Developments in automotive technology has made cars increasingly safer in the event of an accident. However, the US government wants to prevent accidents altogether with an ambitious proposal to make all new cars and light trucks use wireless technology to talk to each other. Officials believe the technology could dramatically reduce traffic deaths by having vehicles stream data such as location, direction and speed to warn each other about oncoming hazards such as other vehicles, sharp curves and blind spots.

It would work by utilizing short range communication frequencies that would update broadcasts up to 10 times per second to prevent crashes. If the scheme is approved, all new light-duty vehicles will be required to be fitted with the proposed vehicle-to-vehicle communication system by 2023, which would work in conjunction with other autonomous technology such as auto-braking. This will come at a cost, though: it's predicted that it would cost $351 out of your pocket to develop and fit the technology to each car. "We are carrying the ball as far as we can to realize the potential of transportation technology to save lives," Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement.

As well as reducing deaths on US roads, it is believed the technology will reduce congestion and create jobs. However, existing vehicles won't be required to be fitted with the communication system, so a significant proportion of vehicles on the road will be invisible to the technology for at least a decade while the technology is rolled out to new cars. Automakers have already been testing V2V communication over the last decade while developing self-driving technology, but now the government is getting serious about putting the plan into action. This could be a significant step in improving road safety on the highways of tomorrow and help bring autonomous cars to the market.