Quote:
Originally Posted by Bicycle Bob
Perhaps we will get electronically controlled brakes to allow close following.
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This was tested about 5 years ago... There was a "Smart Highway" test road build and the test mules were 5 or 7 Ford Taurus cars. They all had sensors front and rear and sensors in the roadway that would let the vehicles communicate with each other while driving. The drivers basically didn't have to do a thing, the vehicles steered themselves as well as maintained speed and also, a very close following distance. This allowed the vehicles to get better than average FE and were much safer as they could react faster and smoother than the human counterpart.
I'll try to see if there is any more info on that project.
I believe that is how the "Smart" cruise controllers and lane stability systems came about in some of the higher end cars.
EDIT:
Ah! found the name of the program: Intelligent Vehicle-Highway Systems (IVHS) initiative.
ARTICLE HERE
I guess I was off a bit, this program was started in 1994 and Demo'd in 1997.