Govt to free up spectrum in road safety push

NEW DELHI: Aiming to prevent road crashes - caused by vehicles coming from the wrong direction, at blind curves, collisions at under-construction sites or falling into pits - through technology, the telecom department will de-licence a spectrum band next month for roll out of 'Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V)' and 'Vehicle to Infra (V2I)' communication systems.In Jan, a software engineer died after his car fell into an unmarked, water-filled pit in Noida as there was no barricading or visible warning, one of the several cases of vehicles crashing into with under-construction structures.TOI has learnt that at a meeting held on April 20, the Supreme Committee on Road Safety directed the telecom department to de-licence the 5.875-5.925 GHz band. The spectrum will be open for use by all stakeholders as per pre-prescribed conditions.

Road transport ministry officials informed the SC panel that the norms for V2V will be notified by Dec and vehicle manufacturers have started the work of using this frequency in their systems, according to the minutes of the meeting.Advanced Driver Assistance Systems in vehicles may also use this in the future. While in the V2V communication system, the device will automatically detect approaching vehicles for preventive action by drivers, in the V2I system, sensors installed with infrastructure, such as signal and power poles, edges of bridges and barricaded areas, will alert vehicles.The Supreme Court panel asked has ITS India Forum and vehicle manufacturers association Siam to discuss and coordinate with the stakeholders to roll out safety features using this frequency band in six months.