We've all been there. Stuck behind someone trundling along in the left lane of the highway, at 5 or 10 mph below the speed limit. At some point, even the most pacifist among us have probably wished that we had a button to press that would just vaporize that slowpoke so we could continue on our way. Lexus has come up with a safer solution that can utilize the latest connected and automated vehicle technologies to mitigate your road rage and make the roads a safer place – Lane Valet.
Lane Valet combines the same sort of semi-autonomous lane change capability that Tesla's AutoPilot offers with vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications. V2V uses dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) which is a variation of WiFi to send short, real-time messages between vehicles. Cadillac just started shipping an updated version of the 2017 CTS sedan with this technology that sends some basic safety messages to alert drivers about what is happening down the road.
Lexus takes this to a whole new level by adding a dashboard button that enables a driver to trigger Lane Valet. When pressed, the Lexus sends a message to the slower vehicle ahead that starts the process. When the sensors on the slower vehicle detect that the right lane is clear, the turn signal is activated and it automatically moves over without any driver intervention. The passing lane is clear and everyone is safe and content.
Of course for this to actually work, every vehicle would need to be equipped with V2V and semi-autonomous capabilities that allow auto lane changing. A draft regulation that would mandate V2V on all new cars in the U.S. was published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration December 2016, but it's fate remains unclear under the current administration in Washington.
According to the announcement, Lane Valet will be available as an option on all new Lexus models starting April 1, 2017.
If you've read this far you already know that Lexus is just teasing us and even if every or most vehicles had V2V and semi-autonomous capability a system that let one driver arbitrarily take control of another would be unacceptable. There have been demonstrations by carmakers of how these technologies could be combined including Honda's virtual towing, but those are always initiated by the driver that is giving up control.
Toyota actually began offering V2V on some select models in the Japanese market in late 2015 and the system includes cooperative adaptive cruise control. This enables vehicles using the system to communicate with each other when the leading vehicle is about to slow down or accelerate. This enables smoother and safer control for the following vehicles.
Toyota hasn't yet announced when or if it will offer a similar system in the U.S. market but it is the most likely candidate to follow GM and bring V2V to market, possibly as soon as the launch of the new 2018 LS later this year. Toyota is also working with the University of Michigan on a large scale pilot of V2V and vehicle-to-infrastructure technology in Ann Arbor, Mich.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/samabuelsamid/2017/03/30/lexus-announces-lane-valet-the-feature-that-will-make-you-want-v2v-communications/
2017-03-30T17:56:00+00:00