Big push for road safety: Govt mulls V2V tech in vehicles to cut accidents; spectrum earmarked

The government is working to introduce vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication technology to help prevent road accidents by enabling real-time information sharing between vehicles, Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday, PTI reported.Addressing a press conference in New Delhi after chairing the annual meeting of transport ministers from states and Union Territories, Gadkari said a joint task force has been set up with the Department of Telecom (DoT) to take the initiative forward. “The Department of Telecom has agreed in principle for the use of 30 MHz (5.875–5.905 GHz) for V2V purposes,” he said.Under the proposed V2V system, vehicles will be able to communicate wirelessly with each other, alerting drivers about speed, location, acceleration, braking and the presence of vehicles in blind spots in the surrounding area, allowing timely corrective action.Gadkari said the move is part of broader efforts to reduce road fatalities through better road engineering, stricter enforcement of traffic laws and higher penalties for violations. “In our country, there are 5 lakh road accidents annually, causing around 1.8 lakh deaths,” he said, adding that about 66 per cent of those killed are in the 18–34 age group.The minister also said the government will bring amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act in the forthcoming Budget session of Parliament. The proposed 61 amendments aim to improve road safety, promote ease of doing business, enhance citizen services, improve mobility, simplify definitions and language, and align regulations with global standards.According to Gadkari, the meeting of transport ministers discussed a range of issues, including road safety, passenger convenience, ease of doing business and automobile regulations. Topics such as enhanced safety norms for buses, sleeper coaches and passenger vehicles — including bus body codes, Bharat NCAP ratings and the phased introduction of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) — were also taken up.The meeting further deliberated on introducing a points-based system to track traffic violations and enabling digital and automated issuance of permits for goods vehicles up to a specified gross vehicle weight.