Talking Cars, Talking About You

As the 'internet of things' continues to develop, and machines continue to get smarter and autonomous, one industry has not been left behind; the motor vehicle industry.

Technology allowing cars to park themselves is already included as standard in many models, as is technology which allows cars to brake in order to avoid a collision. Your car, like most things in your life now a days, stores an enormous amount of data about you and your driving habits. So will your car soon be reporting you to the police when (if) you speed?

Now, everyone has at some point in their life sped. I don't condone speeding, but let's be clear, some speed limits are manifestly too low. If you're on an empty highway, kilometres from civilisation, why would you sit on the mandated 100km/h. Germany and the Autobahn have the right idea - you can go any speed you like, so long as it is safe.

Densro Technology has developed the V2X which is a short length, two - way communication technology. Effectively, this technology allows vehicles to communicate to other cars and infrastructure, allowing your vehicle to let other vehicles know when you are changing lanes, or identify the timing of traffic signals.  Soon, we may all have cars like Kit from Knight Rider.

So, will this technology evolve into the vehicle communicating to the police without your input and spell the end of the speeding car? In short, no. A major marketing tool for car manufacturers is the speed the car is able to reach (notwithstanding speed limits prevent those cars from reaching those speeds). Of course, governments may pass legislation requiring vehicles to report if their owner sped, but that would encounter hurdles relating to privacy and voter backlash concerns.

So for now we are safe; that is until the cars start driving without the need for a driver. But, according to Elon Musk of Tesla Motors, that's not until at least 2023. So, until then, safe driving.