgrade highway infrastructure.

V2I technologies include wireless exchanges of critical safety and operational information between connected vehicles and infrastructure to help prevent collisions, relieve traffic congestion and reduce unnecessary energy consumption. Examples of V2I applications include monitors on bridges that communicate ice accumulation to approaching vehicles, traffic signals that warn vehicles of stopped traffic, or sensors warning of nearby emergency vehicles or work zones.

In 2013, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NTHSA) found that more than 32,000 people were killed in motor vehicles crashes on American roads. According to NTHSA, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and V2I communication technologies have the potential to eliminate up to 80 percent of vehicle accidents involving non-impaired drivers once they are fully deployed.