We’re a long way off from self-driving cars, but other so-called futuristic automotive technology might be right around the corner.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently announced that it will be moving forward with vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication technology.

According to the NHTSA, “This technology would improve safety by allowing vehicles to “talk” to each other and ultimately avoid many crashes altogether by exchanging basic safety data, such as speed and position, ten times per second.”

The idea behind V2V communication is that, by having vehicles “talk” to each other, the vehicles can then provide warnings to their respective owners if a crash is about to occur. This would be useful, for example, for avoiding crashes where drivers are changing lanes and don’t see a nearby vehicle in their blind spot, or where one driver wants to pass on a two-lane road but can’t see whether another car is coming in the opposite lane.

V2V communication would only provide warnings, not operate the car. The driver would still be in full control at all times.

Privacy advocates have expressed concern about the exchange of information between cars. However, the NHTSA reports that V2V communication would not involve exchanging or recording personal information.

The Department of Transportation conducted driver clinics in 2012 and received good reviews from the drivers testing the technology.

The NHTSA is hoping that V2V communication will do for automotive safety in the future what seat belts, airbags, and electronic stability control have done in the past.

What do you think of V2V communication? Does it have the potential to reduce the number of car accidents and injuries? Do you find it intrusive and worry about the potential privacy risk?